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Daily Mirror

Lifestyle

Martin Winter

Top 30 things children 'must do' before starting school - including jump in a puddle

Bees Busy Bees Pandemic

Parents have revealed the top 30 things which should be on a child’s “must do” list before they start school.

The fun list of "must do" activities includes jumping in a puddle, making a friend and visiting their local swimming pool.

The poll of 1,000 pre-school parents revealed children should also have fed the ducks, had a birthday party and met some friendly farm animals before starting primary school.

Jumping on a bouncy castle, taking a trip to a toy shop, and dancing with parents also ranked highly on the list of things to do in their formative years.

And it emerged 89% of parents believe it is important to regularly introduce new things to their children, to help with their development.

The research, commissioned by childcare provider Busy Bees, found that nearly three-quarters of parents (72%) agree experiencing new things is important for building their little ones' confidence.

Seven in 10 believe it helps pre-schoolers learn new things, while 60% say it allows children to explore different emotions.

Nine in ten say they 'feel good' as a parent when they see their child enjoying a new experience (Busy Bees)

Deena Billings, Head of Experience at Busy Bees, said: “Life is full of wonderful things, and every child should experience as much as they possibly can during their early years to help them develop their confidence and understanding of the world.

“Sadly, many have missed out on important milestone moments due to the pandemic.

“These findings confirm what we have seen in our nurseries and heard from parents as they hope to introduce their children to more experiences now that life is returning to normality.

“That’s why we’re building in extra activities at our centres to provide our children with the additional developmental support they need.”

To extend these experiences further than childcare surroundings, Busy Bees has created a playful quiz to see which activities their child has already ticked off the list.

Almost two-thirds of parents (63%) believe their child has missed out on many of these key experiences due to the pandemic, with 78% agreeing their development has been held back because of this.

Social interaction (53%), social skills (51%) and speech (30%) were voted as the top things that have been affected.

In a separate survey conducted by the nursery, polling 1,905 parents, it emerged more than a third (36%) are concerned the pandemic has made it harder for their child to feel ready for school.

In fact, four in ten members of the Busy Bees Parent Panel said they had spoken to their child’s nursery key worker about the impact that the pandemic has had on their child.

More than half (52%) plan on making up for this over the summer, and have already started ticking things off their list, according to the OnePoll study – with eight in ten parents planning new and exciting experiences for their child.

It also emerged 89% “feel good as a parent” when seeing their child enjoy new things, with the average mum and dad aiming to give their child four new experiences each month.

But one in three parents worry the pandemic has made it harder for their child to feel ready for starting school (Busy Bees)

Despite this, a third still struggle to come up with new things to do with their little one.

The main source of inspiration for what to do with their little ones is friends and family (59%), while 43% usually turn to Instagram, and 27% look to their nurseries or childcare settings.

A further 39% will turn to various websites, and 37% scroll through other people’s Facebook posts – or ask the child themselves.

However, not being able to live life as normal during the pandemic did have its perks for parents, as 61% enjoyed spending more time together as a family.

And almost half of the parents surveyed (49%) say they plan to continue making space for more family time and shared activities in the future.

Deena Billings added: “There are lots of things families have missed out on over the last two years because of the pandemic, but it’s great to see that parents are keen to make up for lost time.

“That’s why we’ve worked with parents to develop a list of 30 things all children should try before they start school.

“We hope this provides some inspiration for family-friendly activities to take away over the coming summer months.”