The Kids Today Project: London seen through the eyes of a school boy

Activities

Attractions

Published on Friday, 02 May 2014 11:30

Last Updated on 02 May 2014

Monica Costa

0 Comments

My son Diego and I were pleased to be involved in the latest Persil Kids Today campaign focused on analysing how life is through a child’s eyes, which shows that recreation and hands-on experiences are not nice-to-haves, but are in fact critical to every child’s developmental success. The project provides a fresh, new perspective on why hands-on experiences are crucial in equipping children with skills for success. By seeing, hearing, touching and exploring the world around them and experiencing challenge and adventure, children become adults that are adaptable, collaborative, able to communicate easily, emotionally strong, problem solvers and able to exert social influence.
Have you ever wondered what the world looks like to your children?  What makes them stare wide eyed in amazement on a daily basis?  To celebrate the launch of the Persil Kids Today Project, for the first time you as a parent can get an idea of what your children see.  BAFTA award-winning Director Rupert Edwards recently shot six films for the Persil Kids Today project that show the world from a child’s perspective – incorporating a unique approach to filming directly through a child’s eyes. Here is one that is close to my heart as it stars two London girls who are the daughters of some of our most active London Mums. Love this!

The Eye View camera was created specifically for the project and we were happy to have the opportunity to try the camera for ourselves. National Geographic scientists often use this technique to get perspective of the world from a child. The camera sits comfortably on the child’s head. It is ultra-compact and an extremely durable digital camera is located at the front. The film can be easily downloaded to be watched on the computer to give you a sneak preview into how big the world may seem to a child.

Take a look at our movie trailer that we shot going around the most stunning London landmarks (The Shard and the Tower of London regarded by kids as being the most exciting sights to see) within a short period of time and that inspired us… Watch this space for the full length movie 🙂

Diego learnt everything about the oldest building in London, the Tower of London, was amazed at the Crown Jewels and then went on to the newest and tallest skyscraper in town, the Shard, build with the latest technology and materials. It was a great week of discovery in the Capital even for me as a mum as I got to see things through my son’s eyes.

As part of the campaign to see life through from a child’s point of view,  Persil conducted a study amongst 1,000 children that shows kids in Britain are so over-scheduled they have less free time than their parents.

Schools children not only require to do lots of homework every day but they are enrolled into after school clubs and sport activities by their eager parents leaving them little to no time to play outdoors, where they can get messy and ‘just be kids’.

90 per cent of mothers of 5-12 year olds think their children are already being prepared to ‘succeed as adults’, while 86 per cent believe kids are growing up too quickly.

Then when they have finally some time off, kids spent time in front of the screen (whether it’s TV or iPads or computer games it doesn’t matter).

Parents reported that their children spend on average 2 hours a day in front of a screen. 58 per cent of them would like to see their kids reading more books instead.

The Persil Kids Today Project’s survey encourages young people to go back to traditional fun activities like climbing trees, riding bikes and playing in the park.

I don’t remember being so busy between 5 and 12 in the Seventies and that’s why I decided early on to learn how to play the guitar by myself (back in those days music classes weren’t as popular as today so many kids learnt by themselves to do lots of things). Everything seemed to be simpler and easier going.

Don’t get me wrong! I love the technie era and I embrace it in full and love urban life too, but I appreciate that slowing down would be good for the kids’ sake too.

Maybe we would all get better sleep if we all (parents and children alike) spent more time outdoor.

Food for thought!

Let’s get muddy and creative then in the garden for a start this late Spring. Check our tips to create your own Gardening Lab for kids.