Professional dancers James and Ola Jordan adore their two-year-old daughter Ella and love to spend time playing with her at their Kent home.
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The couple, who found fame as dancers on Strictly, enjoy taking their daughter to the park, playing with Ella and her toys, and the odd bit of rough and tumble, but they are pretty apprehensive when it comes to doing crafts at home for fear of mess! Let's face it, who wants crayon up their walls?
WATCH: Ella does crafts with mum and dad - see what happened...
"My worst nightmare would be coming into the room and seeing my wall painted with pens or something," Ola tells us. "So when Ella wants to draw, I give her some crayons and then take it away as soon as she's finished – they don't just lay around."
According to new research commissioned by Busy Bees, the UK’s largest childcare provider, Ola and James aren't alone in their 'home craft phobia'.
A poll of 1,000 parents with children under four found that nearly two thirds (63 percent) don’t regularly take part in activities like painting or playing in the mud because of the clean-up required. Just three in ten will only take part in creative activities at home, such as painting, once every two weeks, with only a quarter regularly joining their child in dressing up or role-play games.
The reason? Parents said a lack of inspiration and the cost are factors, plus they know their kids will do these activities with their nursery or childminder. And more than half (51%) of parents admit to feeling 'silly' or 'embarrassed' when doing imaginative play such as dress up or role play.
The research aims to highlight that different kinds of play can help promote different aspects of a child’s development, and to make parents aware of the 'play gap', inspiring them to try out various types of play with their children.
Find out what happened when the Jordan family did crafts together at home for the first time below…
HELLO!: James and Ola, what do you think about the results of the poll?
Ola: I think it's actually true. We think we're really hands-on and we play with Ella but there are certain things that we don't do with her.
James: Which we've spoken about before in our column, like jumping in muddy puddles like Peppa Pig or painting – anything that's going to create loads of mess we kind of steer clear from.
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The sweet Ella Jordan
Busy Bees' survey found 63 percent of parents keep their kids neat and tidy and don't do that sort of play, and we are in that 63 percent. Then on the flip side, one in ten people say they don't mind getting dirty – well that's not a lot.
I do think we need to let go a little bit and give Ella the freedom to jump in muddy puddles and get the paints out. We send Ella to nursery and we know they do a lot of creative play with her there because she brings home her pictures to show us.
We went onto the busybeeschildcare.co.uk and they have a quiz to work out what kind of 'player' you are as a parent, and we're classed as 'rough and tumblers'.
We need to be expressive with the kind of play that we do with Ella and I kind of agree with that. It says that you get stuck in the stuff you do with your child. Ola and I always seem to do the same kind of things with Ella, but we both steer clear of the more expressive play I suppose.
The website gave us a suggestion to make 'spoon people' by getting wooden spoons out of the drawers, a load of colouring pens, glue and craft bits like paper hair to stick on the spoon, plus little round balls and things. Ella loved it.
Ola: It was quite a nice bonding experience, wasn't it? And can I just say, I think James loved it too.
James: Listen, I'm not competitive (group laugh) but I think mine was the best. It was really good fun and I think Ella really enjoyed it.
The Jordans face their fear with Ella!
HELLO!: How did Ella react to doing creative play with you both?
Ola: She was like, 'What is going on?!'
James: She was so shocked that we got all this messy stuff out.
Ola: I mean, we did put a sheet down so we didn't get glue on the table because that would be a nightmare. We were prepared!
James: After we did the spoons Ella said she wanted to do it again.
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HELLO!: Now that you've enjoyed making spoon people, will you be trying any messier play?
James: Do you know what, we might. Ella is doing so much painting at nursery at the moment. The other day I picked up all her paintings and walked to the car, but I didn't realise there was wet glue on them and I got glue all down my top!
I personally would prefer that she does that sort of stuff at nursery and occasionally does it at home. It has opened my eyes though, especially with the research saying it's good for children and their learning.
Ola: It's a bonding thing too. We were choosing which colours to put on our spoons and Ella was watching me do mine; it was quite nice.
James: It's not just crafts… they're saying that your children learn and develop in all types of play, and teach themselves how to do things in the process – even like now when Ella is climbing on my kitchen counter…
HELLO!: Do you both have different approaches to play with Ella?
Ola: Yes, we're different. James is more rough and tumble with her.
James: Ella wants to climb all over me and jump on me but she doesn't do that with Ola.
Ola: I do things like read books and play with toys with her. We do role play games, like she'll make me breakfast and coffee at her toy kitchen. We'll get her Peppa Pig toys and pretend they talk to each other.
James: Whereas I take Ella outside and chase her around on her scooter. We go to the park and she climbs all over the high stuff that mummy doesn't let her climb because she's worried she's going to fall.
Ella with her mum and dad
HELLO!: So will you guys be doing Halloween and Christmas crafts together?
James: It looks like it! I'll be going and buying pumpkins. I do remember my dad buying pumpkins and carving them – things like that are important for children to see and learn. So we'll see how good I am at doing that…
Ola: And then you'll get angry with the pumpkin and it will go everywhere!
James: Well, I'll just have to go and get another one won't I? We'll do it in the garage or the garden.
HELLO!: Imagine if your house did get in a big mess from kiddies crafts – how would you feel?
James: How would I feel if there was glitter and paint all up my walls? See when people video that and put it on their Instagram, I'm just shocked how calm they are.
Ola: You know what, I'm consciously not giving Ella certain pens. She doesn't know where any pens are in the house. Pens on the wall are my worst nightmare.
James: There are ways of playing creatively and not destroying your house, and that's what we're all about.
HELLO!: How is Ella doing at nursery?
Ola: She's doing really well. She still gets a bit upset when you drop her off but she's got a little friend who's one month younger than her. They have a lovely bond. Ella gets moments where she gets upset and her friend will grab her hand and say, 'Come with me' then they go off and play together.
James: She also had a playdate yesterday with a boy who's four and a half.
HELLO!: Soon you'll have a few children over for a playdate, running around doing crafts…
James: No, they will be doing silent play! (laughs)
Jenny Shaw, Academic Lead at Busy Bees, says of the creative play research: "Children are learning all the time when they’re playing, and any time a parent spends playing with their child is beneficial to their learning.
Jenny added, "Whether it’s learning to take turns in a board game, exploring your emotions in role play or expressing yourself with paints and crayons, play is so much more than fun! Through play, our children are learning skills and abilities that will set them up for life.
"Playing with your child doesn’t require a lot of time or expensive resources. There are tons of immersive things you can do with simple objects from around the home, with many fun and developmental activities needing no resources at all."
Try the Busy Bees parenting quiz at busybeeschildcare.co.uk to find out what type of ‘player’ you are, along with recommended activities for switching this up next playtime.
For more tips on immersive play with your child, visit upatbusybees.co.uk
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