Christmas gift guide

Parents should spend less time tracking down the latest games console and more time baking, dressing up and making decorations with their children if they want them to have a truly memorable Christmas.

That is the advice of one of Britain’s leading charities, which has published a 16-page guide. The Children’s Society believes the pressures of modern life mean that parents spend so little time with their children they are lost for things to do when Christmas comes.

Children are more likely to cherish the memory of baking, a treasure hunt or finding fake “snowy footprints” on the carpet on Christmas morning than the toys they get, it concludes.

The free guide, Batteries not Included, steers parents through the build-up, Christmas morning, the aftermath and new year, with more than 100 cheap and simple things to do suggested by families and celebrities.

The charity is conducting a two-year investigation into modern British childhood and has already uncovered some uncomfortable truths.

Children have made clear their No 1 priority is spending time with their parents, one of the things in short supply in Britain’s long-hours economy. Other research has found that children spend far less time with their parents, and in particular eating together, than any other EU country.

“Britain is becoming richer and richer, yet this wealth has not brought greater happiness for children,” said Tim Linehan, head of campaigns at the Children’s Society.

He denies that children are increasingly materialistic and expect dozens of expensive toys at Christmas.

“If you ask a child what they remember about Christmas they are far more likely to tell you about something funny that happened or something they did with their parents than a present,” he said.

Parents are often compensating with gifts to make up for the little time they spend with their kids, he said.

The Children’s Society admits that the family activities in its guide are largely old-fashioned, but denies that it is trying to recreate the 1950s.

“We are not trying to write off TV or computer games. . . but these are more solitary pursuits than the games of the past. Our finding that children have fewer close friends than a generation ago, and that more children have no good friends at all, cannot be dismissed.”

In the guide, one family suggests that a parent dresses up as Father Christmas while the other videos him. “When we did it, we told [the children] we heard Santa in the night and sneaked in to film him. They loved it,” said Richard David, a father.

–– Stores across the country hope for a Christmas trading boost today after indications that shoppers are reluctant to part with their cash.

Despite predictions that the disappointing festive season would be kick-started yesterday, shoppers were said to be holding on until the last minute to pick up bargains. As a result, next weekend is likely to be make-or-break for stores, with the trickle of shops cutting prices increasing as the week goes on.

The number of shoppers in stores yesterday was said to be down 5.9 per cent on the same day last year.

Not a Wii in sight

Chocolate reindeer droppings
Put two cups of sugar, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup of cocoa together in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add three cups of oats and one cup of desiccated coconut. Once cool, let children make their own reindeer poos and leave to set. Add chocolate raisins for extra texture if desired

Home cinema
Select a family video or DVD such as It’s a Wonderful Life. Close the curtains and turn lights off. Pass around bowls of popcorn and paper cups of fizzy drinks with straws

Snowy footprints
Take a sheet of newspaper, put on wellies and draw round your feet. Cut out the footprints, then cut paper in half. Place the templates on the floor and sprinkle with icing sugar. Keep moving the template across the floor to leave a trail of Santa’s snowy footprints

Thank-you cards
Make a giant collage from old wrapping paper, ribbons and cards, cut it up and use for thank-you cards

For a copy of Batteries not Included call 0870 7809875

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