Table : Children involved in activities with one or more family members, per cent In general, Footprints in Time children do numerous activities with their family. Figure 1 shows that more than 50 per cent of the children had participated in eight or nine of the activities in the previous week. Figure : Number of activities children were involved in with family member Primary carers were also asked whether the child had been to the playground, library or swimming with them or another family member in the previous month. The majority of children (87.2 per cent) had participated in at least one of the activities done in the previous month, and 11.8 per cent of children participated in all three activities. The high participation rate also indicates a high level of interaction between the children and family members. Table 15 shows which family member was involved in the activities. children’s Children did activities with a wide range of family members. Over 60 per cent of children in the younger cohort participated in activities with three or four different family members and nearly 10 per cent participated with six or more family members. In most cases, these family members were parents and siblings. Children were most likely to be with their mothers during these activities. The only activity for which the mothers did not have the highest participation rate was playing on the computer or video games which was most likely to have been done with a sibling. On the whole, female relatives have higher participation rates than male relatives. These gender differences highlight the ways that some male and female primary carers share caring responsibilities. For example, fathers were least likely to participate in housework with their children, while housework was the second most common activity for mothers to do with their children. In turn, mothers had lower participation levels for activities like playing indoor and outdoor games and computer games, whereas fathers and siblings had increased participation rates.
Table : Children involved in activities with one or more family members, per cent In general, Footprints in Time children do numerous activities with their family. Figure 1 shows that more than 50 per cent of the children had participated in eight or nine of the activities in the previous week. Figure : Number of activities children were involved in with family member Primary carers were also asked whether the child had been to the playground, library or swimming with them or another family member in the previous month. The majority of children (87.2 per cent) had participated in at least one of the activities done in the previous month, and 11.8 per cent of children participated in all three activities. The high participation rate also indicates a high level of interaction between the children and family members. Table 15 shows which family member was involved in the children’s activities. Children did activities with a wide range of family members. Over 60 per cent of children in the younger cohort participated in activities with three or four different family members and nearly 10 per cent participated with six or more family members. In most cases, these family members were parents and siblings. Children were most likely to be with their mothers during these activities. The only activity for which the mothers did not have the highest participation rate was playing on the computer or video games which was most likely to have been done with a sibling. On the whole, female relatives have higher participation rates than male relatives. These gender differences highlight the ways that some male and female primary carers share caring responsibilities. For example, fathers were least likely to participate in housework with their children, while housework was the second most common activity for mothers to do with their children. In turn, mothers had lower participation levels for activities like playing indoor and outdoor games and computer games, whereas fathers and siblings had increased participation rates.