BRITAIN IS well known for being a nation of garden lovers – the elderly generation are perhaps the keenest gardeners of all – but alongside green-fingered pursuits they are just as likely to be playing with their grandchildren this summer.
Almost a third (32%) have little ones over to play outdoors at least once a month, according to research by Saga.
Grandparents from the North East are most likely to have grandchildren playing in their garden more than once a week (19%) closely followed by grandparents in Yorkshire (16%), Scotland (16%) and the North West (15%).
Whilst it’s often reported that young people aren’t getting enough exercise these days, it’s the older generation that are championing good old fashioned play time by making sure the grandchildren get a decent gulp of fresh air whilst playing in paddling pools, on slides or in sandpits. In fact more than a quarter (27%) of over 50s with grandchildren own some form of outdoor play equipment from the more common swing-ball sets to the more unusual putting greens and croquet lawns.
It’s also clear that they like to make sure their green havens are beautifully decked out with almost half (49%) admiring feathered friends in bird baths, one fifth (20%) owning a BBQ or pizza oven and almost one in ten (8%) staying one-step ahead of the British weather with a gazebo. And after the grandchildren have gone home you might find some of the 880,000 over 50s who own hot tubs or hammocks taking a well-earned break.
