VISIT A STATELY HOME? 'NO THANKS' SAY MOST KIDS

Added : ( Fri Aug 15 2003 )

It’s the middle of the summer holidays and parents all over the country are currently seeking inspiration for activities to amuse their children. “So how about visiting a great house, a magnificent architectural gem, set in stunning countryside?” – “no thanks” is the resounding reply from a recent survey, “we’d rather stay at home and read!”

These are the rather worrying results from a survey conducted by Castle Howard, one of Yorkshire’s finest Houses. Two hundred children between the ages of 7 and 10 were asked how they would prefer to spend a day of their summer holidays.

Not surprisingly a visit to a theme park came top as No 1 choice with 39% of children choosing this as their favourite day, compared with only 1.6% of children who say that reading is their favourite thing to do! However, even reading was more popular than visiting a stately home, as only 0.5% said it was their favourite thing to do with 65% of children voting it to be one of their least favourite things ever!

A bit of a challenge, but one that Castle Howard could not resist taking on, especially when the children told the team there that stately homes were “old and boring” and “not fun” and that “there is nothing to do but stand and stare!”
Such results do not bode well for this aspect of the nation’s built heritage that requires wide public support to sustain it.

Clearly there is a need to think again about the interpretation of stately homes for kids, and an urgent need to change the perception amongst a generation. But, Castle Howard are so confident their daily programme of Children’s Discovery Tours & Activities can do this they are offering children a full refund if they are not completely enthralled with the offer.

This range of fourteen activities, which are included in the normal all-inclusive admission ticket price include historical and archaeological activities. In fact, it was during one archaeological session that nine-year-old Alastair Dunn discovered the oldest find made so far on the dig, a Neolithic arrowhead dated around 2000BC.

And what do they think of it? Fully engrossed children cannot be persuaded to say much, but one mother last week reportedly had to say during her daughter’s activity planning, “Hang on what about lunch!. Of those asked if they would like to come back or would they recommend the activities to their friends, all have given a resounding “Yes”.

So perhaps with Castle Howard leading the way, a day out to a stately home will prove more popular with children, and who knows it might even prove to be more popular than a theme park?
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