With families across the country celebrating Grandparent's Day this weekend¹, research from engage Mutual Assurance reveals the importance of grandparents in developing a child's skills and interests.

With the televisions, computers and TV dinners increasingly being blamed for a breakdown in family relationships², this new research reveals that more than 8 in 10 (81%) Britons have childhood memories of spending quality time with their grandparents learning essential life skills.

What's more, British children were more likely to have been educated by their grandparents, being taught essential activities such as reading (50%), cooking (45%) and playing games (29%), rather than watching television (40%).

As part of their support for Grandparent's Day and as part of their 3GB campaign³, engage Mutual Assurance asked a GB representative sample of over 1,800 Britons about their memories of spending time with their grandparents.

• Living up to tradition, most people remember spending time with their grandparents playing board games (55%)
• Following the traditional male-female roles, boys were more than twice as likely to have spent time with their grandparents learning about carpentry and DIY (11% and 10%, compared to 4% and 5% for girls), whilst girls spent time with their grandparents learning to cook and sew (54% and 37%, compared to 35% and 8%).

• Reiterating the point that children learn vital life skills from their grandparents, over a third of people remember spending time with their grandparents reading (50%), cooking/baking (45%), shopping (41%), gardening (35%) and drawing (33%)
• Numerical skills were also taught by grandparents, with girls more likely than boys to have spent time with their grandparents playing number games (58% compared to 52%) and playing shop (27% compared to 13%)
• Not many children learned about finances from grandparents (5% for girls compared to 3% for boys) showing how they could play a valuable role in improving financial literacy

• Walking was the fourth most popular way to spend time with grandparents (43%), whilst traditional garden sports such as croquet, badminton and bowls were less common (10%)
• Boys were twice as likely to have spent time playing sports with grandparents, 16 per cent playing football or tennis with their older relations, compared to 7 per cent of girls

“With concern over a breakdown in communication amongst modern families, these results show the important role grandparents play in a child's development. As well as spending valuable time with children, teaching them the skills which will equip them for later life, previous research by engage has also shown that grandparents are more likely than parents to take the simple step of investing regularly in their grandchild's CTF, helping secure their financial future.”

¹ This year Grandparent's Day falls on Saturday 23rd September in the UK; www.ageconcern.org.uk/AgeConcern/grandparents_day.asp

² Basic Skills Agency Report, BBC Online, 3rd April 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4872102.stm

³ '3GB' is the engage 3GB or Three Generation Britain research index, which aims to understand the financial and social importance of family relationships. Research was conducted by YouGov across a GB representative of 2,200 adults (including 1857 who remembered spending time with their grandparents) in September 2006.

engage Mutual Assurance will be holding a bowls Masterclass in celebration of Grandparent's Day. Current engage Ladies World Matchplay champion and 3GBowler Ellen Falkner will host skills sessions with Her mother Sue Alexander and her grandmother Dorothy Bowers - all of whom bowl together as a team. The event takes place at Park Lane in Meadowhall, Sheffield from 10am to 4pm.

1. If using this article on a website, please link to www.engagemutual.com using the following hyperlink text : engagemutual.com> engage Mutual Assurance - meeting the changing needs of today's modern families

2. engage Mutual Assurance is a trading style of Homeowners Friendly Society (HFSL) and it's wholly-owned subsidiary engage Mutual Funds Limited (EMFL).

3. engage Mutual Funds Limited (EMFL) is a provider of the Child Trust Fund direct and in partnership with partners including Legal and General, ASDA and Debenhams stores and NAAFI Financial.

4. The organisation is title sponsor of the engage Super League - which sees 12 teams from across the UK and France battling for a place in the engage Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford stadium in Manchester. The teams are Leeds Rhinos, Wigan Warriors, Bradford Bulls, Castleford Tigers, St Helens, Huddersfield Giants, Hull FC, Salford City Reds, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, Warrington Wolves, London based Harlequins RL and French team Catalans Dragons.

5. engage is proud to partner a charity which shares our consideration for balancing risk and reward - Smart Risk Foundation UK. It helps youngsters across the UK to identify the risks in their everyday lives in the smartest way, so that they can enjoy life to the fullest. Smart Risk Foundation's registered charity number is 1096081, www.smartrisk.org.uk.

6. engage Mutual Assurance is headline sponsor of the engage International Open 2006 and the engage Ladies World Matchplay 2007, both part of the World Bowls Tour.

7. engage supports mutuality, friendly societies and the regional financial services industry through links with the Association of Mutual Insurers, the Association of Friendly Societies, Mutuo and Leeds Financial Services Initiative.

8. Established in 1980, Homeowners Friendly Society Limited (HFSL) is Registered and Incorporated under the Friendly Societies Act 1992, Reg.No.964F, it's wholly owned subsidiary engage Mutual Funds Limited (eMFL) is Registered in England No 3224780. Both are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). 9. Homeowners Friendly Society Limited's FSA Register number is 110072 and engage Mutual Funds Limited's FSA Register number is 181487. You can check this on the FSA's Register by visiting the FSA's website www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234