- More than a quarter of children think Easter is the date that chocolate was invented
- Chocolate tops the list of things Britons have given up for Lent
- Only one in ten British households will be eating fish on Good Friday
A shocking 79% of British parents have reported that their children are clueless about the true meaning behind the most important festival in the Christian calendar - Easter.
More than a quarter of young Britons believe Easter marks the date chocolate was invented and a quarter believes it is to celebrate the Easter Bunny’s birthday, while six out of ten didn’t know why eggs were a feature of Easter.
The poll, conducted by Travelodge, interviewed 2,000 British families and found it isn’t just children who aren’t interested in celebrating Easter for its religious values with 15% of British families revealing they are not interested in the religious side of Easter. A staggering 87% of parents admitted that they will not be going to church this Easter weekend and just one in ten British households will be keeping to tradition and eating fish on Good Friday.
Whilst this Sunday marks the end of Lent only one in ten Britons gave something up this year. Chocolate topped the list of things Britons have gone without for 40 days, followed by alcohol and cakes. Here are the top five things sacrificed for Lent this year:
Chocolate
Alcohol
Cakes
Sex
Cigarettes
The survey also revealed that whilst the religious elements of the Easter festival are forgotten, bringing the family together in unity to celebrate is still very important. During the Easter break parents will be forking out on average £306.22 in a bid to spend quality time together on a short break and several Daycation trips.
Despite the recent cold spell over a third (34%) of British families are taking a short UK coastal break this Easter with the top destinations being Blackpool, Brighton, Devon and Cornwall. Nearly a quarter, (23%) of British households are planning to explore the lush British countryside during the Easter school holidays in The Lake District, North and South Wales, The Yorkshire Dales and The Peak District.
A fifth of parents reported they are planning to take their children on a UK city tour this Easter. London, Edinburgh and Cardiff are the most popular destinations, in addition to Bath, Liverpool and Manchester.
Interestingly just 11% of parents reported they are taking their children to a theme park over the Easter holidays and just 14% of families stated they are taking a foreign holiday this Easter, despite being desperate for some warm weather.
In a bid to save some money over the Easter school holidays a third of parents are planning to replicate popular cooking TV programmes at home, which their children enjoy watching such as ‘The Great British Bake Off’, ‘MasterChef’, ‘Cupcake Wars’ and ‘Come Dine with Me’
In addition a quarter of parents will be reliving their memories of watching ‘Blue Peter’ when they were a child and will be making arts and crafts with their children out of household items such as old washing up bottles, kitchen roll and cereal boxes.
The research also revealed that parents are reliving their childhood holiday memories this Easter and taking their children on inexpensive trips to museums, farms and to visit family.
Listed below are the top activities parents will be doing with their children during the Easter school holidays to spend more quality time together:
Going to the cinema (40%)
Visiting family and friends (39%)
Baking at home (31%)
Going on a picnic (30%)
Going to the beach (29%)
Taking a trip to the countryside (27%)
Going to a museum (25%)
Doing crafts at home (23%)
Visiting a farm (18%)
Going bowling (16%)
Shakila Ahmed, Travelodge spokeswoman said: “Keeping the children entertained over the Easter school holidays is no easy task. Interestingly for the forthcoming Easter break our bookings data has shown a spike in multiple singular night family bookings.
“Savvy parents are splitting a traditional two night short stay in one location to a single night stay in two different areas to help maximise their trip and spend quality time with their children. A multiple location short break is a great way of seeing more of the UK within one trip and it also offers great value and makes children think they have had a longer holiday”
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For further information, please contact:
Travelodge Press Office
01844 358703 / pressoffice@travelodge.co.uk
Notes to editors:
The research was conducted in March 2013 with a sample group of 2,000 parents across the UK. The survey was conducted by Onepoll.