Scarlett Moffatt has admitted her three-year-old son Jude sent her reaching for her phone after identifying one of his drawings as an “ammonite”.
The former Gogglebox star, who is expecting her second child with fiancé Scott Dobinson, believes the unexpected moment showed how much youngsters can learn from the programmes they watch.
For Scarlett, the key is combining screen time with activities families can enjoy together.
Her comments came during an interview with OK! Magazine as part of a campaign with Google Gemini about finding ways to entertain children during the summer holidays.
Scarlett Moffatt on keeping children entertained
Scarlett said parents can feel pressure to organise expensive or elaborate experiences for their children. However, many of her own favourite childhood memories involved simple family activities.
She said: “Parents start to feel almost guilty, like what they’re doing isn’t enough for their kids. Life is expensive anyway. When I think back to my favourite times in six-weeks holidays, it was things like going crop circle hunting with my dad, making dance routines up in the house, and making dens. It cost nowt.”
Google says Gemini can provide activity suggestions tailored to children’s ages and interests, along with a family’s location and budget.
Television also features in some of Scarlett’s happiest early memories. The presenter joked that her career beginning on Gogglebox makes her well placed to discuss time spent in front of the telly.
She told the magazine: “I mean, for me, I mean I am a professional couch potato, I started off on Gogglebox. Some of my happiest memories, even as a kid, is watching the telly, like, and I must admit that, and I think I’ve turned out alright.”
How son Jude’s ‘ammonite’ drawing surprised her
Jude’s interest in subjects including dinosaurs, sea life and octopuses provided Scarlett with a memorable example of the educational value some content can offer.
Recalling their drawing activity, she said: “Jude loves to draw, and so often YouTube will be on, and then we’ll be drawing stuff that we’re watching. He drew loads of circles and I was like, ‘Oh, what’s that?’ and he said, ‘Oh, it’s an ammonite.'”
Ammonites were marine molluscs that are now extinct and are known through their fossils. Scarlett did not recognise the term when Jude used it, so she searched for its meaning on her phone.
She continued: “And I was like, ‘Oh my God, he called it an ammonite! What on earth is an ammonite?’ So the things that they soak up and learn… I think for me, it’s just all about balance.”
The moment left Scarlett surprised by the vocabulary Jude had absorbed. It also reinforced her view that watching educational programmes can be useful when it forms part of a broader mix of play, drawing and interaction with parents.
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