Parents Across India Want Children to Spend Holiday Time Learning New Skills: HP Happy Holidays Study

NEW DELHI, August 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

- Learning New Sport, Art and Craft, and Travel High on Holiday Activity Wish List

- New HP India FunzoneApp on Facebook Offers Activity Kits That Combine Fun With Learning

Close to the heels of the recently concluded school holiday season, urban Indian parents are near unanimous in agreeing that their school-going children should spend their holiday time learning new things and acquiring knowledge, says a research study commissioned by HP and conducted by Ipsos.

In addition to the study's findings, HP India today also announced the launch of a new set of ready-to-print activity kits for children. These activity kits promise hours of fun, learning and creativity at home and can be downloaded and printed via a specially designed application called 'HP Fun Zone' available on HP India's Facebook page, at http://www.facebook.com/HPindia.

Nitin Hiranandani, Director, Printing Systems, PPS, HP India said, "Holidays and weekend breaks are times when parents and children are always on the lookout for activities to do at home that combine fun with creativity and learning. With HP's Fun Zone, we are bringing them ready-to-print activity kits that will transform a simple blank page into a creative play zone, keeping the child engaged for hours with family and friends."

Highlighting the dilemma of parents on how to keep children occupied during holidays and weekends, the HP study found that while 95% parents agree travel for children is essential during a long break like summer holidays; only 20% of the surveyed parents and children admitted to having travelled in the summer holidays that concluded earlier this month across the country.

Indoor Activities Versus Outdoors

While TV watching is universally popular and even a desired leisure activity for children, cooking takes a backseat with only 29% of parents interviewed for the study wanting their children to learn or practice culinary skills, according to the study.

One out of two parents interviewed for the study said that their children spend more time inside home; while only one-third of parents said that their children spend equal time at home and outdoors. Indeed, children on an average spend 4.10 hours at home for leisure activities during holidays, compared to an average 3.19 hours spent in outdoor activities, finds the study.

Knowledge and learning is stated to be the most popular reason for all activities - indoors as well as outdoors - whilst 'building friendship and people skills' is the second reason why outdoor activities are deemed important; parental supervision and safety is the cited secondary reason for indoor activities.

The survey findings also highlight the varying attitudes of parents living in each of the three cities towards their children's holiday activities. Parents in the busy city of Mumbai spend the least amount of time daily with their children at home (1.03 hours), while those in Bangalore spend maximum amount (5.16 hours), with Delhi parents spending 3.92 hours.

Also, about one in 10 Mumbai parents want their children to spend more of their free time inside home; the comparative numbers for Bangalore and Delhi are eight out of 10 and six out of 10 parents respectively. Majority of Mumbai parents want their children to spend equal time at home and outside.

Combining Learning With Fun at Home

There is a general agreement that many activities or skills can be learnt better at home; 81% of children who go out of home to learn a new skill say that it (musical instrument, dancing etc.) is better learnt at home, while 71% of those who learnt art and craft outside home say they can learn it better at home.

Combined with the fact that nearly a third of all respondents are not sure that a home printer can be used to combine fun and learning; this implies that greater knowledge of activities possible with PC and printer could lead to children learning better and spending more time at home.

This is further corroborated by the study's findings; when exposed to the idea of creative work using printer, close to 80% of both parents and kids liked the idea because it would be a new platform of learning and gaining more knowledge and will help kids in becoming more creative, while spending more time at home.

Separately, four out of five of parents and children surveyed agree that there are many activities with PCs and printer that can combine fun and learning, by doing creative work. Of those who agree, 64% believe a PC-printer combination helps enhance children's knowledge and learning. When spending time on the home PC, 43% parents say their kids print material for creative/education purposes, while browsing and social networking is endorsed by 39% and 36% parents respectively.

No Generation Gap Here

According to the HP study, there is a high correlation between how parents prefer their children to spend time and how children want to spend their time during holidays. Learning a new sport is high on agenda with 84% parents and 76% children preferring this activity, while learning arts and crafts is preferred by 80% of both parents and children interviewed.

Reading at 72% of both parents and children and internet browsing on PC at 68% of parents and 70% of children also featured among highly preferred activities. Summer camps are relatively less popular with only 58% parents preferring their children to spend time at a camp, in comparison, 72% of children surveyed preferred going to a summer camp.

About Happy Holidays Study

The HP study conducted by Ipsos interviewed close to 400 parents and children in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore during June 2012. The study aimed to understand how children spent their time during their holidays and sought to map expectations of parents vis-à-vis that of kids with respect to spending leisure time during holidays and weekends; to understand the activities that are learnt during holidays; involvement of parents with their kids while doing various indoor and outdoor activities and impact of changing social landscape on the same.

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world's largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. In October 2011, Ipsos completed the acquisition of Synovate. The combination forms the world's third largest market research company.

With offices in 84 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across six research specializations: advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, public affairs research, and survey management.

Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of €1.363 billion (US$1.897 billion) in 2011. Visit www.ipsos.com to learn more about Ipsos' offerings and capabilities.

© 2012 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

Primary Media Contact: Sashi Bala Ghising, sashi@the-practice.net, 91-9350211270

Secondary Media Contact: Seema Dawar, HP, seema.dawar@hp.com, 91-124-2726285