Adam Green: Clever ways to prolong children's attention span

Adam Green from The Hits

As a parent, you often want to take your kids to concerts, sporting events and activities to both give them new and exciting experiences and also get a few hours closer to bedtime so you savour that glorious final hour of the day.

You know the one, where they're tucked up in bed and you can sit and have a cup of tea without the cries of "She threw a blanket at me" "Well she stole my purple crayon" and the ever present "I'm hungry".

One thing I've found when taking my children to these things is that despite the fact you shelled out hard earned money for a seat, the attention span for said events seems to be about 5 minutes, and the rest of the time they seem more interested in finding a four leaf clover in the patch of grass off to the side, or trying to find a way to relieve a vending machine of its treasure.

So how do we ensure that those little pairs of eyes remain firmly fixed on the entertainment we've paid for?

I propose a few changes to ensure we have spent our money wisely.

Rugby matches - Every scrum should be accompanied by one of the players from each team picking a child to hand a muesli bar and apple to.

Quickly running off the field and handing the tasty treats to a waiting child, that way whenever your cherub cries "I'm hungry" you can get them to focus on the game by telling them a scrum-tious treat could be coming their way soon.

Motor-racing - Instead of having sponsor messages on the cars, let's decorate them in various children's television show characters. You're far more likely to get value for your child's ticket price if the next race up is Peppa pig vs Dora. Just quietly I'd be putting my money on Dora, much more active than that Peppa.

Concerts - Tough one, but if every five songs or so they added a verse of "the wheels on the bus" we could ensure value for money as they wait patiently through our favourite songs live and loud, and if the crowd ever got too rowdy the act could burst into a round of "The driver on the bus says please sit down".

With just a few minor changes we can be certain that the money we've spent on children's tickets is money well spent, but I think I'll just spring for a babysitter instead! - Adam

Don't miss Adam Green and Sarah Van Der Kley on The Hits Hawke's Bay from 6am to 9am Monday to Friday.