‘School's out for summer' and grandparents entertain

School's out for summer and while kids everywhere jump for joy it seems that it's grandparents who are taking the strain and looking after the children this summer. Nearly a third (31%) of grandparents are looking after their grandchildren up to three times a week during the summer holidays, recent research for Saga Motor Insurance shows.

Taking care of grandchildren can be costly and on average grandparents in the UK could spend around £750 million on their grandchildren during the summer holidays this year. While 43% of grandparents expect to spend up to £100 on their grandchildren during the summer, a staggering one in 14 (7%) expect to spend more than £200 on toys and entertainment. However, nearly a fifth (18%) of grandparents have no idea how much they will spend on their grandchildren this summer so they could be in for a shock.

When it comes to entertaining the grandchildren, nan and grandad have a variety of tricks up their sleeve. Whilst 28% plan to entertain them at home, over a quarter (26%) plan to venture further afield and take their grandchildren on days out to the beach or museums.

Entertaining children can be tough especially on car journeys - long or short. A game of eye spy doesn't seem to cut the mustard these days so grandparents can be thankful for portable games consoles, laptops and mobile phones. However, if something happens to these items they can be expensive to replace.

Roger Ramsden, Chief Executive, Saga Service commented: "Parents drive their children round every day and automatically tell their kids to hide their gadgets when they get out of the car. But less experienced grandparents might not remind them to do this and while the opportunist thief won't mind stealing from children it is important to make sure expensive toys are out of sight."

These days, it's not unusual for children to own a Nintendo DS, i-Pod or a smart phone, and some children could be lucky enough to have all three but this means that some kids could be armed with more than £500 worth of goods on car journeys. However, Saga Motor Insurance offers £1000 of cover for personal belongings if they are lost or stolen from the car, which could offer some peace of mind for grandparents on days out.

For those that would rather not pack the car out with gizmos and gadgets, old classics such as pub cricket and car bingo are a fantastic way to entertain children on the move, visit saga.co.uk/insurance/car-insurance/car-entertainment/top-car-games.aspx for a downloadable selection of in car games to play in the car this summer.