Bradley McIntosh thinks parents should spend more time playing games with their children.
The 41-year-old pop star - who has six-year-old son Kairo with wife Megan Firth - is best known as part of 1990s group S Club alongside Jo O'Meara, Hannah Spearritt, Jon Lee, Tina Barrett, Rachel Stevens, and the late Paul Cattermole but is a huge fan of the toy brand Transformers and has teamed up with developers Hasbro to encourage parents to engage in nostalgic play with their kids and show a "bit of interest" in their games.
He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "So Hasbro sent some of the new toys. In fact, before this even came about, there was a 1986 ‘Transformers’ movie. It's called ‘Transformers: The Movie’ and its this animated movie.
And that was that that movie is one of my favourite movies growing up as a kid and I actually tried to get it because it's really hard to get your kids to sit down and watch something because attention spans are really crappy nowadays.
"So we sat down and I showed him Optimus Prime, I showed him my favourite characters and stuff. And then Hasbro came around and sent the toys so he got to see the toys in person. And then we went and saw the new movie just the other day. And he loved it. He loved it. He was a bit scared at one point, because there's these little, like, spider kind of transformers in the movie. And he kind of hit me with my arms. But apart from that he loved it!
"You don't need to spend hours and hours; you can find half an hour here or half an hour there. Just show a little bit of interest., and it really helps, when you're invested in the things, you're trying to show him as well.
So, like, if it's nostalgic to you if it's something you used to play with when he was a kid growing up,, like, like Twister, Operation and whatever else you played with as a kid.
And so for me, it's not a chore, it's like something fun. In fact, I found myself getting a little bit too into it!
It’s just really important, we brought our children into this world and it's important for us to take that time out and spend with them, you'll find that there's so many benefits, the bond more , you're not just a nagging parent, ‘Don't do this, don't do that!’"
The 'Reach' hitmaker also explained that he vowed never to let his son spend too much time on an electronic device and reminded parents that they need to be "careful" about what their children are consuming online.
He added: "It’s incredible. I know when Kairo was born, when he was getting a little bit older, I said to myself, I'm not gonna be one of them parents that just, give them the iPhone or the iPads to just do what they want. It just happens. It does happen because it keeps them quiet for a bit.
"And then before you know it, two hours has gone by and , they're still on it still on the screen.
You’ve got to be careful about the information they digest because you can't watch what they’re reading all the time. , so you got to go be mindful of what information and the things that they soak up. So, I do believe that, yeah we're busy, we're tired, but, you can I'm sure you can find half an hour of your time just to engage with your child."
Now's the perfect time for parents to bring back that 90's nostalgia to enjoy with their children today.
Check out the new Hasbro Transformers: Rise of the Beasts range at Smyths Toys and The Entertainer.
