CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--When it comes to dreaming up nightmare scenarios, running late for a meeting, standing in line at the DMV, filing your income taxes, getting yelled at by your boss or talking to your in-laws on the phone for an hour come to mind. And all of these situations, according to a new Groupon survey, parents would rather face than trying to plan summer activities for their children.
The poll of 2,000 parents found that 70 percent of parents admit to being stressed about summer planning, and a sizeable chunk of them, 40 percent, still have nothing planned at all. Furthermore, nearly a quarter of parents said they have less sex with their partners over the summer. Given these numbers, it should come as no surprise that 56 percent of parents said they’re ready for their children to go back to school after just one week!
The survey by market researchers OnePoll––and commissioned by Groupon––uncovered why it’s just so hard for parents to keep their children occupied over the summer months and what they can do to get ahead of the curve.
Half of all parents surveyed said they struggle to keep their children busy due to work responsibilities. Other challenges identified by parents included having to juggle multiple schedules, not being able to afford everything, running out of ideas after one week and lacking a central place where parents can conveniently find and buy things to do with their children.
How do parents beat the stress of summer? More than half of the parents surveyed said they have a family bucket list of things they want to do with their children before they turn 18. Going on a road trip, learning how to ride a bike, taking a camping trip, teaching kids to cook and visiting an amusement park or waterpark were the top five activities on family bucket lists.
“There’s no question that summer disrupts the routine of just about every family––making it totally normal for parents to feel some stress and anxiety,” said Brian Fields, Groupon’s head of fun things to do. “But we’ve found that if you have the right plan in place, these months can be a great time for you to strengthen the bond you have with your children. Coming up with a list of things that you want to do with your kids before they turn 18 is a great way to not only stay organized this summer, but it can provide a roadmap for many years to come.”
Parents said having a family bucket list of things to do with your kids before they turn 18 keeps them cultured, enables them to spend quality time together as a family, creates an environment where they can explore mutual interests, limits screen time and cures boredom.
If you already have a family bucket list or need to get started on one, Groupon has you covered with a number of memory-making, boredom-curing summer activities that you can do with your children this summer, including amusement and waterparks, zoos, trampoline and bounce houses experiences, mini golf and bowling.
To view Groupon’s entire collection of fun summer things to do for families, please visit here.
About Groupon
Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) is building the daily habit in local commerce, offering a vast mobile and online marketplace where people discover and save on amazing things to do, see, eat and buy. By enabling real-time commerce across local businesses, travel destinations, consumer products and live events, shoppers can find the best a city has to offer.
Groupon is redefining how small businesses attract and retain customers by providing them with customizable and scalable marketing tools and services to profitably grow their businesses.
To download Groupon's top-rated mobile apps, visit www.groupon.com/mobile. To search for great deals or subscribe to Groupon emails, visit www.groupon.com. To learn more about the company’s merchant solutions and how to work with Groupon, visit www.groupon.com/merchant.