From Batman to Wonder Woman, Iron Man and all that’s in between, children of all ages enjoy superhero stories, and will always have a favourite ‘goodie’ or ‘baddie’!

But did you know, that this can also have a positive outcome on other areas too? Indeed, good news for parents of little superheroes, research has found that children assigned boring tasks tend to perform better when channelling their favourite superhero!

SPLAT!

The study, brilliantly entitled "The Batman Effect" by Rachel E. White of Hamilton College and Emily Prager and Catherine Schaefer from the University of Minnesota, invited 180 kids (aged four to six) to test their ability to focus on a task.

Split in to three groups, the kids were given a suitably dull task on a computer for 10 minutes, but told that they could play with the iPad in the room at any time.

The first group were told to think about how hard they were working. The second group were told to think how hard they were working in the third person (eg ‘Is Michelle working hard today’?). The third group were allowed to dress up as their favourite superhero or cartoon character, and asked to consider if their characters were working hard.

KA-POW!

You know what’s coming next! To no surprise, all kids ended up spending more time on the iPad than on the tasks in hand, with the older children persevering longer than the younger ones.

But one thing that was consistent in the findings, is that kids who took on the persona of a character, such as Batman, spent the most time working. This was followed by the group of kids who were taking a third-person perspective

WHAM!

To sum it up, the findings reveal that when kids take on a personality of their favourite superhero or character, they also embody their positive traits.

It would be interesting to see how this could extend to fussy eaters or children’s mealtimes, where many parents struggle. Introducing play is a fun way to get children engaged. So if you're struggling at mealtimes, why not try one of the plates in our range. Our innovative toddler plates feature a built-in play area for all your favourite teddies and toys.

Check out our fun range of children’s plates featuring a built-in track, ideal for imaginative play and superhero mealtimes!