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As Australian parents struggle to keep their young children off the iPad and away from the TV, a new play based activity book has launched just in time for the Christmas holidays.

Rainbow Patch is a brand new play book that brings a new meaning to ‘interactive’; its pages are filled with fun, vibrant activities that stimulates learning and helps develop fine motor skills that are essential in the development of young children.

With the Australian Bureau of Statistics recently finding that young kids are spending over 20 hours per week doing screen-based activities, Sydney-based mum of two, Susanna Polycarpou founded and developed the eco-friendly product to combat this growing issue.

“As a working mum of two little girls, I’m always on the lookout for screen-free activities that are fun, engaging and most importantly encourage independent play.”

Ms Polycarpou said the creative idea came to her when she noticed how much time her eldest daughter Alexandra (5) was spending with her favourite gift from her Yia Yia.

“I first discovered interactive books when our Yia Yia hand-made one for my daughter. It had taken her months to make by hand, with lots of skill and love. It was the first time I’d ever seen a young child so captivated by a book! Seeing how engaged and excited she was inspired me to start Rainbow Patch so that other children could share this experience too.”

“As a full time working mum, I know how hard it can be to continuously come up with new ideas to keep your kids entertained whilst helping them learn and develop new skills. While there’s a never ending stream of new products and toys, I find the majority don’t really stick… then there’s the constant battle of monitoring screen time.”

It’s no secret that at the end of a long day at work, it can be pretty tempting to turn on the TV or iPad for the kids while you get dinner ready and prepare for the bed-time routine. However, Ms Polycarpou said she often noticed a negative change in mood with her daughters when they were exposed to too much screen time.

“I hope that the launch of Rainbow Patch will reduce the time Aussie kids spend on digital screens, and instead become more interested and motivated in playtime with books, just as it has for my girls,” concluded Ms Polycarpou.

Rainbow Patch play books are suitable for children aged 3+ and are available for purchase online for only $69.95. New fill-in pages are coming soon to the website.

Each Rainbow Patch play book comes with 10 interactive pages. There are moving parts on all pages, and the products are all made from eco-friendly, non toxic materials.