Parents are raising a generation of sedentary ‘stainophobes’, according to research by Persil small & mighty, with a third of children admitting they don’t like dirt and mess and nearly half stating that looking ‘cool’ was more important than ‘having fun outside’.

Despite the nation tuning into the Commonwealth Games and Great British Bake Off in their millions, almost two thirds of tired parents are actively discouraging their children from taking up activities such as baking and sports in order to avoid extra wash loads. Interestingly it is dads who are most likely to stop their kids from doing an activity that could cause mess.

Even though over two fifths of parents admit they got more stuck in with messy activities when they were young, more than half would prefer their children play with an iPad over a set of paints to avoid stained clothes, using excuses such as “you can do it tomorrow”, “it’s dirty” or “there’s not enough time” to dissuade their child from doing so.

To help young people get over their stain fear we have a year’s supply of Persil to be won (6x Persil Bio/Colour, 1,400ml, 40 washes each).

For your chance to win watch the video below and tell us which magician is seen having some fun with school kids to promote Persil’s message that parents needn’t worry about their children getting messy.

Is it a) Troy, b) Dynamo, c) Ben Hanlin.

HOW TO ENTER

Text your answer to 80360, starting your message with NSPERSIL leave a space and then put your answer, name, number, email and address.

Or send your entry with your name, address and contact phone number on a postcard or a stuck-down envelope to: Persil Competition, News Shopper, Mega House, Crest View Drive, Petts Wood, Kent BR5 1BT.

Closing date: December 16.

Terms & conditions: Texts cost 50p plus your normal operator text charge. Lines close December 15, at 11.59pm.  For full terms, go to newsquest.co.uk/terms