DAVE GOODERHAM: Why should children have all the fun?

My lovely long bank holiday weekend was spent dancing around in the living room, getting overly egg-cited at the Easter trail at Ickworth House or simply revelling in my son’s Lego or new Hot Rods toys.

It’s fair to say that I have got back in touch with my childish side. Having two boys under the age of eight, I would argue there is no choice.

My wonderful mum thinks of nothing of pulling faces or dancing like a lovely lunatic, all in the name of fun and pranks with my sons. She danced the Gangham Style at her 70th birthday party. A grandmother of 16 children, she would argue she has no choice.

The apple certainly hasn’t fallen far from the tree when it comes to acting the fool in the name of entertaining my boys.

But one area where I often fall flat is in the name of art. I often say that if me and my four brothers were Trivial Pursuit pieces, three of us would be sport and leisure. The other two, far more academic things, would be art and literature.

My boys won’t learn any artistic skills from me – not unless they want to draw stick men or suns with smiley faces.

Or so I thought. I was very interested to read this week of a very different type of book currently dominating the charts on both sides of the pond.It is, quite simply, a colouring book for adults.

Some might scoff, but I can understand the attraction of colouring in the intricate designs – certainly from a relaxation point of view. Currently, my ideal way to switch off is when I shed the cloak of adulthood and regress into playtime for the under-eights. Turning the TV off, helping my sons with a puzzle or building something out of Lego – usually a house due to my confessed limitations – is my idea of bliss.

So is seeing them blossom in the art world, whether through imagination or simply keeping the pen in between the lines.

But why should children have all the fun? Maybe Johanna Basford’s Secret Garden or Richard Merritt’s Art Therapy Colouring Book is the perfect thing for me.

n Thank you to those who took to the letters page in response to my column about the General Election and in particular the Bury St Edmunds constituency. It was interesting to read the viewpoint of other parties and I now feel better educated to make my decision. No matter what, those who wrote in (and the other parties and candidates) all have the same thing at their heart – trying to make this area a better place. I wish them all well on May 7.