“I came to the realisation a few years ago about the one secret of happiness. It might not work for everyone, but for me, it’s the secret of everything. It’s something you can apply to every single aspect of your life and, I think, it very much applies to, being a good parent. What is it? Oh, sorry, I’ve got to go now….
“For me, that secret is play. I’ve realised that I’m always happy when I’m playing. Even if I’ve got to work, if I’m doing something creative for my work, then it doesn’t feel like work because I’m really just playing.
“So if you’ve got to do something that you don’t want to do, just turn it into a game. And it’s the same with kids. You’ve got to turn all the boring things into a game.
“For example, recently I had to take my littlest one, who’s six, to Nippers – y’know the life-saving at the beach. My eldest one, who’s 10, had to come too, so I was sitting with her and watching all these little kids together.
“Now, I could have just given her my phone and she could have sat and watched YouTube. But instead we sat there on the beach and I said, “Hey Rae! Let’s start betting on these kids. Who’s going to win?”
“The kids all had their names written on their hats, so I was going, ‘Rae, I’ll bet you a dollar that Jasmine beats Donna.’ And then all of a sudden we’re cheering on those people’s kids. My youngest wasn’t even in half of the races and we’re there yelling” ‘Come on, John! Come on!’
“I think you can apply that philosophy to every aspect of your life. Turn everything into play – just relax and just play.”
Ross Noble stars in the new animation film The Wishmas Tree out on Feb 27