The Five-Minute Family Challenge Every Parent Should Try

After attending the launch of Energizer Ultimate Child Shield, I couldn’t stop thinking about my own home. Could you find every button battery hiding in your home? After attending Energizer’s Ultimate Child Shield launch, I realised the answer wasn’t nearly as simple as I thought.

As parents, we become experts in worrying. Before our babies are even born, we’ve researched the safest car seat, compared prams, chosen a cot that meets Australian safety standards and spent far too many hours reading reviews from complete strangers on the internet. Once our children arrive, the list only grows longer. We babyproof cupboards, cover power points, install stair gates, lock away medicines and move cleaning products to the highest shelves. We worry about sunscreen, screen time, bike helmets, swimming lessons and whether they’ve eaten enough vegetables this week. It sometimes feels like parenting is one long safety checklist, and while it can be exhausting, we do it without hesitation because keeping our children safe is simply what parents do.

That’s probably why I found myself thinking about something completely different on the drive home from Energizer’s Ultimate Child Shield launch. When I accepted the invitation, I expected a fairly typical media event. I imagined hearing about a new product, meeting the people behind it, taking a few notes and heading home with another story to share with Parenthood360 readers. Instead, I found myself mentally walking through every room in our house, wondering how many button batteries were quietly sitting inside everyday items I’d stopped noticing years ago. To me, that’s the sign of an event that’s genuinely worth talking about. It doesn’t just introduce you to a new product. It changes the way you think.

Walking into what Energizer had transformed into the “Energizer Home” for the Ultimate Child Shield launch felt warm, welcoming and unmistakably family focused. Parents chatted over coffee while children explored the space, and there was a real buzz of excitement as families waited to see Emma Memma. Looking around the room, I couldn’t help smiling because it felt exactly like so many family events we’ve attended over the years. Parents and their children were munching on snacks, wiping little faces and chasing adventurous toddlers who had spotted something far more interesting than sitting still.

What made the morning particularly special was watching Emma Watkins move so naturally between two very different worlds. To the children in the room, she was the much-loved Emma Memma. The familiar face who has danced, sung and signed her way into the hearts of families across Australia. You could see the excitement on little faces as they spotted her, and it was a lovely reminder of the trust she has built with young children through music, movement and learning. To the adults, however, she was Dr Emma Watkins.

Confidently chairing the panel discussion, she guided conversations with medical experts, first responders and the Energizer team with genuine curiosity and compassion. She asked the questions parents would want answered, helping unpack a topic that, while confronting, was incredibly important for every family in the room. As a parent, I found that transition fascinating. So often we think of children’s entertainers simply as performers, but watching Dr Emma Watkins lead the discussion was a reminder of the depth behind the character so many families know and love. Her warmth was still there, but so too was her ability to make complex information feel practical, reassuring and easy to understand. She struck the perfect balance between acknowledging the seriousness of button battery safety while keeping the discussion approachable and empowering rather than overwhelming.

In many ways, Emma’s ability to move so effortlessly between those two roles perfectly captured the purpose of the morning itself. Nobody was there to frighten parents or make us feel guilty. Instead, the focus was on awareness. It was about helping families recognise that some of the biggest risks in our homes aren’t always the obvious ones. They’re often hidden inside the everyday products we use without giving them a second thought.

As the discussion unfolded, I realised just how much modern family life has changed. Think about your own home for a moment. Toys light up, sing and move. Birthday cards play music. Decorative candles flicker without a flame. Bathroom scales connect to apps. Kitchen gadgets have digital displays. Car keys have become tiny computers, and even children’s books can burst into song at the push of a button. Technology has made our lives easier in countless ways, but with every new convenience comes another product quietly powered by a small button battery.

The Moment Energizer Ultimate Child Shield Made Sense to Me

There was one moment during the morning when you could almost feel the room pause. It wasn’t because of a dramatic video or an emotional story. It was a simple statistic that immediately put everything into perspective. Every week, around 20 children are taken to Australian emergency departments because of button battery incidents.

Like many parents, I’d seen stories on the news over the years about children swallowing button batteries. I’d always thought they were isolated tragedies that happened somewhere else, to someone else. Hearing just how regularly Australian families are facing these emergencies made me realise this isn’t an uncommon conversation. It’s a parenting conversation.

As the experts explained why these tiny batteries can be so dangerous, I found myself doing what every parent in the room seemed to be doing. I wasn’t really looking at the panel anymore. In my mind, I was walking through our home, room by room.

The lounge room came first. The television remote was the obvious one, but then I remembered the flameless candles we use during winter, the decorative lights that come out for birthdays and Christmas, and the little digital thermometer tucked away in the bathroom cupboard. My thoughts drifted into the kitchen, where the scales live in a drawer, then upstairs to the bathroom scales, my watch, the spare car keys and the toy cupboard where years of children’s treasures have somehow accumulated.

I smiled to myself when I thought about Aurora’s old musical books. Even though she’s long outgrown them and Arcadia has moved onto different toys, I could never quite bring myself to throw them away. Parents are sentimental like that. We hold onto the little things because they remind us of a different season of family life. It suddenly occurred to me that some of those treasured keepsakes probably still contained the same button batteries they came with years ago.

Looking around the room, I noticed plenty of nods of recognition as different household items were mentioned. It was a reminder that these weren’t obscure products hidden away in specialist stores. They were everyday objects most of us already had somewhere in our homes, quietly blending into family life. What struck me most was how much family life has changed without us really noticing. Think back ten or fifteen years. Most children’s toys were fairly simple. Today they light up, move, sing, talk and interact. Birthday cards play songs. Candles flicker without flames. Kitchen gadgets have digital displays, and even our bathroom scales now seem clever enough to know more about us than our GP. Technology has quietly become part of almost everything we use.

With that convenience has come something else we rarely think about. More products mean more batteries, and more batteries mean more opportunities for accidents if we’re not paying attention. One of the messages that stayed with me throughout the morning was that prevention always starts with awareness. You can’t reduce a risk you haven’t recognised, and that’s exactly why this conversation felt so important. It wasn’t about making parents anxious or guilty. It was about helping us notice something we’d gradually stopped noticing.

The discussion also highlighted why button batteries need to be treated so differently from many other household hazards. Coin lithium button batteries are not simply a choking risk. If one becomes lodged in a child’s oesophagus, it can cause severe internal burns in a remarkably short period of time, which is why every suspected ingestion should be treated as a medical emergency. Another practical piece of information I hadn’t heard before was the advice around honey. If a child over 12 months of age is suspected of swallowing a button battery, giving small amounts of honey while making your way to emergency medical care may help reduce tissue damage. It’s certainly not a substitute for getting to hospital immediately, but it’s one of those pieces of information you hope you’ll never need while also feeling incredibly grateful that someone took the time to share it.

By this stage of the morning, I realised I wasn’t simply learning about button battery safety. I was learning to see my own home differently. The products hadn’t changed. My awareness had. As parents, we often think keeping our children safe means buying the right products. Sometimes it isn’t about buying anything new at all. Sometimes it’s simply about looking at what we already own with a fresh set of eyes.

After the panel discussion, we were invited to explore the Energizer Home. Rather than trying to catch us out with hidden hazards, the space had been thoughtfully styled as a series of familiar rooms, including a bedroom and bathroom, filled with everyday household items. The idea wasn’t to overwhelm parents with dozens of examples. It was to show just how naturally button batteries have become part of modern family life.

As I wandered through the displays, I realised something. The challenge wasn’t finding button batteries in the Energizer Home. The real challenge would be finding them in my own home. That’s when I decided to try a simple five-minute experiment when I got home, and it’s one I think every family should try.

The Five-Minute Family Challenge

So, when I walked through my front door later that day, I decided to give myself five minutes. Not because I was worried, but because I was curious. How many button batteries were actually sitting inside the products we’d stopped noticing years ago? The television remote was the first thing I looked at. Then the bathroom scales. Then the kitchen scales.

Before long, I was opening cupboards, checking drawers and peering into the toy cupboard. Aurora’s old musical books were still there, carefully packed away because I couldn’t quite bring myself to part with them. Arcadia’s light-up toys suddenly had my attention in a way they never had before. The digital thermometer, bike lights, decorative candles and even my spare car key all found their way onto my mental checklist.

The more I looked, the more I found. Then I opened the drawer. Every family has one. Some people call it the junk drawer. Others call it the “I’ll sort it out later” drawer. Ours is home to takeaway soy sauce sachets, elastic bands, old birthday candles, batteries that “probably still work”, mystery keys, loose screws, instruction booklets we’ve never read and chargers for devices we no longer own. Sound familiar?

As I started sorting through it, I realised there were loose batteries sitting amongst everything else. They weren’t there because we’d been careless. They were there because life gets busy. You replace the batteries in a remote, toss the old ones aside because you’ll recycle them later, buy a new packet and before you know it, the drawer has quietly become the place where everything ends up.

I suspect we’re not the only family. That simple five-minute exercise changed something for me. It wasn’t dramatic, and it certainly wasn’t complicated. I simply started looking at everyday objects through a different lens. Instead of asking, “What does this do?” I found myself asking, “Could this contain a button battery, and if it does, is it secure?”

It also made me think differently about how we shop. Like many families, we’ve occasionally bought toys, novelty gadgets and little electronic products online because they looked fun or they were a bargain. There’s nothing wrong with shopping online, but the morning reminded me that not every product sold through overseas marketplaces has necessarily been designed to meet Australian safety requirements. It reinforced the importance of taking a few extra moments to check battery compartments ourselves rather than assuming every product has been built to the same standard.

That’s why I’d encourage every family to set aside five minutes this week and try the same challenge. Walk through your home. See how many button battery-powered products you can find. Check that the battery compartments are secure, move any spare batteries to a safe place well out of children’s reach and, finally, tackle that drawer we’ve all been pretending doesn’t need cleaning out.

You might discover there are only a handful. Or you might be surprised by just how many tiny button batteries have quietly become part of everyday family life. Either way, you’ll probably finish those five minutes feeling exactly as I did, more aware, more prepared and more confident that you’ve made your home just that little bit safer.

Why Energizer Ultimate Child Shield Matters for Australian Families

By the end of the morning, I realised I’d walked into the Energizer Home expecting to learn about a new battery and walked out thinking about my own home in a completely different way.

The reality is that button batteries aren’t going away. As our homes become smarter and technology becomes part of more everyday products, these tiny batteries will continue to power everything from remote controls and thermometers to toys, kitchen gadgets and decorative items. The goal isn’t to avoid them altogether. It’s to understand where they are, how to store them safely and how to reduce the risk if curious little hands happen to find them.

That was one of the things I appreciated most about the event. Rather than focusing on fear, the conversation centred on practical prevention. It reminded parents that simple actions, like checking battery compartments, storing spare batteries safely out of reach, recycling used batteries responsibly and knowing what to do in an emergency, can all make a meaningful difference.

It was also fascinating to learn how much work has gone into developing Energizer Ultimate Child Shield. After around 15 years of research and development, Energizer has introduced its Ultimate Child Shield range, featuring proprietary Child Shield technology designed to help reduce the risk of severe injury if a battery is swallowed. The batteries are coated with a bitter-tasting layer on both sides to help discourage ingestion, while Colour Alert technology turns saliva blue, providing a visual indication that a child may have come into contact with a button battery. Available in CR2032, CR2025 and CR2016 sizes, it’s an innovation that demonstrates how product design can play an important role alongside education and awareness.

As parents, we know there is no single product that can eliminate every risk. Parenting has never worked that way. We buckle seatbelts, teach road safety, insist on helmets, lock away medicines and remind our children to hold our hands before crossing the street. Every one of those habits is another layer of protection, and button battery safety deserves to become part of that conversation too.

When I left the event that day, I wasn’t thinking about batteries. I was thinking about awareness. That’s exactly the awareness Energizer Ultimate Child Shield was designed to support. Five minutes was all it took to look at my home differently, and I hope this article encourages you to do the same. Open the drawer you’ve been meaning to sort out. Check the toy cupboard. Look inside the remotes, the scales, the bike lights and the everyday gadgets you’ve stopped noticing. You might discover fewer button batteries than you expected, or you might be surprised by how many have quietly become part of everyday family life.

Either way, you’ll come away knowing your home a little better.

And if those five minutes encourage just one family to secure a battery compartment, move loose batteries out of reach or recognise the signs of an emergency, then they may well be five of the most important minutes you spend this week.

Disclaimer: Parenthood360 attended the Energizer Ultimate Child Shield launch as a guest of Dialogue PR. Products and experiences may be provided to Parenthood360 for editorial consideration. Coverage is never guaranteed, and all published content, opinions and experiences shared are independently created and reflect our own views.