"I didn't have some doughnuts, I didn't have some doughnuts". It's amazing what children think they can get away with, like this boy who has the evidence on his face that he has in fact had doughnuts.

According to many early childhood studies, children who lie or manufacture their own version of the truth, show that their brains are developing well.

There is also evidence that if they can lie well by the age of two, they are more likely to be successful in life.

Dr Kang Lee, director of the Institute of Child Study at Toronto University, told the UK's Daily Telegraph, "Almost all children lie, lying particularly speaks well of children's abilities to think on their feet, and parents should not be alarmed if their child tells a fib."

Dr Lee went on to say, "Those who have better cognitive development lie better because they can cover up their tracks. They may make bankers in later life."

Another reason not to get mad at a child for lying is that from birth children have been learning to lie by following their parents. Parents playing games, tricks and telling little white lies, teach babies and toddlers not only about lying but how to be seen as credible doing it.

Read related article: Babies know when you're lying

A survey commissioned by a UK baby website revealed that parents, on average, tell their kids at least one porkie a day… meaning that by the time our children are old enough to know what’s fair dinkum, we’ve told them around 3000 white lies.

Eight of 10 parents also admitted that they told white lies in order to protect their kids, and almost half (46 percent) said they made up answers if they didn’t know the real answer to their child’s queries.

View gallery: Classic lies we tell our children

Interestingly, most parents agreed that their kids stop believing everything they were told when they were around eight years old. Until then, they took everything their parents said as gospel, repeating it to teachers, friends and other family members.

And there's another reason to be thankful for our children's ability to tell a lie — imagine how much trouble you could get in if they always told the truth? For example: "Mummy's not sick, she just doesn't like you?"

Have your kids tried to tell a porky? Share with us in the comment below some of their classic lies.