Video Games for a 5 1/2 Yr Old

I have to wonder after reading some responses, why no one has mentioned whatever happened to just kids having to entertain themselves without electronics. I have a Wii and a Playstation and neither one have been touched since the first day we had them. My sister bought them for us. She also bought a Dora game for my daughter and she has never been allowed to played it. My children don't play on the computer either. When they are older and need to use it for school then fine. They play with each other, with their toys, ride their bikes inside and out, and generally runaround, sing and dance all day long. We also practice writing, learning letters, and do crafts. If I had a larger yard, they would be outside playing more than inside. They do get to watch some tv and dvd's but that's it, no computer or game systems. I didn't have any game systems nor did I have cable growing up, I played outside unless it was winter. My daughters are very imaginative and invent things with their toys that I would never dream of. Yes, there are educational game systems and I have on of those as well, tried it and thought I should be teaching my child instead of this machine so I am. I never had some toy or computer teaching me when I was small, so what's wrong with learning the old fashioned way? I am happy my children get plenty of exercise, aren't dependent on a game system, computer, tv, cell phone and won't be another statistic to the ever growing problem of childhood obesity. When my children are older and need a cell phone for safety then I will consider it but I think it's ridiculous that parents are buying their kids cell phones at such a young age and allowing them on facebook/myspace. I guess I am one of the few who feels this way and maybe that's why there is a problem.

Toss the electronics until they are old enough to troubleshoot and fully understand them -- try any other type of play, reading, family games, music, acting out a play or story -- anything...

Hi Mama-
I will say that 5 is quite young for video games. And your husband should have talked to you about it first. That being said, there are some games that are better than others. My husband bought one of them for me because grand theft auto just isn't for mummies or babies. There is a Shepherding game where your son can build a farm, feed animals, etc. There are also some very basic racing games like crash bandicoot, but you are the most qualified to determine what it too aggressive for your son. With your husband on board, I suggest you go to a used video game store and test some children's games. You can get some educational ones, too. I happen to love our playstation, but there are "adult games" that are locked away for reason.
I hope this helps.
-E.

We like the WII, it has bowling that you can do as a family and other games.

We have the wii fit plus, sports and sports resort. We like the sports resort one because me and my hubby play them together. There is wave boarding, canoeing, racket ball, frisbee etc.. It is a lot of fun. We bought it so we could get some excercise after our son goes to be. The wii fit plus has a bicycling game that you go for flags etc.

They are non violent (as far as I can tell). And it does not make a couch potato video play kid.

Our son is too young, but once he gets a little older. He will be able to play it with us.

I would have to identify myself as rabidly anti-video games primarily as they are such a time-waster. In Xmas 2008 my mother-in-law really wanted to buy the Wii system for us. I didn't want it but my husband said that if we didn't like it we could just not use it. So we got it and and girls use it once in a blue moon. I, too, don't know how to set it up so they can only use it with my husband and they often get to frustrated using it (my 7 YO) that my daughter's will bicker and they it's not very fun for anyone. However, I do let my daughters' use the computer and visit web sites such as Starfall (reading website), American Girl (games), My Little Pony (games), and Bella Sara (games). I, personally, am happier with them playing these on-line video games than the Wii. I feel lucky in that my daughters' would rather play together with their plastic animals than use the computer. My husband just started playing an on-line video game in Jun 2009 and he now plays it daily -for him it's very addictive.

From being young my boys had a gamecube and now have a wii - most of the games are 'adventure' type; finding 'jewels' etc. Plus of course there is the whole wii fit/sports games which encourage actual physical activity!

I was horrified when DH taught my 4 year old to play video games. He is 5 1/2 now, and I'm over it. I regulate when and for how long, and which games. We got Nintendo Wii for Christmas and the only games we have for it are the Wii fit plus, and Wii sports. Both are very physical and great exercise. The Wii is the system you have to stand up and physically manipulate so it keeps you moving.

In our home situation we have no yard, and no real outdoor areas. This gives him physical activity at home. He gets some at school too of course, but Loves to compete with Daddy and me on the Wii. We've had more family play time since we got this than you can imagine. I hope we all continue to play. The 1 1/2 year old Loves it too and gets in there and cheers for us etc.

I'm not a big fan of video games. Maybe it's because I suck so horribly at them. My daughter had Mario brothers when she was really little, but she only played it when her older step brothers visited to show her how and play too. Mario Brothers was pretty innocuous. My son got a play station years ago and he rarely played games with it. He by no means was addicted or anything and had more fun seeing how bad I was at it. My son got lots of games at Game Stop. You can buy them used and really cheap. My son loves fishing and I got him a fishing game that I swear is just like sitting on the bank of a river waiting, waiting, waiting for a fish to swim by. He didn't mind. There are lots of educational games for kids. I don't see anything wrong with those, in moderation.
If your son doesn't follow the rules of time limits, etc, or gets mad when it's time to be done, that's a sign he's not ready. My friend's son was terrible about that. It got to where she had to unplug and hide everything because a trip to the bathroom would end up in him getting caught playing a video game. My neighbors have Wii for their grandkids when they visit, and they're REALLY little. But that's the only time they have it and they all play as a family.
I knew I'd done things the right way when somebody bought my son a game for his birthday. My son put it in and within 5 minutes said it was too violent for him and wanted to trade it in. That let me know my son wouldn't just play something for the sake of playing it. And I was glad.
Not all video games are bad.
Now that I think of it, I'll have to ask what it was, but my friends had one that had monkeys playing bongo drums and you repeated what they played, kind of like the Simon game. That was pretty fun! We all played that one. Even me.
You can set the bar high for your children and still let them have fun with appropriate video games now and then.

Best wishes!

Our boys got a PS2 a year ago Christmas, they are currently 8 and 6. I love the PS2 because you can get lots of used games for really cheap! There are lots of games that are available that are not violent. My boys like Hockey, football, Nascar. They have a couple of "Cars" racing games. They also have a few more "violent" games from Lego, Starwars, Batman and Indiana Jones, which they are not allowed to play if their behavior becomes bad. But there are tons of sports games that you can get, and if you get an older year they are dirt cheap. I bought 2001 Hockey for $1.99!

Well, I don't "hate it with a passion" though I've never been a big fan of video games either, always seemed like a waste of time to me. However, this is something my husband and son have always enjoyed doing together, ever since my son was old enough to manipulate the controller! He's now 16 years old, does very well in school, has lots of friends and is a long distance runner. And he and his father STILL spend lots of time gaming together. It just seems to be how they like to spend their downtime, so who am I to judge? They are together, they're talking. I've heard more than one of my son's friends comment that "it's so cool your dad likes to play. "I would say, as long as the games are age appropriate and your son is getting enough playtime doing other things (which it sounds like he is) then cut them some slack. Let them have some FUN, not every hour of the day needs to be educational :)

my son loves his star wars lego game for his playstation 2, also a quad/motocycle game. They are clean and fun.
good luck
-R.

I agree with you about video games in general and especially about a 5 1/2 year old being way too young. I ultimately lost that battle with my ex husband and am not happy at all with how gaming from a young age (7 and 10) has affected my adult children. I tried to make the best of it and have read all of Sandra Dodd's pro-gaming articles, but they ring pretty hollow to me.

I totally agree that the whole thing needs to go. You can tell your husband that you received this advice from someone who "compromised" and deeply regrets not standing firm and protecting her children. Put it on Craig's List or else take it to the dump.

((((hugs))))

My sister bought the V-Motion game system for my twin grandkids last Christmas; it's very educational with enough "video game-ness" to satisfy my grandson's desire to play games "just like the big boys". He has actually begun learning more about the alphabet and identifying numbers by playing with this system. The controllers will work either just like the adult game systems OR by motion (tipping them side-to-side or front-to-back) because the little ones just don't "get" the complicated joystick controllers. They were too young to use it last year (2 1/2) but we took it out this year and they are able to use it. Fortunately, they lose interest after 1/2 hour or so. HOWEVER, they are BOTH very adept at operating iPhones to play games and if given the opportunity, will play games there for hours. For this reason, we have stopped allowing them access to the iPhones at all. The adults in our househould also only use their game system when the little ones are in bed, as most of the games are bloody (shooting) and pretty bloody.

Video games are really addictive and time consuming. Mt heart goes out to you. I hope that your husband will support your boundaries as to the time restrictions placed on your son's gaming.

Look into V-Tech or the Leap systems. They are great for kids his age. They have games that are based on the latest Disney, Nickelodeon and other shows and movies and are educational at the same time. Tell your DH that the Playstation would probably be better for him to use himself and maybe have your son join him in appropriate games when he is older.

I have had to battle which games my husband lets the boys play, but I do believe that playing video games helps to increase their hand eye coordination. He also loves to play on www.nickjr.com
Even on more advanced games he is learning things. On Spore he is learning about evolution and how to create creatures.

K.,

My step father has a playstation 2 that he bought to share with my son. I dislike gaming systems, but found that most of the games relating to Disney movies are good. I also went out and bought my 6 yo a Leapster 2 for christmas this year. They have great educational games and characters that my son loves. If you have a computer, any of the Jumpstart games are good also. Educational but fun.

I happen to agree with you, I hate video games with a passion. The only thing I can say is that there ARE ones out there that are educational. If the device has to be in your house then be willing to screen the games first, pitch the ones that cause him to react badly and put a time limit on it. You may want to consider getting a WII instead, that is what we have. At least with a WII he can physically interact with it and play games that are non-violent.

I are with you that he is a little young for video games. However, if it's something your husband enjoys doing (as does mine) it might be something they could do together. My husband has racing type games he plays with the kids (cars, motorcross, etc.). My kids also really have fun playing Rock Band (my son loves to bang on the drum set!). But I think the best "family" type gaming console is the Wii. The games are very basic (you can get old mario brother's games, Wii sports, Wii fit, etc.) and the graphics are definatly low grade. They have all kinds of silly games that you can play against each other that are non violent.

I dont have playstation or any of the other videogame systems out there - other than our computer. and a TV that only plays videos or DVD's. Our son is 7 1/2 yo now. IF we were to get a system, we would probably get a Wii because we have seen/played them at others and enjoyed them ourselves.

My son does frightenly well at finding his computer games online (I have it set to require my password and will NEVER give it to him, no matter how tempting it is to tell him so he can get himself on while my hands are busy elsewhere!) and he would play for hours if we didn't tell him to get off. (maybe kinda like us, with our mamapedia and websurfing and all that??)

Anyway, I noticed from a young age, before he was 3 even, that whenever he had a long spell of watching movies on TV (like 2 or more in a row), he would be especially difficult to deal with afterwards. I learned to limit his screen time (tv or computer) to just an hour (or just one 2-hr movie) or I'd pay for it by having to put up with his grouchiness and general bad attitude afterwards.

That first summer (and another a year or two later) when I realized he was in front of the screen most of the time, I had to stop and break the habit, and boy, that would be a really rough week, where the first day or two, he is grouchy as can be and does not know how to entertain himself, and is whiny and bugging me to death!! but then he starts to play with his legos and look at his books again and by the end of the week, he is not even asking for a movie.

My son likes computer games and I do watch and make sure they are appropriate - his favorites are playhouse disney, popcap games, lego.com... He is funny he will try to get me to sit down and play but I *dont* need a "timewaster" smile. Now that he is 7 1/2 yo, we do have conversations every so often on why we watch the amount of time we spend in front of the computer (or any screen - TV, etc) Compare it to days he didn't have tv/computer and played and did so much, etc. Teach him about all the ways that time is "stolen" from us, and how we need to control what we do. etc.

To me it sounds like you're on the right track. Play games that are acceptable, for limited amounts of time, as a "reward" after doing things he needs to have done first, in between soccer,baseball and play dates. Keep that bar high for your son, and do let him have fun sometimes!

Yeah......our kids our living in a very electronic time, it's very difficult to deny them. I hear your complaints and agree with your argument, however, I think you need to find a way to teach your 5 yr old responsibility with gaming systems because it's going to be hard to tear him away from it........and by the sound it.....your hubby will have the most difficult time :O)I'm sure this was more about your hubby than your son :o)

It sounds like the game they are playing is too old for your son, however, there are games out there that are age-appropriate. If you go to Game Crazy or Game Stop, they have used games at a discounted price for purchase. This way you can spend 1/2 the cost while you are experimenting to find the right one's for your son.

For the PS2, my boys have enjoyed Lego Indiana Jones and Lego Star Wars. Mario Bros is another favorite amoung the boys although it's frustrating for a 5yr old if he cannot figure out how to stay on the track. Dad will probably like the other on'es too, which is important :O)

In the future, after you've adjusted to having a game system in your home, you might consider purchasing a Wii. Yes, there are the typical games, but the sports games include standing off the couch and keep your player more active. My 7yr old has actually learned how to play baseball from it :o) My personal favorite Wii game is Endless ocean. They teach the kids about oceanlife.....it's peaceful and calming, too, so as a mom you don't mind listening to it :o) My 13yr old is taking what he learns on the Rock Band Guitar and applying it to his real guitar!!!! So, in a way...he is having guitar lessons :o) So, the game system is brigning music into my kids lives without even leaving the home :o) I'm all for that!

I know you're frustrated, but in today's world, your son does need to learn how to treat and use technology. Even though, I too was against the idea, my boys have been able to master technology of all sorts simply by understanding how to hookup their game systems.

My vote is to go and get 2-3 games that are age-apprpriate for your son and teach him the difference about what he is allowed to play, and what he is NOT allowed to play. At 5, he can begin to understand and learn to make "good choices" to avoid getting into trouble simply by having a game system.

I'm sure you were looking for a different response to help support your need to get the game system out of your home, but actually, I love having it in the home now. About 1 day a month, I can say, "OK.....you ar eonly allowed to play video games today...".....this allows me to keep my home clean ONCE a month :o)

Have fun with it!

~N. :o)

I am not a big supporter of video games for a child that age. When we finally gave in many years ago our children are older, there were very strict rules around play!

I do not think Play station 2 is one that you would want to have for a family. I think Wii is great, it has family games and games more appropriate for a young child. That is if your husband and you agree to having another one. And again, this should come with limited play time.

We have a Wii that we just got this year for Christmas. My kids are 8, 7, 4, 2 and a baby. Everyone but the baby plays with the Wii. Even the 2 year old is given a remote and she thinks she's playing and that is good enough for her. However the Wii is limited to weekends and days without school or rainy afternoons after homework is done. We only have a few games that are all rated E. We also have a V-Smile that we have had since the oldest was 4. It has gone in and out of favor but honestly we wished we'd never bought it. My oldest is a little slower with hand eye coordination and all the games for the characters he liked were hard for him. He wasn't interested in Bob the Builder, Elmo or Dora games. The kids have had some good times with it though. Two years ago the oldest two insisted they wanted a Nintendo DS. We got them Leapsters instead and they have got quite a bit of use out of those. The 7 year old still plays with hers.

My sister's kids are 9, 4 and 2 and they have multiple games systems. Dad really enjoys them. The 4 yo has been playing on the Play Station since he was 2 1/2 but he only plays a motorcross game and a Spiderman game. He also has his own DS. Her son hits more than my 4 yo son but is that video games or just personality. My son whines more. She was having some big problems with video games for awhile with her son until they made really clear rules. Only dad can turn on the Play Station. Whining or throwing fits will make the Play Station off limits for the rest of the day. The hardest part was getting dad to go along with the rules.