I was thinking of buying my 4 year old a games console to keep him entertained. There's a VTech one for about £50 - is that money well spent or are there better ones out there?
2007-01-24 04:45:28 · 27 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Toddler & Preschooler
It's a personal preference but my opinion is that no child that young should be playing video games.
Personally I think they should be out playing on the back yard or colouring books or playing with their toys.
Children arent children for very long so let them be children for as long as possible by playing with toys, making things, drawing, spending quality time with their families, not frying their brains on consoles.
2007-01-24 04:51:48 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I have a lil boy who will be 4 in a few months. Since he is 2 he is into computer games . He plays educational and not so educational ones LoL! But its a cool hobbie for your kid to learn and have fun also. Just limit the time he is on the computer.
As for vtech,leapfrog games,they are very good but i think they are too expensive and sometimes kids cant even understand them. For the computer there are so many things you can find without even paying and educational/ fun!
If you want a console,seems like the WII is becoming popular with kids and keeps them active,especially the sport ones.
Good luck!
2007-01-24 05:41:13 · answer #2 · answered by mom_princess77 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
False economy. In 2-3 years it will be out of date and he wont play with it. If you're going to get him a games console, go for a proper one (a Nintendo, Playstation or XBOX). I was 4 when I got my Nintendo NES and still play on it to this day, so it won't be a wasted investment, even if games consoles such as that are a tad dearer.
Viable choices would be:
Nintendo 64 (quite old now but great fun)
Sony Playstation (same)
Nintendo Wii (surely you have heard of this, it's brilliant)
PS2 (RSI is risky with a badly designed controller)
PS3 (you could buy 9 VTech consoles for the price of this)
Or a hand held console like a Nintendo DS might be good.
2007-01-24 04:58:13 · answer #3 · answered by Rick G 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
I started allowing my kids at the age of 2 experiment with the computer and video games. I will play with them and help them when they need help, they are now 6 and 8 and have their own console and they love to play when it is rainy outside. But their time on it is closely monitored and the games are chosen for the content and they are not allowed to play more than an hour at a time and never on school days. It helps a lot with hand and eye control, It has realy helped them learn letters math, reading, ect.
I think as with anything as long as you as the parent are 100% involved with them doing whatever they do and do not use it as a babysitter that it is OK.
On the system we have a game cube and they have game boys and leap pad. So I'm not sure on the one you have chosen.
2007-01-24 04:57:30 · answer #4 · answered by mudd_grip 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
My 5 yr old daughter has all of the so called video game consoles for children but I think the best and the one she gets the most use out of is my PC. We bought her hooked on phonics last year and she absolutely loves it! She feels like a "big girl" playing on Mommy's PC and it helped her to start reading before she was 5! I now have my 2 yr old son starting to play on the PC. He goes to Nick Jr and plays Blues Clues, Dora and Backyardigan games. (next year he'll start the hooked on phonics) There are also plenty of other educational CD/DVD Roms out there too.
2007-01-24 05:38:23 · answer #5 · answered by pamomof4 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As a mum, I would say that a leapster is a good introduction to games, as it is like a younger version of a nintendo ds, but they outgrow it quickly. I've never seen the v-tech that you mention, but for that price I would rather buy a gameboy as it will last for years and you can get cheap 2nd hand games, many suitable for a 4 year old.
2007-01-24 05:01:20 · answer #6 · answered by Twisty 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NO get paper, pens, glue, paint, go to the park,and have spend some time with your son as he goes to school shortly and you will wish you had spent that time playing with him rather than him sitting in front of a tv and game console
2007-01-27 18:51:13 · answer #7 · answered by gillian b 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was in the same position as you at Christmas and bought the v tech one and the art studio,its OK but not if they are used to playing on computer my daughter is 4 and after a few days went back to the lap top to play on BRATZ and POLLY POCKET. Children are some much more computer friendly and although we don't allow her on for long spells it is amazing how quickly she has increased her skills which helps her at pre school nursery. HOPE THIS HELPS
2007-01-24 07:18:10 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My son's got that v-tech one. It's really good because the games are educational without them really realising it! He's had it since he was 3 or 4 and he still plays it now (he's 6) even though he's got a gameboy advance and PC games as well now.
...and to 'yeah but no but' you can't take them to the park in the freezing rain and in the dark! A variety of activities is good. There's no harm in a little educational and recreational gaming as long as that's not all they do.
2007-01-24 04:50:31 · answer #9 · answered by KB 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
V-tech V-smile is good but alternate that w/books and trips outside or else he'll grow up like the rest of today's youth...dependant on an electronic devise for fun. Make sure you show him how to entertain himself by using his imagination to do things like draw pictures, make up funny stories. You can also get him some board games.
2007-01-24 04:53:04 · answer #10 · answered by Erin R 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋