My 6 year old, supervised, can play and do fairly well at some handheld games; my husband has a DS Lite and my son plays some of the Big Brain Academy games at the easiest level. He’s also played Vexed at the children’s level on my Palm. I’d like to get him a system of his own with age appropriate games. Would a DS be a good choice or should I go with a Game Boy? My knowledge of handheld game systems is almost nonexistent; I bought my husband’s DS based on recommendations from Dopers.
The 3 year old wouldn’t be able to handle something that small. I was thinking Leapster or VTech. Does anyone have any recommendations?
A DS would be the perfect choice for a six year old. He’ll grow into many of the system’s great games in a few years and the DS’ foldable design makes it almost indestructible.
Well, Miller, anything for you. And it has nothing to do with the fact that the sig I never use (see below) has your name in it.
Opal, the thing is that I’d rather it not be attached to the tv. We limit their tv watching (just like we would limit their game-playing), so we’d like to avoid more excuses to sit in front of the tv. Plus handhelds are portable, which would be nice in the car, or on a plane (we’re heading for Florida in February).
Justin_Bailey, thanks. I was leaning towards the DS, partly because he’s familiar with the interface already. Do you know any good games for his age group?
Any of the major Nintendo franchises would probably fit well. New Super Mario Bros, either Kirby game, Animal Crossing and Mario Kart would all be great. I’m sure he’ll want the Pokemon games in a year or two, but they might have too much reading for a 6 year old. YMMV.
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga is getting some good reviews as well (stay away from Lego Star Wars II though).
And while I can’t vouch for how good they are from an adult’s point of view, most kids will eat up any game based on their favorite cartoons or movies and the DS is full of them.
The DS can also play games from older game boy systems. My nephew is 8 now, but he’s had a DS for a couple of years. His 5 year old sister also has one. One of their favorites(and mine) is Mario Kart like Justin_Bailey suggested. Donkey Kong Country is also great.
Stay away from those V-Tech and Leapster systems. They look good at first but within a year they come out with a new version and you’re stuck with a system that they barely support. We got the regular V-Tech system for our 4 year old last year. They came out with one that has some sort of touch-pad on the controller so all the games that come out now are useless for his system unless we buy the new special controller.
My 3yo kid loves his v.Smile. Not only that, he actually learns from it! As has been said, buy the games with the console and don’t think of it as a future investment. For what they cost, you might as well think of them as disposable.
Cubsfan & Sapo: I was thinking of the Leapster as disposable, sort of. I figure when the 3 year old is bigger he could also use a DS lite. But he isn’t anywhere close to ready for that. Do you think I could get 2 - 3 year’s use out of a Leapster or VSmile?
2-3 years? certainly. I believe the Leapster is newer, so it might last longer, but I am not sure. Still, the v.Smile just had a new version come out, so it might stay. Future proof for yourself buying some extra cartridges and hiding them.
Is there a reason you want a game system for the 3 year old besides the fact that his older brother is getting one? It seems to me that opens you up to accusations of unfair parenting, and diminishes the specialness of getting a game system “when you’re older”. I’m unaware of any substantial studies showing benefits of increased screen time for preschoolers, and in my personal experience, it makes them awful twitchy and obnoxious.
But I might just be talking out my ass - my kids are so far apart in age it would be impossible to give them matching gifts. I just cringe when siblings are treated as a single unit. With that pattern established at 3, when do you break out of it and begin treating them as individuals?
The DS **is ** a GameBoy, just the newest version of it. It plays the old GameBoy games as well as the new DS games (it has two different slots for inserting the different-sized cartridges.)
I’d recommend the DS Lite over the original DS. It’s slightly sturdier. My 10-year-old son managed to damage the hinge on our original DS by dropping it on a hard floor.
My 7-year-old daughter plays a lot of virtual pet games on her DS. Last week she used her saved up allowance to buy Hamsterz Life 2, and seems to be having a lot of fun with it.
I think it is ok for a 3 year old to have a videogame, provided that it is something he really wants and that it is one of these “educational” ones. My boy asked for this like I had never seen him ask for anything. He had seen me and my BIL play our respective consoles and he just wanted to see what it was all about. His favourite game is “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree”. Very slow and relaxing, with some learning tossed in. He only gets about half an hour a day, and only if he got a “happy face” at school and he has behaved at home.
I always read what you write with great interest because you have great advice, and I understand what you’re saying, but (you knew that was coming, right?) I’ve thought that through already. It actually started the other way around–I was thinking of getting something for the 3 year old first. He’s a night owl–we can’t get him to sleep before 10:00 unless he’s flat-out exhausted, and then we’re lucky to get him down by 9:30–and I was thinking of things to keep him occupied while we’re trying to get evening chores done when he’s supposed to play quietly in his bed (we will also be getting more dry erase activity books and art supplies; he also likes to “read” books). The 6 year old is already into games and has been asking for a Game Boy or its equivalent for some time.
Their time on the handhelds would be limited (they are also limited to less than an hour of tv throughout the day). We will give them the handheld when we think it’s appropriate, for a limited amount of time, and they wouldn’t be able to take it to school or anything like that. As for treating them as a unit, we don’t. They’re very different kids, but like most younger siblings, Ben often wants to do what Aaron does, and play with whatever he’s playing with. Except when he wants to do the exact opposite, of course.
No, that’s great! I really was honestly wondering if you had a reason, not just stomping onto my soap box!
It sure looks like you do have well-thought out reasons, and you’re treating your kids as they each, individually, need to be treated, and it just so happens that there’s a congruity to the solution to their needs right now. That’s cool. My beef is with lazy parents who buy two of everything just ‘cause it’s easier, even if that means James gets stuck with trucks when he’d rather have a cookbook, because his sibling wants trucks, y’know? That’s clearly not the case here. Keep on doin’ what you’re doin’!
There’s a reason this topic is hot for me right now: last weekend, my two nieces (5 and 9) were over and their folks asked me if they could spend the night while they (the parents) went out. I said no problem, and they went to ask the girls if they wanted to stay. The younger one came over to me all forlorn, because her big sister needed some persuasion, but the little one really wanted to stay. “I don’t think I can stay, 'cause Hannah doesn’t want to,” she said sadly. “Well, you could stay and Hannah could go,” I suggested, and she looked at me like I had three heads. It was completely foreign to her, this idea that she and her sister could choose differently. Her parents treat them as a unit for everything from toys to activities to lessons, and it shows. The younger one couldn’t make up her own mind to save her life, poor thing.
So I thought the same thing might be happening here. I was wrong, so nevermind!
