Good games on Wii for 3 year old

The Game Room
#1

Our daughter will be turning 3 in a couple of months and we’ve thought about getting a Wii for the fun of it. Are there any good games for a 3 year old? I don’t know how much she will like playing games now as we don’t have anything for her to play.

She does sometimes like to play with my arcade game, but she doesn’t do much but move around. She knows a few numbers a letters and if they have learning games that would be the way to go I think. Other then that I don’t know what kinds of games, if any are out there for a young girl.

#2

Most of the educational games like Big Brain Academy, are better for older kids, who can read and react to instructions. If you have the time to commit, you can play those WITH her, as long as you rephrase the questions. It is kinda tough.

My 3 year old enjoyed watching her older sisters play Zelda Wind Waker, and she liked moving around the character into the boat, out of the boat, etc. But actually accomplishing tasks is beyond her.

#3

Three is way too young to play video games, especially modern, complex ones. She would be more interested in what happens to the $60 controller when she hits mom’s favorite lamp with it.

#4

Unless the parents or older kids are wanting a Wii anyway, I would not buy one for a three-year-old. My two-year-old son has figured out the bowling game in Wii sports, but spends half the time asking me to switch it to one of the other games, which he cannot really play. He can at least participate in some of the events in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games and in Carnival Games, but he really can’t do much.

#5

I would say this is more dependent on the three year old in question. Your average three year old can enjoy the simpler Wii games as long as he or she has enough physical coordination to handle the remote itself. Three is not too young to learn how to respect a game console and controllers, and in the case of the Wii remote, it’s designed to stand up to some punishment when encased in the jacket.

The Wii Play games are really easy, and my three year old has a great deal of fun with four of them (in order of most to least proficient): Shooting Range, Laser Hockey, Charge! and Tanks. He’s not quite got the hang of Fishing or Pose Mii yet, but I think those will be next on the list (if he manages to master Billiards, I’ll put him on YouTube - I can’t play that one to save my own life). The main problem he has is in manipulating both buttons at the same time, because his hands aren’t big enough to span the controller and reach the A button while still being able to press the B trigger. Games like Shooting Range and Laser Hockey are best, since he only has to push one button or wave the remote back and forth to move the paddle. He occasionally has trouble when he forgets to point the remote at the sensor bar, but we can correct him easily and get his cursor back on the screen since we’re always playing the game right along with him.

He enjoys watching us play Boom Blox, although he can’t play it himself since he can’t master the timing involved in “holding and releasing” the balls, blocks, and other implements.

I don’t think I would buy one exclusively for a three year old’s use. It’s not really something you can sit them down in front of while you wash the dishes or do the laundry. That said, if you were interested in buying it anyway for your own entertainment, and you’re willing to play it with her the same way you’d play a game of Chutes and Ladders, I’d say go for it. You’ll probably have fun with the games on your own, and the older she gets, the more she’ll be able to accomplish with it.

#6

My three year old niece is quite good at Wii bowling–in fact had for a while a game she called “playing wii” in which she set up “bowling pins” (kitchen toys) and knocked them down with a mini-soccer ball. She’s less consistant than her older sister, and has an exasperating habit of knocking down pins while bouncing on a trampoline facing the wrong direction.
Some of the other Wii sports she can also play, or at least the Wii training versions-- I don’t thinnk Daddy’s let the kids try out the Wii Fitness Test which gives you an Age.

She also likes the “vroom-vroom” game (MarioKart), although the only way she comes in other than last place is if sitting on someone’s lap, with that person doing most of the steering. If on Daddy’s lap, she’s quite happy and successful. On my lap, not so much. (I’m not as good as Daddy is at the Vroom Vroom game without a wiggle-y three year old. Big sis (5 and a half) is capable of winning some of the easier races against computer opponents.

Bloom Blox was purchased with the idea that the girls would like it, but their hands aren’t steady enough, and they find it frustrating. It might be better with the new, high-def television replacing the old blurry one, but if Daddy’s tried it, I wasn’t around. And the big problem is that one can’t jerk the controller around, and small children tend to. Plus, they don’t get the strategy–I get the strategy but don’t play it enough to be good. Daddy does both.

The Wii was a gift for Daddy on his birthday, and he enjoys playing it with his girls or by himself (or with me or anyone else he can sucker into it). His wife views it as an addiction, but admits to being an enabler (guess who bought the Wii?) While thoughts of what games his girls might like influenced the choice of MarioKart over whatever else is out there (I honestly don’t know), no games marketed at children have as yet been purchased. On the other hand, Daddy’s only had the game for 3 months, so who knows what the future may bring.

#7

We weren’t going to get the Wii just for the little one, mostly for the adults and I was hoping there would be something for the 3 year old. We’ll have to think about it, and find one first I guess. I wonder if she’d understand bowling, I’ve thought of getting her a plastic set, maybe I will, though it might result in mostly bumps on the head for the baby.

#8

My 3 1/2 year old nephew is a whiz at Mario Cart, and my 4 year old niece isn’t bad (but she does tend to need help). They rarely win, generally coming in 11th or 12th, but they don’t care and love playing “turnna wheel and pusha bunt.” (My nephew used to have trouble with “button.”) My niece also customizes the Miis on it extensively, and likes to play tennis and baseball (part of the Wii Sports package). I don’t know if she bowls, but it wouldn’t surprise me.

That said, I don’t think her sister, who just turned 3 earlier in October, plays much at all, or if she does, it’s of the very short attention span type variety of playing. I think a lot of it depends on how or old or “advanced” (for lack of a better word) your daughter is: if she’s closer to four, she’ll probably do better. (Of course, I bought Cart for my nephew for his third birthday, so there you are. He’s pretty smart, though. But I’m probably biased.)

I did see a kitten type game for the Wii earlier this year at Toys R Us - I don’t know how much gameplay it actually had (probably some); it looked more like a “build a kitten” game, which I think my older niece would get a kick out of. Maybe try one of the toy stores in your area instead of a GameStop or BestBuy - they might have a selection that’s more targeted to younger kids.

#9

Honestly, as a gamer chick and mom to 2 little gamers-in-training, now 8 and 11, at 3 they weren’t really coordinated enough to play video games. They often like to watch and “help”, though.

At 3.5-4, though, they got REALLY into my old 8-bit Nintendo and Mario games. Side scrollers seem easier for the little nippers when they are starting out. The plus is, you can pick up one of these and a wad of games for under $100.