Do children change what they like once they start school?

[olibeansmummy]

Hiya, it's my first Christmas post of 2013 already :)

I usually start my Christmas shopping in sept, but this year ds is starting school in sept. So my question is; do children tend to change their interests once they start school and start interacting with older children? Should I leave it a but later this year?

[lunar1]

Ds1 became very aware of girls and boys toys within about a week! He didn't have any opinion before but now he would never play with a girls toy. It actually shocked me, though ds2 is happy as he now has the pink pushchair all to himself.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

They change completely once they start school (in a good way )

My DS has his birthday in December so when he was little - he's 13 now- i used to buy all his presents and divide them up so he got a few 'better' presents for his birthday, then the smaller presents for Christmas importance seemed to be the bigger pile. And one 'Big Box' present.

I don't buy presents till late Nov/ Dec but stocking gifts and Christmas Eve Hampers starts as soon as they go back to school.

[mirry2]

Yes their food preferences change. I was shocked at how 'yuck' entered my first born's vocabulary within weeks of starting school.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

I've never bought my DCs presents more than about 6-8 weeks before Christmas for this reason, even before they started school. Some interests have persisted, but others have been dropped quite suddenly.

[olibeansmummy]

Thanks guys, I'll hold off for a while then. He's an only child and only just 4 so still likes younger characters like Peppa Pig while I know that some of the children with older brothers and sisters are already in to Ben 10 etc.

I know what he's getting for his main present as it's "grown up" anyway but wait for the extras to see what he's into.

He's already changing so much, even the way he speaks is changing, he's growing into a proper child now! [wobble]

[Littlemousewithcloggson]

Dd didn't change her main interests - peppa and hello kitty- when she started school last year but did ask for a lot of new things they had in reception, puppets, stilts, etc that I would not have thought of before

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

olibean I remember when my PFB started Reception.
His first 'school' Christmas (he was 5yo) he wanted Power Rangers and "ventures" (adventures- which was going out in the forest)

He'll find lots of new things from his classmates.

And your school will (hopefully) do a Christmas Fayre

Where you can stand in the freezing cold for half an hour waiting to get in. To be crushed by the crowds. Not get near enough to the stalls to see anything and spent 50p on a cake that your DS will eat the decorations from.

[DTisMYdoctor]

DS is starting school soon too, so I'm holding off a bit to see what he likes. He's already 5 and is massively into lego city and lego Star Wars stuff and I can't imagine that changing. Someone got him a teenage mutant ninja turtle for his birthday which he was quite taken with so waiting to see if that develops into anything.

[SpinningSpider]

My daughter started reception last year and I thought the same but she is still almost completely brand unaware.

Apart from her Hello Kitty obsession.

[HappyAsEyeAm]

Depends on the child. DS1 stared reception last September, and lots of his classmates are into Ben 10, Moshi Moshi, Spiderman, Batman etc. DS1 still doesn't really understand what any of them are, although he can recognise Batman as being Batman, Spiderman as being Spiderman etc. He just doesn't gravitate towards them or have any interest in them. He is completely brand unaware, except for Thomas The Tank Engine, which has made him 100% train obsessed. Not that I imagine it will stay this way forever!

He is still into pretend play, roleplay, CBeebies programmes (we don't have Sky or anything, so he has no idea what things like jake and the pirates are or whatever) like Peter Rabbit and Get Well Soon etc.

I found that his likes and dislikes for toys didn't change at all. But he did say things like "I am off blueberries/strawberries/raspberries" or whatever food that he honestly really likes because he took a shine to what some of the other children had in their lunchboxes and he would rather have what they're given!

[shelley72]

Mine did. This time last year he had never heard of star wars and now he is obsessed . Also claims to like things that to my knowledge we've never watched eg Ben 10, power rangers. Some interests still exist -dinosaurs, history, space, trains. Still mostly watches cbeebies and milk shake but is allowed to watch HH because we like it.

Will be holding off buying Christmas presents until nearer the time this year in case we make any expensive mistakes. Could not believe the price of star wars Lego!