My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

AIBU?

To ask when did your child stop playing with toys?

109 replies

Forthepurposesofthetape · 08/04/2019 09:07

My dd is seven and in year 2 and loves imaginative play with dolls and play figures or whatever you give her, she's always making characters and stories. I was talking to a couple of mums at the school gate whose children are in dd's year and they said how hard it is to buy birthday presents for their children because they don't play with toys any more. I felt genuinely surprised, it did seem quite young to grow out of toys. I'm sure I was still playing with toys when I was ten! I'm just obviously letting dd do what she likes but I am a little curious as to whether it's something they do grow out of a bit more quickly nowadays.

OP posts:
Report
Aroundtheworldin80moves · 08/04/2019 09:09

DD1 is in Yr3 and all her friends love Lego, Barbie, LOL, Shopkins....

Report
Bigearringsbigsmile · 08/04/2019 09:11

i think some kids do because of bloody games consoles and phones etc

you keep going with the toys for as long as possible-100% better for kids in every single way.

Report
Forthepurposesofthetape · 08/04/2019 09:13

That's nice to hear!! One of the mums was getting her child a science kit and a load of educational books for her birthday. I'm sure the child would enjoy that but it did all sound a bit serious!

OP posts:
Report
PetuniaPetunia · 08/04/2019 09:13

I think some parents encourage their children not to play with toys when they get to that age as they see it as being "grown up" and they are worried their children might be teased for being "babyish". Very sad.

Report
Breathingfire · 08/04/2019 09:15

My friend recently said she was struggling to buy for her 4yo as she spends so much time on HER ipad. I was gutted for her child. I hope my dd I'd still playing with toys at 10. Shes got a fantastic imagination which I hope to nurture

Report
Camomila · 08/04/2019 09:16

I got microscope and a children's encyclopaedia for I think my 9th or 10th birthday. I asked for both! I wanted to be a scientist when I grew up.

I still played with my Lego and Barbie's too.

I got my Barbie's out and sneakily played with them till about 13 Blush

Report
RicStar · 08/04/2019 09:18

I think it's personality/ play style as much as anything dd nearly 7 has never really been into small world or collections or dolls et isn't in to lego etc etc she likes dress up / play schools with her soft toys and board games. She is harder to buy for than her brother who gets really excited by a new lego set/ new car track etc of which there are many many many sets you can buy. Dd wants to play with people rather than stuff. She still likes presents though - just head scratchy on what to buy that will be used. Ds is much better at amusing himself with toys. Luckily they also play together a lot.

Report
Nat6999 · 08/04/2019 09:19

I was still buying DS toys at that age, he loved Lego, still does at 15 but has graduated to bigger sets & limited edition collectors builds. Children grow up too fast, let them be children for as long as they want to be.

Report
Broken11Girl · 08/04/2019 09:20

Wow, y2 is young Sad
No kids that age yet but from memory I played with a variety of toys until about y4-5, then gradually lost interest in everything but Barbies...Barbies remained until about 13yo, both alone and with friends, we'd style them and act out storylines from Byker Grove, Grange Hill, soaps...suffice to say Barbie and Ken were put in some compromising positions Grin but properly playing with toys until 9 or 10 so yes, not playing with them in y2 is sad.

Report
Harib0 · 08/04/2019 09:27

My 10 year old still plays with shopkins/lol/polly pocket/lego, some of her friends still do but a lot don’t anymore. My 12 year old doesn’t play at all

Report
LIVIA999 · 08/04/2019 09:29

My DD stopped playing a long time ago probably year five or six of primary. She's very creative so preferred making things from cardboard boxes etc.
My DS is about to be 11 and still loves Lego, little figures etc. He always has a figure in his pocket when we go out.

Report
arseabouttit · 08/04/2019 09:32

I think it's partly to do with the iPads etc nowadays, but I also think all children are very different and play differently.

For example my elder two DCs were never especially great at playing / imaginative play etc. They would get Lego and enjoy building it but then not really "play" with it very much. DS 1 (now14) always enjoyed sporty activities and still does. Dd loves to dance and sing and paint (still does), never into dolls but did love the play kitchen etc and until she was about 10 would happily play "teachers" or "beauty parlour" and do dressing up. Actually DS1 also enjoyed dressing up & action hero role play until he was about 8.

DS 2 (now 7) has a much better imagination and can spend ages just playing imaginary games on his own with little more than a stick for a prop. In fact he has always used random objects in his play, not necessarily toys 😁. He hates jigsaws and things like that - probably due to his dyslexia. He also plays with stuffed / soft toys in a way my other two never did. Conversely he's not that into dressing up.

I've pretty much always followed their lead and any other toys that they didn't really want never got played with.

I think you just have to let them be who they are - you can suggest things or point them to things but you can't make them play a certain way!

Both Ds's enjoyed card collecting (DS1 football and DS 2 Pokemon!)

In summary all "played" until about 10/11 ( 7 yo still playing) just quite differently and not necessarily with "toys". They still enjoy their interests.

Report
LovelyTeacakes · 08/04/2019 09:38

I think it depends on the child. My older 3 have never been hugely into toys. My daughter plays a lot of imaginative games but they are just acted out with friends rather than using toys. She loves craft, puzzles and reading.

My younger daughter however will spend hours playing with toys and setting up world's etc.

Report
CornishYarg · 08/04/2019 09:39

DS is also Y2 and enjoys playing with toys and games. But I've heard several school parents saying their children don't play with toys any more as they just want to play on their iPad or console. Sometimes DS comes home from playing at their houses and says it wasn't great as the other child just played Minecraft or FIFA the whole time. When they come to ours, they generally seem to enjoy playing together but I do get the odd child moaning about the lack of a console.

Report
Knickersononeshead · 08/04/2019 09:42

DD11 stopped playing with toys about 9. Ds10 still plays with lego and some other stuff like dinosaurs.

Report
CornishYarg · 08/04/2019 09:44

And yy to previous posters that playing looks very different depending on the child. DS has never been big on imsginative play. He loved his train track but it was all about building the track and coming up with different designs, rather than making up stories. Similarly, he likes building Lego rather than playing with the models. He's also a big fan of jigsaws and board games. He just seems to prefer more "structure" in his playing!

Report
Catsandbootsandbootsandcats · 08/04/2019 09:44

None of mine were ever really into toys. I wasted so much money on hem over the years.

Science stuff and books though, they absolutely love! My twins were really into dressing up too, but found shops don't really stock them for over 8s so they kind of stopped.

Now they're teenagers they like screens and still love all sorts of books and science stuff.

Report
grasspigeons · 08/04/2019 09:49

The day we got an x box. (Only joking a bit) the 9 year old still plays with toys but the 11 year old doesnt

Report
ItsAllGone19 · 08/04/2019 10:21

My eldest is 12 and still plays with toys. I admit we haven't bought new ones for years because we felt it pointless if she was going to outgrow them soon...but she still happily plays with what she has which is beautiful to watch and listen to it's also a lesson in consumerism for us!

She has a couple of like minded friends, but they are very aware of the 'uncool' status of being toy players so it's almost like an underground club. The first rule of Toy Club is nobody talks about Toy Club kind of thing.

Report
Tawdrylocalbrouhaha · 08/04/2019 10:27

The first rule of Toy Club is nobody talks about Toy Club kind of thing.

This made me laugh. I was exactly like this! And see my Toy Club friends are still my friends 30 years later.

Report
CornishYarg · 08/04/2019 10:33

The first rule of Toy Club is nobody talks about Toy Club kind of thing.

So true! My friend and I still played with our Sindy dolls after all our other friends had stopped. We decided to keep quiet about it but reassured ourselves that we weren't immature, as we played with them in a very grown-up way Grin

Report
HoHoHolyCow · 08/04/2019 10:36

My two DC (age 9 and 6) are currently playing a long imaginative game with their cuddly toys.

Weirdly though they have only recently started playing like this. I got rid of all of the plastic figures/playsets we owned as they just gathered dust and made me feel like a bad parent whose children didn't like imaginative play!

They still prefer board games and card games etc but do now love a game of cuddly toys!

Report

Newsletters you might like

Discover Exclusive Savings!

Sign up to our Money Saver newsletter now and receive exclusive deals and hot tips on where to find the biggest online bargains, tailored just for Mumsnetters.

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

Parent-Approved Gems Await!

Subscribe to our weekly Swears By newsletter and receive handpicked recommendations for parents, by parents, every Sunday.

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

Eyja · 08/04/2019 10:37

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

missteddy · 08/04/2019 10:39

Nothing wrong with toys! When I was 13/14 I'd be playing in the park wit my friends pretending to be grown up! Then I'd go home and play with my dolls or dolls house 😂

Report
CuppaSarah · 08/04/2019 10:39

My mum is still buying me toys every now and then Blush

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.