Do your 6 year olds still like toys?

[greenmeansNogo]

Since my DS started year one he doesn't seem into toys. I feel now there's no play with items ( apart from climbing, football, ball games and running about the playground) that he just seems so grown up. I loved toys, but maybe as I didn't have many growing up. Do your 6 year olds play with toys still or ask for toys in the toy shop?

My older children played with toys until they first had access to consoles etc, probably about 9-10. I had hoped to do the same with my now 7 year old but it was a difficult ideal for keep up with what with everything during the pandemic so she doesn’t play with toys anything as much as they did or even enjoy outings etc like they did. Definitely hoping to reduce the gaming/ipad use and for summer makes that easier, although the most difficult thing is then dealing with the inevitable subsequent sibling squabbles!!

Yes but only if I make them. There 7 and 9- older one plays with his figures but only at bed time and both play with their hot wheel cars. through the day they mainly like to play imaginary games, usually getting pillows and making dens or chasing each other round with their nerf guns. they both love their switches/ps5 and older one would play on it all day if I let him, but I do make them come off and then they will play.

9 and 6 year olds here, and they play with toys all the time. We are low tech, I don't mind TV time and infact don't limit it as they are pretty good at regulating it themselves, regularly leaving it to go and play. But they don't get to do much in the way of playing on tablets or consoles. We have a tablet thanks to lockdown but they only go on it very occasionally to play a racing game. They get 30 mins each. I'd say they might go on it once a month although I know older DS would love to go on it every day! We also now have a wii, which is mine (to prevent fall out!!). Again that's a once a month kind of thing.
I do notice that those who have consoles or tablets at an earlier age and use them regularly tend to be the ones who don't play with toys earlier. I guess it is only natural. I wanted mine to play with toys rather than tech, so that's what I have encouraged. Not saying either way is better btw.

@ToiletGambles

This thread makes me sad. Not getting at any of you parents or your kids at all but it seems such a young age to stop being interested in toys, how the world is changing!

It is the tech/gaming completely, it is really sad tbh. When I used to say to my older children aged 8-9 we were going out somewhere they would be super excited but now the younger ones would rather stay in on the iPad. It does make life relatively easy when they’re just happy on their iPads all day and none of the sibling squabbles or boredom used to get with the older ones and with all the lockdowns etc to have coped with and just life in general with work and stress etc it’s easy to fall into way of making life easier. However though it is an addiction for them too. Think our 7 year old’s started tech use during the stress of concurrent periods of the household having to covid isolate (when it used to be for 10+ days) have reduced my hours at work and made other changes to hopefully make it easier to start reducing the screen time

DC2 is 7 and still plays with toys, especially sylvanian families (DC1 is 10 and also likes to play with her sister’s sylvanian families) and other little plastic toys. She also loves board games and drawing. She likes playing minecraft on the Nintendo and watching annoying you tubers play minecraft too, but I restrict time spent doing that so she plays or draws instead.

7 year old son likes:lego, drawing, doing puzzle books, running around, riding bike, collecting fossils. So not toys exactly - he was never really in to small world play apart from the odd tractor - but he’s not had any tech yet and keeps himself occupied with these.

Yes all the time. Dressing up, small world with cuddly toys, Lego (Lego & more Lego!), zoobs, magna tiles, loads of imaginary games with older sibling (usually fighting dragons or zombie hoards )

My nearly 14 yr old has only given up playing in the last year (& she still often joins in with younger siblings small world/toy food type games albeit briefly )

Dtds are 10 and still play with toys but I always wonder if that’s because every night is like a playdate whereas a dc the same age would be less inclined to play alone. Sylvanians, babies, barbies, my little ponies seem to be staying for the foreseeable.

Maybe it is because he has screens? My dc 8 and 6 play with toys a lot. The older one lives tv but the younger one can't sit still, and they have no consoles or devices. They play with lego, sylvanian families, soft toys, farmyard, playmobile, dolls, all sorts.

My 14 year old gets dragged into Queen and servant games a lot! She pretends it because dtds made her but she secretly loves it

Hey my 9 year old loves toys still but also loves getting her nails/toes done etc so it’s abit of both x

My 6 and 9yo definitely still play with toys - there is an elaborate playmobil world laid out on the playroom floor that I've had to swear that I won't touch while they're in bed in case I ruin it.

Favourites have always been playmobil, as they've got older Lego has snuck in, and DD2 who is only just 6, properly loves a baby doll/barbie still.

We don't restrict screen time at all but we do make sure that they've got lots of options of things to do that aren't screen time. We also do a lot of crafty bits - packs from Hobbycraft, colouring-in printables, kinetic sand (is that craft? Probably not), junk modelling. My house is always a tip but I like to think that they have varied interests!

My daughter is 6 and LOVES all her toys. Barbies, Lego, soft toys, playmobil. She plays for hours and hours

I know a 6 year old obsessed with their console. Glad it isn’t my 6 year old though - she definitely still plays with toys. I think it depends on what options you’re given as well as personality type.

I have a 5yo (also in yr1 and a Summer born) and a 7yo (in yr3). They both still play with a lot of toys, but will also choose to take themselves off to read, write a story or play in the garden as well as screen time. They play mostly with the Lego and Playmobil (together), Sylvanians, Barbies, dolls, or Gravitrax. The 5yo also enjoys dressing up and doing jigsaws (not necessarily at the same time!).
I think it must be down to personalities too TBH. DD1 has always been less into toys than DD2, and will only really play with them if she has a playmate. If her sister is out, she will tend to follow the adult around wanting to help or do some reading or writing. DD2 will happily play for hours with toys either by herself or with others. I don't think screens influence it too much for us, as DC get almost as much TV as they want (we occasionally have to say to turn it off and do something else, but not often), yet choose to fill many more hours a week in screenless activities. They have an old Nintendo DS each too, but very rarely choose to play it in the house. It is saved for playing on longer car journeys or whilst their sibling is having their swimming lesson etc.

Mine all still play a lot!

Older one was never into toys though, from tiny, always dressing up and role play type games, and caring for dolls. She's easily persuaded to join the younger ones for a game of schools or games or something - I think it's good for bigger ones to get the opportunity to play properly so I try to protect that time and make sure they are undisturbed and unscrutinised to allow it to happen.

The younger ones, including my year 1, love toys - I agree with a pp about magnetic tiles, train track is still popular, farm animals and dinosaurs, Playmobil, Lego, marble run, jigsaws, cuddles, dolls, mud kitchen...I don't see that changing any time soon at all. Lots of play at school too though - tuff tray play is set up every day, with sand pit and water play and role play areas etc. Yr 1 is surely like this everywhere?

We're low tech and limited screens incl tv here at home like pp. No individual devices at all, only shared and only really for long journeys, illness or lockdowns etc. I think DC have to be bored, have to be left to their own devices, have to have unstructured time just pottering, to want to play. That can be pretty hard to achieve with both parents working, limited family time and a million other things going on.

My 6 yo step son doesn’t play with toys hasn’t done for years, neither of my SS have, too interested in their PlayStations/switches etc etc

I remember I was still playing with barbies at like 10/11 so must just be the children of today 😂

My 6 year old DSS is big into Lego and playmobi. 9 year old DS will join him in playing but tends to lean towards card games/board games/chess etc rather than toys now

Mine does, but again we have no tech except TV and he has a younger sibling which I think helps. DC1 had a friend over for a play date recently who is an only child and apparently gave up playing with trains ages ago, but they both got really into an elaborate game with DC2’s train tracks. I can see that if your six year old is the youngest of three it might be harder to steer them away from tech and towards toys.

My DS loves magnetic tiles, trains, cars, marble run and will even play Paw Patrol rescues with his little sister (pretending he’s doing it under sufferance but secretly loving it!).

I think it’s child to child, or maybe a particular type of toy needs to be found.

Ds is 2, he’s still never started playing with ‘toys’ much yet, so it’s slightly intriguing that maybe he never will?
He has all the standard stuff, but basically only uses stuff which is outdoors like sandpit, mud kitchen, chalkboard on wall.

Indoors I’m basically playing with the duplo and train set myself as he just wanders off to climb on the furniture or ‘play’ with something non toy like ie the cat, hiding under rug, stacking cushions.

Mine all do! Well except ds11. He does build Lego sets (we do them together) but to me that’s not really a toy if that makes sense - it’s more almost like a craft, the same way building model trains or whatever wouldn’t really be a toy.

DD10 does crafts a lot, and she does have a lot of dolls and a dolls house, but she doesn’t really play with them anymore, they’re more of a collection. Other than that she reads a lot.

DS8 loves all superhero toys, arranging them etc. He has a box of Lego superheroes that’s just packed full. Unlike DS11, he actually plays with the Lego, dismantling the set once he’s built it so he can make his own thing out of it.

DD6 plays with all toys, dolls, Barbie, Lego, animals, character figures etc. I did once have someone on mumsnet suggest it was weird that she plays with paw patrol figures but to me a 6 year old playing with toys is normal! Long may it last.

I will say though they aren’t into gaming/video games. DS11 & DD10 have a laptop and iPad for school work (although not in use as much now luckily as no home school) but they don’t play Nintendo switch/play station or similar.

I don’t think kids preferring gaming consoles over traditional toys is sad, i gaming consoles ARE toys. My 5 year old loves playing Mario on the switch and he also loves playing with his Mario play sets and figures I don’t really think one is better or worse than the other.

It is consoles I think. Even my 14 year old DS will be found playing with toy cars with his 11 year old brother if - and only if - his screen time limits have kicked in and the weather is really rubbish so football and cycling are out (or if he's physically tired from a full on sports day including a match the day before). Suggesting he play with toys wouldn't work but sometimes it just happens (it's very sweet as the 14 year old is over 6ft tall and seems not to know what to do with his long legs when sitting on the floor 🤣)

Tbh my 16 year old DD has an after school babysitting job (looking after a 7 year old who most definitely plays with toys as well as football but doesn't have any electronics except the TV in the family room) and I suspect that she secretly slightly enjoys playing with her charge - he went on holiday recently and told her not to worry because she could still go over and play with his toys on her babysitting afternoons

ntsure you're right though - games consoles are toys.

Its the grown men who play with them who want us to think they aren't 😜

Mine all love their toys, DS7 has trains, lego, building, does a lot of crafting, drawing, creating comics.
DD5 very similar. Our house is a chaos of creations.
But I restrict screens and we have no gaming console.