Nerf guns: normal and ok for a 6yo or not?

[MaggieFS]

I'm completely on the fence about this one. DS wants one for his sixth birthday. They seem commonplace amongst his friends but the idea of anything violent as a toy doesn't sit comfortably with me in my middle age! I can't wrap him in cotton wool, I know, but is it really the case that "everyone has one"?

My DS is a year younger but has no idea what one is. I also wouldn't buy him a toy gun of any description though no matter how many friends have it.

DS8 has some...I don't mind him playing with them without the foam bullets. The foam bullets sting a bit if they hit you and I'm paranoid about them going in someone's eye.

Similar to a nerf gun but not exactly you could go for a lightsaber or a big water gun?
They do nerf brand water guns too.

In my experience of raising two boys, if they want to play with guns, they will find something to use as a gun and play with it as a gun. Sticks, hair dryers, pop bottles and building one out of lego.

They have nerf guns now. They cry if they accidentally step on bugs so they've not turned into heartless violent monsters.

My advice would be don't let them have the bullets!

I don’t think weapons should be toys and my children are not allowed o have any guns , swords , bows etc .

I’d be fine with this. Was very anti toys that actually look like guns (not that those are common these days) but nerf guns aren’t really like that. My kids never played with them as if they were playing with guns, just as they never played with water bombs as if they were bombs, if that makes any sense.

I don't allow any kind of weapons, he has a water 'gun' but it's shaped like a shark with a pump handle so not gun like at all. DH and I both work in criminal justice/mental health and just don't see them as toys

My sons both went through a phase of loving nerf guns. We had so many I could have armed a small country. They both grew out of them having developed no violent tendencies.

Nerf guns galore here! We have many different types, wear goggles for nerf wars, shoot targets etc. so far nobody has committed a murder

Family nerf gun wars are a lot of fun!

Absolutely no problem at all with nerf guns they are clearly not actual guns and it's just a toy. In my experience of a decade of teaching children they will make a 'gun' from Lego, paper, a stick and anything else they can use.

Honestly it's not going to turn them into a violent monster just because they have played with a toy that looks like a weapon.

I used to think like you. But they (both DS) got some nerf guns for Christmas a few years back. They sometimes run around shooting each other. Mostly don’t though, but shoot at each other on computer games instead. Honestly it’s fine, boys will be boys. Cubs even organizes nerf gun fights.

Same!

Nerf guns are ace. We had loads over the years, we had so many family nerf gun wars. so much fun.

My DGDs love nerf guns. And football. Please don't use gender stereotypes like boys will be boys!

Mine had them, they had lots of fun with them with friends and some people had Nerf birthday parties. They do hurt a bit sometimes though. Not really different to water gun fights, or laser tag. Mine are older now and not interested in guns and they're not violent.

Exactly - I had a toy gun as a girl in the 70s, I would have loved a Nerf gun!

Fair point. Apologies. ALL boys I know seem to like shooting at each other. Many girls obviously also do, but it doesn’t seem quite so universal.

Mines got a couple. I didn’t buy them but I’m fine with him playing them. However his interest in them lasted about a fortnight!
The bullets so sting when they hit you and they get lost in the garden really easily.
He gets more use out of his sticks that he finds

Nerf guns are fine. No different to water pistols. You're over thinking it. A realistic play gun, I could see why it could be a question but nerf guns are fun.

Also, we are not in America where there is such a risk. Assuming you're not too.

Our rule was DS5 had to be sensible enough to:

1. Only shoot at other people who want to be in the game.

2. Never shoot near someone's face, 'accidentally' or otherwise.

3. Collect your bullets after yourself

If these rules are broken, he is demonstrating that he isn't old enough yet and the guns go away for a month before he gets the chance to try again.

As yet he is proving to be very sensible and has kept them since his 5th birthday nearly a year ago.

We did get the 'junior' version though which aren't as powerful. However we are getting him some normal ones for his 6th birthday.

My DDs loved them at that age and played with targets down the corridor (long hall to front door). They are now 12 and not violent at all.

When I was a kid all my friends (girls and boys) played shooting games. We would split into groups and have wars. We didn’t have nerf guns but we would pick these berries or seed pods off the tree and collect them in a container and shoot them at each other. We also made sling shots and used sticks as swords. It’s a role play stage I think all kids go through.

Working in childcare (nursery) for many years and having policies around not allowing children to play with toy guns, weapons etc. I found many of the kinder age kids would still use their finger or a stick as a gun. And we were supposed to discourage the children from doing that. But they didn’t really understand why. And I really don’t think discouraging this kind of roll play makes any meaningful difference.

I got my dd a nerf gun because she wanted one and we had fun with it. But now she has grown out of it a bit.

Yes, it was DS’s female best friend who had a nerf birthday party, and my gentle elderly mother who turned out to be a crack shot on the Christmas Day we all spent massacring one another with nerf guns, and which we all remember fondly as one of our best Christmases.

My three boys had all types of toy guns. It never bothered me. If it helps, they've grown up into gentle, kind young men who wouldn't hurt a fly.

Love nerf guns. It's just finding the dang bullets.