To think kids would be better off in front of screens than playing with crap fucking toys that don't work

[woundedplacerias]

Well not really, but I get so enormously frustrated with kits and the like that simply are not fit for purpose.

Got ds1 (9) the gadget shop electronic tenpin bowling set for Christmas and he has just constructed it. Was a bit fiddly and tricky in places and I am useless at this sort of stuff so if was hairy at times but lovely to see him get on with it and resolve problems etc. However, when it was done, the track thing it comes with is simply not fit for purpose and the ball is never going to stay on it and run down to the pins as it's not flat ffs. It's made of flimsy cardboard - if it was plastic or firmer cardboard and had a gully it would be fine, but they have gone for the cheapest option so it can't be used . I can see how we might be able to make something else for it, but as I said, I'm not practical at all and, anyway, why should it be necessary?

Meanwhile, ds2 has been trying to do a djeco set but it came with no glue (we had some) and I cannot see for the life of me how the tiny spaces are going to be filled with different coloured types of glitter. Quite frustrating - basically now looks like a glitter explosion and nothing whatsoever like the picture.

Neither of these things were cheap, so aibu to think they should be fit for purpose?

I'm a SAHM to an only child and as it turns out I love, love, love toys. So we rarely get a dud toy in this house as I'm heavily invested in what toys DS will get for birthday/Christmas/Easter because I just find them so much fun and I actually thin of them as beautiful objects to have in my home. For young kids Imaginext is an absolute winner. It's sturdy, fun, all the playsets and most vehicles all have fun functionalities. It's so hardy it can survive quite rough play and that also means that there are plenty of perfect/near perfect secondhand bundles to be bought for a fraction of the new price. It's brilliant.

Lego is the pits for young children. At least the specific sets are. A big bucket of Lego that they can use imaginatively is fine. But I have had to collect up and hide all the Star Wars and superhero sets DS has been gifted. He can't build them as he's too young (just 4) and once they are built they are a complete pita and he tries to play with them and they fall apart and I get called to rebuild them and the cycle continues. I hate them and before I hid them I was regularly threatening to 'kragle' them. When he's older will probably enjoy them as a building projects but they are a stupid toy for most younger kids.

Oh this thread takes me back! Mine are now 16 and 21 so the days of crap toys are (thankfully) behind us but I remember one particular Christmas when H spent HOURS putting together a zhu zhu hamsters track thing... it was played with for all of half an hour; the stupid fuckers kept falling off or the track kept coming apart. Think we ended up selling the whole lot on eBay as it was never played with again after xmas day!

Oh I agree about that sodding 3D pen, fudging, it was all DS talked about wanting for his birthday, I'd already bought his gifts and thought it would be crap, but my mum got it for him because he wanted it so much. All we managed to make out of the thing was coloured blobs.

I'm with you all on the lego sets too. They can't actually be played with and end up as nothing but a source of frustration. You to just having a big box of it and some imagination.

And, to add to the list of crappy, overpriced toys, Ash's Pokemon battle arena is the pits.

My two are older now, so we don't get as much crap thankfully, but I remember those Peppa Pig sets/figures being absolutely awful. We also got stung by the chocolate coin maker which was binned after one use and a year stuck on top of the cupboard.

I've found my thread! Feeling the pain of everyone here.

We have so far had failures on:

1.Knex roller coaster kit £20, aged 7+ which took ME and 7 yr old dd over 2 hours to build, then it didn't work. The track does not attach to the stand or bend remotely in the right directions. The motor was also broken. I have arranged to return & refund (Amazon).

1. Solar robot, 1 hour into building it and one of the main cogs dosn not fit into the pin so it won't work. Only cost £5 so will just bin it.

1. Stained glass window painting kit, the stains which are supposed be "dripped" onto the glass sections are far too gloopy and there's nowhere near enough to cover the area. Again, only a couple of quid so will just bin.

DD was given the 3D maker and I daren't open it now after reading this thread!

How hard can it be to make kits that actually work - I'd rather pay a little more.

The key to playable Lego spaceships and the sorts is superglue.

Yes, we had a Mr Frosty too a few years ago, absolute shite.

Oh the Zhu Zhu hamsters , yes .

My younger DC had one each of those , a beige one and a white one, complete with zhu zhu ball . Five minute wonder.

My DD used to get rubbishy craft sets and toy sewing machines and blunt scissors and rough plastic knitting needles that ripped up wool. I made sure after that that I gave her nothing a grown up crafter wouldn't use. Proper paint, artist quality brushes, and the sewing machine waited till school tech classes she could be trusted with machinery.

Must have done something right. She's now doing Art and Textiles for GCSE.