to think 7 years old is still too young to stop playing with toys?

[SoggySocksAgain]

Something my relative said that surprised me. They said that at 7 years old, they can't imagine their LO will be playing with toys for much longer. Really? Surely they'll be playing with toys until at least 10-11? We were discussing their birthday and it made me realise how we expect our children to grow up far too quickly.

I’m 42 and love lego and am rather obsessed with Grapat nins

My Dd is almost 8, she still plays with Lego, dolls, board games, etc. She still even has a strong interest in roleplaying with her babies. I love that she's so creative and maternal. Let children be children, when they want to stop with certain toys , then that's the time to get rid of them. Not before.

Dd is 11 this year and still plays with her schleich horses and figures (even if lots of that is making tik toks of them ) she also happily plays with baby dolls but mainly only with her little sister - who is 7 and definitely isn't about to stop playing

@Megan2018 I love grapat too! For me it has to be the mandala pieces! They are so tactile

7 is really young to stop playing with toys! I still played with babies with a slightly younger friend on the sly as a teenager... I realise most probably stop around 11 though!

Mum is now over 90 and she still plays with her dolls house! Rearranging furniture, giving it a spring clean, decorating for Easter, Christmas, Birthdays ! Keeps her fingers and imagination active. She loves it - you are never to old to play!

My son is 13 and still plays with lego and/or action figures and just before Christmas bought a decent sized wooden castle from a charity shop.

When he's had friends of a similar age over in the past they've been happy to play lego too as well as Xbox.

My eldest who are 6 and 8 year old play with toys most of the day. I can't see that changing anytime soon.

So many young children 7/8/9/10 year olds have difficulties with using their hands, handwriting, creativity (& concentration & perseverance) because they don't play. Computer games really are not a substitute for playing with toys where you learn how to hold things, size, shape, space and quiet play that isn't bombarding your senses. You can tell in a classroom who plays too many video games.

My 7 yo DD is not into many toys anymore. She still enjoys Lego but more the building of it. Otherwise she would rather read, write stories, draw and swim.

I was never much into playing with toys, I preferred to read, listen to/play music, draw etc.

When we lose our inner child we get old. I'm 34 and still play on playgrounds. Silly that a 7 year old should stop playing with toys.

No way is 7 too old. I still play with toys at 58 in the guise of adult collector dollshouses

I was playing with my Cindy and pippa dolls into my teens.
I think it's sad nowadays, as it is all computer based entertainment, toys seen just a novelty value.
I still buy and build Lego at 56.

Oh yes, and @madcatladyforever
I collect triang dollshouses and furniture, reminds me of my childhood.

DS had mainly stopped playing with toys by about 5 or 6. I would have liked him to carry on but he didn't want to

He will build a train track for the baby (he is 11 now), dig in the sand with him, play with other toys to demonstrate them etc and I'm pretty sure he enjoys it but he wouldn't do that voluntarily if the little one wasn't here.

Kids should play with toys for as long as they want, admittedly dd 10 spends more time on gadgets than anything else but still plays with toys, drawing and still does imaginary play when she isn't. We do buy her much less in the way of toys now as she doesn't get rid of stuff so has a large selection from toddler hood.

@WhitbyGoth it was a joke. They have a couple if lightsabers and a collection of sticks which they use as lightsabers. Whenever I ask DS if I can chuck the sticks out (not sure why it's all stored in my house) he tells me they aren't sticks. They self ID as lightsabers.

My 10 year old hasnt played with toys for years.

10 year old hates dolls. She likes playing with animals / sea creatures.

8 year old wants me to sell her dolls crib / changing station. She had 8 dolls including baby born baby alive tiny treasures. I'd have had hours of fun at her age but she's not that interested. It does make me feel sad. It's hard to think of presents to buy at Christmas/ birthdays. I don't want to stop buying them toys.

My 10 year old hasnt played with toys for years.

Would you be able to clarify what you mean by toys? As several posters have said it could be that people view what counts as a toy differently. I'm intrigued to know what those with young children who have not been playong with toys for years actually consider to be toys and what those children do play with?

I think that's such a young age to stop playing. I loved those puppy/kitty/pony in my pocket toys and had them for years along with assorted paraphernalia. I think my interest "dimmed" around 12 although I "kept an eye on my collection" until about 14! Was never into dolls as much- Barbie seemed giant compared to my animals & I'm 30 tomorrow and yet to have any interest in having anything to do with babies . I used to role play and act out all sorts with my animals though. The imagination, creativity and processing of feelings through play really can't be under estimated, I think.

I'd still LOVE a dolls house to play with (with my animals in it). I'd love to be left alone with Queen Mary's Dolls House at Windsor Castle for the day.

My ten year old still loves playing with bubbles

Weird competitive maturity- it's odd, isn't it? Friends of ours brag about their 8 year old being girl mad. Like a badge of honour rather than a strange thing to be encouraging at 8!

I definitely played past the age of 7, I was a child of the 90's and was obsessed with Puppies in my Pockets. I used to have hundreds and they'd take on other storylines eg Sweet Valley High as I got older!

I think I probably stopped age 10 or soon after. I do remember going to a new friend's house in year 7, so we were 11 or 12, and she had LOADS of Barbies in her room still displayed on a shelf, and I thought it was a bit babyish, so it must've been before then. We definitely still "played" though beyond that age, but I think it was probably more role play etc, computer games.

My older DC is only 4.5 and loves toys, but I've noticed more and more since lockdown that he often just plays on his own/using one or two props, chattering away. His imagination is definitely coming into it's own, he'll pretend to be a transformer etc as well as playing with the actual toys.