to buy my 7 year old a Nintendo Switch for Christmas?

[nomadmummy]

All my 7 yr old DS wants for Christmas is a Nintendo Switch. He has been asking for this since Summer 2022. He loves everything related to Mario. When we lived in California it seemed like all of his friends had Nintendo Switch. All play dates consisted of playing Mario and Minecraft. He'd had an Amazon Fire tablet since 2 years and during lock down we found some extraordinary apps and website that helped him improve his speech, and manual dexterity and more. Now back in London I seem to hear nothing about it. Last year I upgraded him to an ipad which he now uses for school stuff (not as much as he should but I blame all the commotion of moving back to the UK this summer) and playing one Super Mario game that's fairly limited. He loves it.

On one hand I've been told by a therapist that too much gaming can cause behavioural problems like aggression. But I've also read for kids that need OT for manual dexterity/fine motor skills the use of the controllers can help a lot.

It's just me and DS and I am terrible at playing games with him. I wonder if having the ability to play together would be good?

A couple of other parents have told me they think its too expensive a gift and he's too young.

I keep flip-flopping back and forth on whether to get it or not. If you do have a child this age or got a Nintendo for a child age - what advice do you?

Also are there any games that are education or good for fitness?

My 7 and 9 yr old share a switch. I got a second hand one and we really enjoy it. I am mindful of what games I get and how long they are on it though. I love playing Mario kart with them, to me it feels similar to when we play board games.

I do think gaming affect different children differently. I have to be more mindful of how long my DD uses the switch because I’m if she’s left too long it’s hard to get her off and she kicks up a fuss. I also do know some children who use theirs for extended periods of time that seem unhealthy. However I wonder if that’s about setting clear boudaries around when it is used as I expect you have for the iPad.

MIL bought DS a Nintendo switch at 7 and we love it, I would recommend getting the one you connect to the TV.

He doesn't really play it alone very much, we play Super Mario Deluxe, Mario Party and Mariokart as a family, it certainly hasn't led to DS being more aggressive. Most of the games have an element of strategy.

In terms of fitness games my son loves the ring fit game, it is pricy but he has got his moneys worth out of it.

We also have the brain training game but TBH it rarely gets played. We have a 50(?) in one games which includes games like solitaire and mastermind which is played much more often.

Get him one or don't. It's up to you, not other parents.
If he enjoys playing Mario get him that, don't suck the joy out of it by getting him educational games (to ease parent guilt for buying it?).
If you are concerned about fitness and exercise take him outside, don't rely on a console to provide it or he'll spend all day glued to a screen.
For what it's worth, my children had access to gaming tech from around your sons age, both of them are massively into outdoor activities such as scouting and horse riding. Neither of them seem to have suffered any adverse effects.

As long as you don't let him on it at all hours, and you can afford it, why not? My dd has one for Xmas when she was 10, she loves it, but she's not on it every day.
I'd say get him the one that works with the tv, I brought her that one and it's great when we can plug it in and play together and when her friends come over they often play just dance and the one where they have to go things like milking a cow or yoga poses. It's great seeing teenage girls being silly and playing like kids on there.

We have one. It’s DH’s (he has always gamed in moderation…so do I!). DSs are 11 and 7 and get half an hour each a day. Works for us. There are some great family games (Mario Kart and the Lego games are my favourites). Get one that connects to the TV and normalise gaming as a family activity rather than something done in isolation.

YABU, only because the Switch 2 should be coming out in 2024...

My two shared one - it can hook up to the TV (so not the lite version). - got it when they were 10 and 7. Favourites were Mario, Minecraft, FIFA for DS and DD likes animal crossing.
limited access to age appropriate gaming isn’t a bad thing.

They had the switch for a good few years before DS got an x box and now does online gaming with his friends.

I bought 1 last year for dp and ds (almost 4 then) to share. Unlike tablets and TV, I do have to limit his time on it as he gets obsessive and worked up. He can take or leave the tablets. He plays mario and minecraft. Minecraft in particular has a lovely creative mode where they just build things and explore. When he was poorly last month he spent hours building a sea turtle habitat and hatching them from eggs (recovering from d&v so 48 hour rule for school, and I had to work).

It’s fine. I got my 8yo one for his birthday. He likes it and it gets played with most days but he’s not addicted.

(other son and PC gaming- another story sadly)

There's a big difference between a family friendly console with intuitive games that are easy to pick up and put down and immersive and violent Call of Duty type games where it's hard to stop playing and the child is alone in their bedroom.

Buy a switch (or wait for the new one), buy Mario, super mario kart and some of the mini party games keep it in the family room and play it together.

Buy him one, or don't. It's entirely up to you.

I have twins who are 7 in January. They use the 2 family ipads to play educational games assigned by school. Ones like numbots and spelling shed. One likes the lego Mario, but he doesn't seem to have twigged that it's a computer game.
Neither of them seem to have got the memo yet that tablets are for anything beyond educational games, online shopping and reading. I hope to keep them like that as long as possible! Although I'm certain the likes of Minecraft and Roblox are in our future before too long!

I bought my grandson one when he was 5. He loves it

A Switch is fine for that age. The games are child friendly (compared to PlayStation/Xbox).
You can also get the interactive sports games. The only exercise I do is using our old Nintendo Wii 😂

I've bought one for mine (almost 9 yrs old) for Xmas this year.

They are very into gaming, love the iPad etc so I'm going to have to be careful with it!

There's some great comments. Thank you. Now I'm going down the rabbit hole of WHICH one??

But the comments saying buy one or not its up to you - um did my post read like it was asking mumsnetters for permission?? lol. I'm sorry I can't stop laughing.

@nomadmummy don't get the Lite version because it's handheld only and you can't play multi player games with it.
The regular version you can use it either handheld or take the controllers off and use them for either multi player games or for the interactive games like the sports ones.
My favourite game is Mario Kart 🙂

DS1 is 7.5 and we've had one for a few years, bought 2nd hand from a friend who's son wasn't using it anymore. They seem to have really held their value too. It is kept in the front room and he has Lego games, Minecraft and Mario games. also Kirby (which is a great multiplayer game!) we've bought him Fifa and a Hot Wheels Racing game for Xmas.

we all play together, especially the Mario type ones - and it seems to get us all involved a bit more on a Saturday afternoon when it's miserable outside.

I have always had Nintendo consoles as gamed a lot myself when I was young and had time and I got a switch when my now teens were about 4 6 and 8 so they have pretty much grown up with one. It was mine at that age and strictly controlled, which is actually really easy to do at that age, compared to when they're teenagers. We have had some amazing gaming experiences together with it and got a lot out of it. They are now teens and also have playstations, but still play the switch now when great games come out eg Zelda TOTK which they've all finished.

My experience of gaming and kids/teens is that it can be, and usually is, pretty positive. During COVID when the eldest were early secondary school it was a lifesaver - their entire social life and development was while gaming with friends and they would have been very isolated without that. However, it does get more challenging when some cynical fuckers invent games like Fortnite which are designed to be like crack younger kids and where you struggle to get their attention while playing and where everything comes second for awhile (because of the way it's designed and the fact that they can't pause a game as it's realtime group gaming). We have had some arguments about that game and gaming times and doing homework properly rather than rushing through it to get to gaming. I think gaming time has to be strictly controlled in the teen years and we do that on the WiFi router and they can only go online Thursday, Friday, Saturday evening and only once homework/chores done. It's a bit of a battle when they're 13/14 as they aren't mature enough to control it. They do learn to put schoolwork etc first by 17/18 though and it get easier, plus they have more of an external social life as well to balance it, or mine did. I can see how some families get in a pickle with it though, especially with ASD boys etc.

But that's all for older kids. You're actually in the really nice, easy bit with a 7/8 year old and the Switch is the perfect console for that. Just be aware that a new model is due out next year and it will have more longevity/game compatibility if you can wait for that one. We've had ours since the year it game out and it's still going strong now. I bought 2 games for it this year myself that I wanted to play and play them on long flights etc (I have a switch Lite as well).

We got our ancient Wii out, all play together and the kids love it. You can get them and a bunch of games for peanuts. Play on main telly. Feels better than a hand held screen, somehow.

Personally I'm trying to limit screen time (7 & 4yo) as it only ever increases so start out small. You need to pace yourself!

Ours have a half hour ish each on tablet each weekend and an hour or so of us all together on Wii at weekend.

A Switch is a great gift for a kid that age. Loads of age-appropriate games he can play, either on his own or with you.

Definitely get him one.
Games I would recommend:
Mario Kart (has multiplayer and very fun)
Everybody Switch or 1-2 Switch (Physical activity games with another player)
Super Smash Bros (Because every boy I know loves this game. Multi or single player. I also play badly with them)

I think a switch sounds perfect. The Switch games are probably the nicest games in terms of family/child friendly. We play a lot of family games on ours, such as Mario party, as its a multi player fun game. Family Mario kart races are fun too.