What ages did you get your kids game consoles?

[Frankkieboo1]

Such as Xbox, PlayStation

This isnt for me. Im just wondering am I a strict uptight mum. I seen a tik tok of someone showing what they got their kids for christmas, she says for her 5 year old his big present is an Xbox?

I was a bit shocked as she then mentions, his birthday was in summer so he got some toys then. But an Xbox for a 5 year old isnt that a bit young?

My eldest is 4 (just turned last week( and I couldn't imagine getting him an Xbox for christmas next year!

We have an amazon fire tablet for long car journys but it only has disney plus on with favourite movies and shows downloaded and he doesnt even know how to work that i have to do it so I couldn't imagine hed be able to do games etc

Am I uptight or is that a bit young!

A family friends boy got his at 8 which i thought is standard age if they ask for it. Will try and stave off game consoles if I can

DS was 5 when he got his Nintendo switch. He’s 7 now and has asked for the switch 2 for Christmas which I have vetoed because his existing one is 2 years old!

Some families are majorly into gaming so 4/5 years old isn’t too young. One of my colleagues is a gaming lecturer and he bought his DD her first console at 2!

I think 5 is young for a console. The games are really expensive too and a lot of them are rated for higher ages, esp Playstation and Xbox. Nintendo a bit younger.

You might get 5 years use out of a console so if you buy one at 5 you will probably be buying again at 10 and 15, whereas if you wait until they are about 8 then you might well get away with 2. And they are expensive at £500 a pop.

If you want to introduce kids to gaming tablets are probably better at that age.

DS was 9 I think, it was heavily locked down and we had really clear rules about when he could use it - never on a school night. Only now at nearly 18 is there a console in his room! Off to uni soon to study something to do with games art/development/design…

My kids got their switches at about 6. They don't use a bigger TV console like an xbox. Ds1 rarely plays on the switch any more, as just not that interested in gaming.

I'm so glad that I no longer have young children & this isn't my dilemma.

My DD & SIL have 2 DDs aged 11 and 9 - neither have Smart phones, games machines or social media accounts. DD & SIL (quite rightly IMO) carefully 'police' their access to the internet, but are fighting against the tide & under pressure from their 11 year old to allow her to have a Smart phone because most of her friends have one. She currently has a dumb phone &, since starting High School, says that she gets teased & called a 'baby' because of this. I'm proud of my DD & SIL for holding out & protecting her for as long as possible. Hopefully by the time she finally gets a Smart phone (DD says that she thinks 35 is a suitable age to get her one LOL!) she will have the sense & confidence to use it wisely.

DS2 & DIL have 2 DS aged 11 & 8 who both have Smart phones & PS machines, they also have social media accounts & pretty-much free access to the internet as DS & DIL rely on blockers to police it. Their DD aged 6 plays on her brother's PS machines, but would rather be doing something more active.

DS1 & DIL's DCs (DS aged 13 & DD aged 11) both have phones & PS machines but not allowed access to social media or internet unless carefully policed by parents.

Edited to remove info that could be outing.

Never bought consoles for any of my kids

Quite varied ! But yes it does depend I guess as some adults still game. My friends brother does and actually took the night shift off his wife for their newborn (when the baby was newborn) would game and do the bottles/settle baby back down lol. So in those cases kids may get them earlier I guess as its in the house!

We dont have any and DS' older cousins are an hours drive away so we see them once a month and usually meet at grandparents house so he wont really see any!

I would like to be console free for as long as possible but I did just wonder if im uptight

My 6 year old DD doesn’t have her own console but uses my partners xbox to play Minecraft. They play it in school and she absolutely loves it. Blows my mind the things she is able to build on there, I can see the educational value.

DS has:
Kindle - at 4 years (mainly as we were going abroad)
Switch - at 6 years (although I would have waited a bit longer, 7 maybe - it was a gift from grandparents).
He has access to a PS5 now (but it is not his) and he is 8.

My eldest is 6 and it’s not on my radar as something to get her. Shes never mentioned it, I think she is unaware of the existence of consoles. It certainly won’t be anytime soon.

Nintendo Switch at age 6 but was very selective about the games. It was more more me really, they didn't play it much till they were aged 8.

13 for a switch. Had Minecraft on a borrowed laptop earlier.

7 but then I personally would much rather they had games consoles and played proper games that at least require some level of attention span rather than have tablets, much easier to manage screen time that way I find

My 7 year old is getting a switch for Xmas which has much more age appropriate big games.

She's played on my PS5 with me for the last year or so. Mainly crash bandicoot and some sports games.

She's not allowed mobile or tablet games.

When my 16 year old bought himself one. I've never allowed them, far better ways to spend time

Mine got a Switch at age 9 and 12.

Played Minecraft (and a few other pretty crappy games, but not Roblox) on a tablet before then.

Apparently "everyone else" has unlimited time on a swathe of consoles.

I bought a family Wii when mine were about 13 and 11. They obviously felt hard done by because they bought themselves Nintendo Switches in their 20s!

DH bought DS his first console when DS was 7. I didn't want him to have one that young, but I didn't really have a reason why 😂

DD10 is getting a Switch for Christmas. We considered making it a joint present with DD6 but she isn't remotely interested.

DD10 has played Minecraft on a tablet (bought for school) since she was 9, I wasn't keen on her playing it any earlier than that. Contrary to popular opinion, I see no 'educational value' in the game at all. She's limited to about 2 hours a week.

I think it very much depends on the console, it was the Wii rather than the switch when we looked at consoles for our youngest, grandkids , 9 and 5 now use same but are getting a switch between them at Christmas , personally wouldn’t buy an Xbox or playstation for that age, think the majority of games on them are aimed at older age groups

Never bought one here, my DD is 12.

We have a turn of the century original Xbox, she maybe plays on that once every 3 months.

A lot of her non TV screen time is on educational apps. She's developed really well using them.

My 10 and 6 year old children each have a switch lite and a kindle fire tablet. There is a ps4 in the house that was DH’s that they also play on. We limit the time they can use their tech and ensure that they have a wide range of other things to do.

My brother got a PS1 at the age of 6 back in the 90s and he’s grown up to be a perfectly normal, educated, hardworking adult.

Mine bought his own with saved money last Christmas, aged 13. I would never have bought him one but it has mostly been fine for socialising online with friends. I don't allow games that involve killing things.

Ds was 13 when hot the xbox

A switch is very different from an Xbox or PS5.

DS was 10 when he got his PS5 I find it's more for an older child not a 5-8 year old. A switch is really good fun and DS would of been around 5/6 when he got his.