should i get my 3 year old a nintendo ds

[twospecialgirls]

do you think my 3 year old is to young for a nintendo ds she doesnt stop asking for one but cant decide !!! help

Oh god no, resist, resist.

If it helps, I am buying one for ds1 this week, and he is going to be TEN.

Anyway, a 3 y-o will probably break it or it'll end up in the bottom of the sandpit and it'll be a waste of money and you won't be able to be cross with her because it will be your fault for buying an age-inappropriate present.

No, she should be playing, not faffing around with an electronic game.

oh yes
mny kid loves his brothers
and has leared to read off it seemingly

they are UTTERLY FAB!

No 3 too young imo

No, no and a thousand times no. DD1 got one for her 10th birthday. She occasionally lets DD2 (age 7) have a short go. DD3 is 5 and is not allowed near the thing. I really think it is wrong for young children to have these things, there are so many other activities they can be doing. Even with DD1 I ration it as she can spend hours on it, if left to her own devices and then she gets grumpy.

DD doesn't use her console and not play. I do find the idea that electronic games are somehow bad completely. DD uses her when we go away or at the end of a meal out when the grown ups are all chatting. She will sometimes use it at home - 20 minutes at a time max. We have chosen her games fr her carefully, so they are age appropriate and content appropriate. She uses it very sensibly and learns from it. For the other xxx number of hours and days in each week she is playing with all manner of toys and games, inside and out, alone or with friends, sometimes watching TV or DVDs, sometimes reading (well, lots!), colourng, writing, etc. So very varied and healthy. DD also uses my DS sometimes to play Animal Crissing. Involves a lot of reading and some strategy, all good skills to be encouraging!

If used sensibly there is nothing at all wrong with an electrinic games console.

I do however think that a DS is not really appropriate for a 3yo - too expensive, too fragile and the games available not ideal for 3yo.

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no no no! They're not sturdy enough for three year olds, honestly. It'll be knackered within a week.

what a farkin mad question

are you serious???

Too young. Dd is six and wants one, and I think she's too young for it - but 3? There are so many better things for her to be doing.

It's her job to pester you relentlessly for unsuitable things - it's your job to be more sensible than she is and not give in to the pestering!

Ah, disagree with cod. That is good I have agreed with her on any other thread I have read this morning.

My dd is 6 in december & she is only just getting the hang of how to keep her tamagotchi alive

We haven't made it past first generation yet!

She asked me when she would be old enough for a mobile phone. I said when she was on her 100th generation on the tamagotchi

I'm safe enough I think... she's had the tamagotch for months!

Definitely think 3 yrs old is too young, she won't appreciate the money they cost!

Someone mentioned a leapster, why not try that? My dd had a leappad I think it's called, it was fantastic!

my 3 year old inherited my old one and loves it. he can play most of nintendogs but mostly just has it to look important if the older kids have one. I don't mind, he doesn't spend hours sitting there, mostly about 15 minutes tops.

I wouldn't have bought him a new one, but I bought a new pink one and gave him the old battered one.

MBP I would be worried about DS being sick playing it in the car. He had a history of travel sickness when younger so have always discouraged reading etc whilst travelling. Queue in shoe shop would be quite useful, mind you.

wayyyy too young!!

Definitely too young IMO. Keep the DS (or whatever comes next ) for when DD is older. There are lots of alternative presents for 3 year olds, much less to choose from when she's older. Good opportunity to start to teach her that pester power doesn't work!

way too young. If you get her a DS now she'll be wanting an xbox 360 or its equivalent by the time she is 5.

At 3 children should be running about, playing outside, etc. And while I understand the concept of limited time spent on these consoles, it's an awful lot of money to pay for something they're only allowed a few minutes on each day - I could buy a whole toybox full of toys for the price of that one games console.