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Original poster

Wii for a 5 yr old?

14 replies

TheHouseofMirth · 03/12/2010 21:54

DH has surprised me greatly by suggesting we buy a Wii, ostensibly as a Christmas present for DS1 who is 5 years old but in reality for the family. Part of me is quite excited and I know a couple of DS's friends have them so I think he'd like it and be excited by it too but it's an awful lot of money for us at the moment. Are they really that good? Will we use it?

OP posts:
Dexterrocks · 03/12/2010 22:07

We are a family of four and bought a wii as a joint family gift for the four of us 2 Christmases ago.
At that point our dd was 7 and ds had just turned 4.
My dh, dd and I loved it but my ds was totally lost, despite getting him age appropriate games.
However, he is now 6 and plays it more than any of the rest of us.
We find interest in it comes in waves. It was played with loads at first and then left for ages.
It has come into its own during heavy snow when we have been snowed in. Ds is a very lively boy and it is another way of getting him to burn off some of his energy. Conversely dd is not a lively soul and the wii does encourage her to move around more than she might on days in the house.
If you do go for it choose your games carefully and study the reviews on Amazon and Game websites. There are some fantastic games out there but there is also a lot of rubbish.

Sassyfrassy · 03/12/2010 22:40

You might want to look into an xbox with kinect instead. You won't need to use any controllers with it and you get a regular console for regular games as well.

Dexterrocks · 03/12/2010 22:46

No controllers would be great as I spend a lot of time adjusting controllers, putting covers on and off controllers, charging controllers, putting batteries in controllers etc.

Original poster
TheHouseofMirth · 04/12/2010 15:55

Trouble is the games for Wii are so much better/more family friendly. And the Kinect only allows up to 2 players.

OP posts:
Portofino · 04/12/2010 16:01

We bought one for all of us laast Xmas when dd was 5. She loves it, and in fact the only one who uses it. The struggle was finding games without lots of text instructions. She a LPS one, Mariokarting, a couple of Dora ones, and a very irritating look after baby game - which of course is her favourite. I am determined to get some games for ME!

jonesybells · 04/12/2010 16:14

We bought a second hand one for DS1 for his 5th birthday, - turned out to be a very good thing indeed.

Great range of games for all abilities (even 3 yr old DS2 can play some of them).

Def recommend a charging dock for at least 2 controllers (with rechargeable batt packs).

Started off with a really easy 'Go Diego' game which involved mainly tilting the remote - not too much button action, but he soon got the hang of a Madagascar 2 game which used all the buttons and nunchuk controls!! - they seem to be born with the ability these days!!

maryfarquhar · 04/12/2010 16:29

I would say it depends what 'an awful lot of money' means to you. Once you have brought everything (it doesn't come with everything you need connection-wise) you are looking at in excess of £200. That is alot of money. Where does it fit into you priorities ? What else have you already bought for DS.

If it really is alot of money to you then 5 is very young for a this kind of present and you buy ALOT of 5 year old friendly stuff for that amount and save the wii for a bit later.

I've seen a few people talking about presents they know they shouldn't really buy and people go a bit mad at christmas to be honest.

hmc · 04/12/2010 17:01

A good buy imo. 6 year old ds favours it the most and likes to play football (this is not a substitute for real football which he plays twice per week, but in addition to it), lego star wars and mario. We also enjoy the ten pin bowling as a family and a few rounds of golf. 8 year old dd loves Wii dance.

Ds plays with it for an hour a day, dd perhaps an hour per week

moajab · 04/12/2010 19:21

We bought the wii two years ago when my DSs were 4 and 6. We bought it as a family present rather than for any one person. Both boys really enjoyed it straight away and play with it a lot. There's a good range of games so its easy to find one that's age appropriate.

charlieincharge · 04/12/2010 19:27

We've been thinking about this for the last 3 years as we sound like you - it is a not insignificant amount. Have decided this is the right year as DS is 7 and DD is 4 and so it really is a family gift. DS was extremely happy each year with the all of the other pressies we were able to buy because he didn't have that one big thing (which they don't really see as that thing). But then he hadn't really asked for one. What is your DS asking for ? If we'd bought the Wii we wouldn't have been able to afford other presents which would have been a shame at that age.

This year we've planned ahead and bought with reward vouchers. Am hoping its worth it!

charlieincharge · 04/12/2010 19:57

By the way DH was just reminding me that DS was very happy playing with friends' wii's for ages and ages (only his passion for football that's made him want his own). Why don't you indulge a less expensive passion and start saving for when he'll appreciate it ?

strandedatseasonsgreetings · 04/12/2010 20:01

Yes and 5 is a brilliant age.

We bought one a couple of years ago and dd1 started playing it when she was about 3.5. She started with Wii Sport - bowling being particularly successful - and then moved onto Wii Sports Resort and Family Ski and Snowboard. Those are the only three we play regularly but she loves it and it's something she can play alone, with friends or with us. Dd2 is coming up to 3 and vaguely interested but a little young to play alone yet.

Dd1 also loves making the Mii's.

Original poster
TheHouseofMirth · 04/12/2010 21:07

He hasn't asked for one though I suspect he'd be thrilled by it. All he has asked for is Star Wars stuff and so we've got him a light saber and some other bits as well as books, and a couple of board games. (I should add all presents come from us/Father Christmas as he has no aunts, uncles and only 1 grandparent). I'm finding 5 a tricky age, we struggled to think of a good birthday present for him in the summer. He loves Lego but we've got an entire cupboard of it as he has all DH's collection plus some Lego Star Wars sets.

But realistically, he is 5 and the cost of a Wii will mean nothing to him. But surely that isn't necessarily a bad thing?

OP posts:
3rdnparty · 05/12/2010 08:06

we got as a 'family' last year and its great - we did have issues with ds having tantrums when it iwas time to finish playing but he was only 4.5 and young so we put it away for a couple of months but has been fine ever since... some of the games are amazing the designs are great would highly recommend Smile

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