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Original poster

How many 4/5 yr olds have playstations?

76 replies

northstar · 11/12/2006 10:33

ds came home from a visit with his father (he sees him every other wkend) and told me that he is getting him a playstation for Christmas. I think he is too young. His interaction with other kids, communication and speech all need working on as it is. Maybe I'm over-reacting, but I don't want him to have one for a few years yet. Answers here will help me decide what to do, TIA.

OP posts:
SparklySnowflakeKid · 11/12/2006 10:38

I agree - my eldest is 5 and lots of his friends have them but we have decided he is way too young - the most technical thing he has is a leap pad! Do not feel he will miss out at all - in fact it will just create huge fights with my youngest age 3.

As a compromise you could leave it at his fathers - but what a waste of their time together.

Hope all goes well.

iota · 11/12/2006 10:39

mine do - ds2 has been playing it since he was about 3

His speech, social skills etc are fine - but then he was at nursery and pre-school, so didn't spend all day on it before he started proper school

PS practises other skills - hand to eye coordination and memory - ds2 can't read but can play complicated games ( eg Lego Star Wars) - he memorises a lot of stuff, such as how to change characters, equipment, where to go what planet he's on (!)

hulababy · 11/12/2006 10:42

DD doesn't have one. She has a VTech VSmile console with children's games instead. I think it is enough at her age. She's getting the Pocket version to go with it this Christmas.

She does play Golf with daddy on his XBox though.

iota · 11/12/2006 10:42

as for fightrs - a lot of games are 2 player - so the dses play together ( they are currently 7 and 5, but we have had ps2 since they came out and ps1 before that)

Original poster
northstar · 11/12/2006 10:46

Iota, would your ds2 have had one so early if he was your first lo?

OP posts:
charliecat · 11/12/2006 10:50

Mine, because it Ive had one since they were little.
It doesnt matter if its a playstation or a Vtech smiley or an old atari, all in moderation.
And it does teach hand eye coordination skills etc.
Also the eyetoy games get them off the sofa and jumping around and sweating and exercising.

LIZS · 11/12/2006 10:57

Can he keep it at his father 's thereby automatically limiting how much he can play with it, although you then could lose the censorship as to what games they play. Agree that sociability is more of a priority at that age and there are plenty of other suitable toys that are more interactive and engage the imagination.

wannaBeOnTopOfTheChristmasTree · 11/12/2006 11:16

waaay too young imo. dh has an xbox 360 and ds is allowed to play on it as a very special treat maybe once every six weeks for about half an hour, this is done with dh' supervision and is the absolute limit. I considered getting him a vSmile or leapster for Christmas but we've decided that we don't want him to have a games console just yet - there's plenty of time for that when he's much older.

No-one will ever convince me that it is benefitial for a 3/4/5 yo to have videogames, in fact wasn't there a study out recently that showed a link between the amount of time spent playing games and concentration in other areas/reading/writing - will endever to find it.

tbh it would concern me deeply if my child was unable to read yet could concentrate on his videogames, plus I think that children spend too much time inside and not enough time outside actually playing and I think that having a games console would just make that worse.

now shoot me.

EniDeepMidwinter · 11/12/2006 11:18

'tbh it would concern me deeply if my child was unable to read yet could concentrate on his videogames'

the skills involved in reading and playing games are totally different

one doesn NOT preclude the other

SchneeBallFight · 11/12/2006 11:22

I wouldnt get a 5 yr old a Playstation but I am not against the idea of game console as long as the games are age-appropriate and the time spent playing them is limited. I would be more inclined to get him something like the vsmile pocket or a gameboy ot maybe one of theose plug and play units which have all the old fashioned simple games on then like pac man etc. I would suggest this to his father.

wannaBeOnTopOfTheChristmasTree · 11/12/2006 11:24

actually I think it does. it is important to be able to read and write, without literacy, you will get nowhere. Being skilled at kicking a virtual ball on a screen will not give you any skill that you can take forward in life.

EniDeepMidwinter · 11/12/2006 11:25

yes of course

but some kids are able to play games before they can read

Jimjams2 · 11/12/2006 11:25

ds2 found my ancient game boy (15 years old) and has become a real whizz at it. We're getting him a modern game boy for xmas! He wanted an x box, but I took one look at the price more than anything and thought no way. Also it clogs up the TV. He has a plug and play scooby doo game (and I've bought ds1 a plug and play Thomas for his sticking).

IN your situation I'd say fine, but it stays at his fathers.

hulababy · 11/12/2006 11:36

Children are able to do a lot of things before they can read or write. Developing one skill before another doesn't have to be a negative.

If used for a seinsible period of time, and not constantly, and if games are age appropriate then games consoles and playing computer games can be educational IMO and IME. Hand eye co-ordination and problem solving skills are essential life skills. Thinking and strategy making all can be developed from these games. Some children can use these games to aid literacy and numeracy skills.

Computers and games are used in schools from nursery age. They have benefits when used appropriately, just as many toys and games do.

Computer games are not evil! They are just yet another tool that can actually aid learning, as well as being fun.

hulababy · 11/12/2006 11:37

"Being skilled at kicking a virtual ball on a screen will not give you any skill that you can take forward in life. "

I disagree. Hand eye co-ordination, thinking skills, planning ahead, strategy, numeracy skills. etc All can be aided with such a game.

arfishyheauheauheau · 11/12/2006 11:39

I agree about limiting the time spent on consoles/computers/tv but also think that a few hours a week can be beneficial.

DD (3) can use a mouse, type her name and navigate around a toddler website (uses escape and backspace appropriately). She doesn't play computer games on consoles, but I think PC awareness is ok in small chunks now with me sitting with her. We tend to stick to www.poissonrouge.com, which is a lovely site.

I was programming at 10 and she's a very logical girl, she prefers puzzle solving to craft and the computer is one way to do that. 2 hours per week isn't too much - the rest of the time we use books/jigsaws/sorting toys etc.

FLAMEinEckItsYuleAgain · 11/12/2006 11:40

DD (3) spent the weekend learning to bowl on the wii - the amount of effort and concentration that goes into trying to aim, move your arm right, and press to release the ball at the right time seemed really good for her (and it is as well as proper play - not instead of)... i'm not sure I'd want her having a console of her own though

ParanoidSurreyHousewife · 11/12/2006 11:47

My 5 yo doesn't and neither does anyone in his class to the best of my knowledge. He has used dh's psp from time to time, and we do visit some internet sites, so it is not as if I am against the idea - but spending that amount of a console for him hasn't really raised itself as an idea.

But if he is only going to be using it every other weekend, then frankly I would suspect that his father is buying it for his own use . That level of contact wouldn't bother me at all.

wannaBeOnTopOfTheChristmasTree · 11/12/2006 12:35

But hand eye coordination can be learned by kicking a real ball, outside. I don?t believe that occasional use of games is a bad thing as such, but I do think that having their own consoles (and I?m talking xbox/ps2 here) at age 4 is excessive. Apart from anything else the price is a consideration surely? The consoles are over £100 and at 30/40 quid a pop the games don?t exactly come cheap either. If they?re having expensive consoles so young what will they be wanting as they get older?

Plus the amount of time spent playing games/watching tv has been linked to childhood obesity ? when once children played outside with their friends, they now sit hunched over their games consoles playing games and eating junk food.

It?s true that a lot of parents try to limit the amount of time children spend playing games, but once they have their own consoles how easy is it to really limit their use? Esp if the children are quiet/happy playing, and telling them that ?time?s up? will most likely result in a tantrum ? especially at age 4.

For now I?m happy for ds to play on dh?s xbox once in a while - I do not believe that any child will learn a usefull skill from a video game that cannot be learned elsewhere. After all we all learned these skills as children, and most of us didn?t have video games ? hand-eye coordination/problem solving hasn?t improved since the advent of the games console.

Original poster
northstar · 11/12/2006 13:10

IMO his fathers input into his development so far is pretty limited, ie lots of male bullshit, rrraaaaaaaaaaaaring, boxing, kicking, telling him daddys are better than mummys etc. Maybe the more time ds spends on a playstation during his visit the better? Age appropriate games seem to be the key. Also, there is no way ds would be allowed to bring the ps home, the whole point is to make daddys house better than mummys. It's not a competition I am in though.

OP posts:
Blu · 11/12/2006 13:16

DS, 5 , has never even had a go on one or seen one in use, as far as I know.

I feel there is time enough and will not be encouraging any interest.

Blu · 11/12/2006 13:18

northstar - yes, I think you have hit on the genuine crux of the problem - and objecting will not work, and will simply exacerbate the competition.

Smile and shrug, and maybe make sure he is v keen on some age-appropriate games.

BudaBauble · 11/12/2006 13:19

Well we have a PS2 and DS is 5. Have had it for 2 years although I bought it for DH. I bought it knowing that DS would play it but when i bought it I also bought a timer and DS was limited to 30 mins at a time.

DS goes through stages of playing it a lot and stages of not going near it for ages. We played it a lot this weekend. I enjoy it too! Am getting good at Star Wars!

But in answer to your OP - it doesn't have to stop his interaction with other kids. I find when DS have friends over they play on the PS for a little while and sometimes some older friends will help him to get further in a game than he has previously. But then they get fed up and go off and do something else.

Original poster
northstar · 11/12/2006 13:20

blu (have been wanting to use one of those for ages

OP posts:
Original poster
northstar · 11/12/2006 13:23

I think the reason that I worry about the interaction thing is that my db was into computers from an early age to the exclusion of all else, while I was outside climbing trees with half the neighbourhood. He didn't seem to have too many friends and was very shy and I would hate that to happen with ds.
But now reading that back it is like I want ds to have my childhood rather than his own omg how deep is that!

OP posts: