What do your 8 year olds play with?

[Sarah62]

My 8 year old complains there’s nothing to do and nothing to play with (to be fair we have played with all his toys in lockdown), the only thing he wants to do after school is watch tv or play video games. He will play board games but only if I’m playing with him which isn’t always possible as we’ve got other children. Is this normal? What do your 8 year old boys play with?

There was no real difference between what my older kids did at 8; Lego, Minecraft, reading, YouTube were main hobbies when left to their own devices, they also loved a long bubble bath after school, that killed a couple of hours. Hama beads and play doh, and helping cook and clean up. With a bit more company games like Skyjo, Uno, Exploding Kittens rather than board games.

My DD is 9. She does enjoy playing video games (Roblox mainly) and watching YouTube videos but she also spends a lot of time playing with Playmobil etc., making things out of junk/recycling (she made a huge amusement park for our hamster out of cardboard boxes, loo rolls etc.), setting up jumps in the garden and pretending to be horse riding, playing with our pets, sewing.... she's pretty good at entertaining herself but VERY messy! She's just taught herself to solve a Rubik's Cube using YouTube – maybe something like that would appeal to your DS?

Thanks

Knex or Meccano
Radio control car
Tefloc bricks
Snap circuits
Gravitrax