Gameboys - good or bad idea as Christmas present for 5 yr old?

[Tinker]

Hope you can help. My daughter will be over 5 1/2 at Christams, she has all the usual stuff and so I am running out of ideas for presents now. Is she too young to have a Gameboy? Do 5 year olds use them? Are they good or bad things - in general? Must admit I'd like one myself really! Also, what games would you recommend for her since she likes patterns, logic type things?

Thanks

HI Tinker. My DS is about to be 5 so having the same sort of problems re: Christmas presents. My nephews who are 4and 7 both have Gameboys and I think the problem tends to be not that they won't use them but that they won't stop. They also have Nintendo and PC games and from what I can see they play them all the time and are obsessed (especially the 4yr old). They are pretty well rounded and I am not criticising but I personally think that 5 is a bit too young. I definately won't buy one for my DS....not yet anyway.

I really want games for DS this year too. Have you tried Guess Who? It is a 2 player game where you each have a board with cards that stand up. You both chose a card from a separate pile and then you have to guess who the other person has by asking revealing questions such as "Does your person where glasses?" or "Is your person female?" and then you eliminate people by flicking down the cards on the board. I think it is good as it helps them to really concentrate .Oh dear, I'm not sure I have explained that very well! There is also a Kids Charades game that looks pretty good, I am going to get that for DS as I thought it might be good for everyone to play over Christmas.

It is DS's birthday is 3 weeks so I've got 2 lots of presents to think of....help!!

My 10 yo ds is asking for one, I'm not keen, we had to introduce a limit system (earning time by doing music practice/homework etc) for the pc as he was on it too much. That has worked out and he is in control of his own time on it now, more or less. But he may well be given enough money over xmas and birthday to get a gameboy anyway. I'm not completely anti, friends swear by them for long journeys, but just not going to buy one myself. What about a sub to a comic for yr 5 yr old? They tend to be v popular as the present lasts all yr. Or membership of something like a junior wildlife organisation, where they tend to get newsletters or magazines and activity packs etc. Havent done that for my kids but I used to be a member of 'Watch' back in the olden days, which was a kind of environmental thing for kids, and I loved it.

My 6 year old and 8 1/2 year old both had gameboys last Christmas and they are permanently attached to them.
They are quite handy on car journeys to stop them fighting, but I don't think that it is a good idea for them to be on them all the time and that is the problem limiting their time on them.
I don't know what games you can get with patterns and logic unfortunately mine are into Pokemon.

Have you got games like Connect 4, draughts, dominoes or even chess? These are all good logic and pattern games and I don't think 5 is too young. My DP loves chess and is teaching DS (almost 5) to play. He doesn't understand it completely but is vey keen. Just an idea.

message withdrawn

Tinker I agree they just get obsessed with them it's the same with playstation,then it causes arguments when you want them to have a break from it.We got a pinball machine from the disney store which is good fun.Or something like etch a sketch?Or her own mini v tech computer,we find they still love it years later but it's not so addictive as other things.

Tinker, hate to be self-referential, but have a look at my musings re Playstation 2 on the "4 yo turning into Kevin the teenager" thread and see if you still want one. Maybe girls are different though?

Both my kids have one. They played with it for a couple weeks and then tossed it in the closet. Thank god my parents bought them instead of me. The only problem I have is that I cant afford the games as often and they get so bored with the few they do have. They have the game boy advanced color so its more expensive I guess.

tinker, I think it would be a good idea to borrow a friend's gameboy for a day or two and see if your daughter a) gets to grips with it, b) enjoys it, c) happily gives it back after a set time.

That should give you some clue about what's in store. My son had a gameboy when he was five and a half. To be honest, it took six months or so before he was a confident user - no older brothers or sisters to show him how the games worked. Be warned, that task might fall to you on christmas day!

However, as for gameboy addiction, my son reads just as much as he plays on his gameboy. It's not the be all and end all of his life and it's very useful on long journeys as others have said. So in all, I am very glad he's got it.

We held out for years on this one.When we did eventually get onefor the 3 kids to share(!) the 2 boys loved it but my daughter has never really played with it.She also isn't interested in play station.

My reaction is nooooooooooo! I'm going to get my ds (4) a couple of CD-roms for Xmas, but these will be very carefully supervised - ie, he will not use them without me sitting with him - you can't do this with a gameboy. I would never give a child a toy like this as I don't see any positive benefits for them - just negatives.

There are loads of great board games around - which have the added advantage that the child is interating with another person, not just drifting off into another world with the computer.

Anais, that was my reaction too. My 9 yr old nephew has progressed from a Gameboy (got at age 7-ish I think) onto PS and even when visiting my parents he brings his PS and spends hours locked away in a room with it.

It was the 'drifting off into another world' that I was kind of hoping for . With only me around, interacting with another person means ME! ALL the time!!

Tigermoth - she loves the games on a mobile phone (NOT mine!!) hence why I thought she might appreciate the gameboy. Don't really know anyone who has got one though!

VJR - we do play Connect 4 (EVERY night at the moment!) So will check out Guess Who?

Thanks everyone, will have to give this some more thought!

suew if that's the case, there's a good reason for waiting, tinker. My son can't get many accessories for his Gameboy colour now that Gamboy advance is out. The manufacturers have stopped making much of the gameboy colour stuff, like printer paper for his gameboy colour camera (cost over 70 pounds, not compatibale with a gameboy advance, and unless I get paper, now redundant).

Also, if you go into the average game shop and look at the range of gameboy colour games, there are pitifuly few compared to the gameboy advance range. And guesss what, you can use gameboy colour games in gameboy advance, but not the other way round, making gameboy colour really out of date.

So if a new gameboy is to be bought out shortly, do check that all gameboy advance accessories will be compatible with it - if not, I'd advise you to hold fire on this.

PS finding a way for him to get lost in his own little world was EXACTLY why I bought the gameboy. Age age 5 he couldn't read sufficiently well to get lost in a book and was not a great watcher of videos. Much preferred interaction at every opportunity, but boy, was it wearing!

Playing on the gameboy was the first thing to help him see that sitting still and focussing on one thing qietly was actually quite fun. Both dh and I were delighted to see him getting into it!

Tigermoth and SueW thanks for that advice. Her birthday is in spring so might be best to wait until then. I prefer to buy loads of little presents at Christmas and it wouldn't really be possible if got the gameboy now. So, it'll have to wait.