Guest guest Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 Nintendo has the most kid-friendly games, but I wouldn't rush out and buy one for a 4.5 year old. There are so many better things to do with a preschooler's time. (And we own an Xbox, Game Cube, and Nintendo 64, so I am not totally anti-video game system.) Jackie On Mar 16, 2006, at 9:04 AM, Adnan Rafiq wrote: > I was wondering if I should buy a video game console > for my son who is 4.5 yo. He is a bit immature for his > age and has never played video games before. > > Any recommedations? Which console (Nintendo, PS2,etc) > and games are suitable for such kids? > > Thanks > > > __________________________________________________ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 Gamecube is the strongest of the systems.PS II break easily. ( we've had two.) Agree that Nintendo is the most kid friendly. Avoid games by Rockstar Productions Michele-mom of Heath 19 Jackie Geipel <jackie@...> wrote: ______________________________________________ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 --- Jackie Geipel <jackie@...> wrote: > > Nintendo has the most kid-friendly games, but I > wouldn't rush > out and buy one for a 4.5 year old. There are so > many better > things to do with a preschooler's time. I totally agree with Jackie. There are various types of educational things for pre-schoolers. Like the LeapPad or even the V-Tech video learning games. We have done the LeapPad and that is a great learning tool. We also have the Interact Tv, which doesn't give many options, but it is also an interactive game that the kids can do on the tv, but they have the control in their lap. I am VERY thankful for the GameBoy system. I don't know where we'd be if it weren't for that. I guess got his first one when he was around 8 or 9 years old. It really helps with keeping him calm during car rides so he doesn't pick on his sisters. And it is how he relaxes at night before he goes to sleep. (I know, but it works for him.) But it's a hard thing for a 4.5 year old to grasp. My daughter does play some of the GameCube games with our older children. She's 5, but she has no clue what she is doing. She just pushes buttons. Sometimes they are there to tell her what she should push. She is always insistant upon playing when they do now. She can do Party games okay. She just gets told which buttons to push, but she gets frustrated when she's not the one winning. But I would go with the educational ones for now. They are enough fun without them really knowing that it's not the " play " value of the video games. Melinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 Gamecube is supposedly the 'least fanciest' of the major systems right now, but it is indeed extremely durable, it's more affordable, and there are plenty of games available. To me, it is the perfect choice for my 5 yos -- he's thrown it, kicked it, hurled things at it, and it still works. (He got it for Christmas.) He's also had it taken away plenty of times because of the behaviors. One thing I've noticed is that the selection of games doesn't seem as violent as for some of the other systems, which is definitely a plus. One thing that we kept in mind when purchasing the system was that we'd had a Super Nintendo for about 10 years prior to this, and it still to this day works fine, despite anything he's done to it. That impressed us that at least Nintendo makes quality products as far as that goes. Michele wrote: > Gamecube is the strongest of the systems.PS II break easily. > ( we've had two.) Agree that Nintendo is the most kid friendly. > Avoid games by Rockstar Productions > Michele-mom of Heath 19 > > Jackie Geipel <jackie@...> wrote: > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 Our Gameboy is a lifesaver! I think the age the child does it totally depends on their fine motor skills and maturity, but I see a lot of young children playing them fine. My little guy learned when he was 3. Granted, I'm not saying it's the best thing for a child at this age or any other, but I'd much rather ds be obsessed with this Gameboy than some other possibilities. It's portable, and it calms him when he's having a rough moment...which is often. It allows him to use his fingers rather than flap them, and it holds his attention, something that can be hard to find. It gives him a 'place' to be when things are loud and crazy. He still gets upset at loud noises and whatnot, but it's a lot more tolerable when we have to go somewhere for him to have this and be able to tolerate at least more, if that makes sense. Maybe start out with a Leapster and see how he does. It's easier than the Gameboy to use, but the Gameboy SP (not the one with the fancy pen and all, that just doesn't seem durable to me) isn't that much harder and there are a lot of non-violent games. Spongebob is silly, but ds loves him and it's a cute game, too. Hall Melinda wrote: > --- Jackie Geipel <jackie@...> wrote: > > >> Nintendo has the most kid-friendly games, but I >> wouldn't rush >> out and buy one for a 4.5 year old. There are so >> many better >> things to do with a preschooler's time. >> > > > > I totally agree with Jackie. There are various types > of educational things for pre-schoolers. Like the > LeapPad or even the V-Tech video learning games. We > have done the LeapPad and that is a great learning > tool. We also have the Interact Tv, which doesn't give > many options, but it is also an interactive game that > the kids can do on the tv, but they have the control > in their lap. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 We have: LeapPad (not one of my three kids liked it), Leapster (all three of my kids enjoy it - and the games vary from preschool to on up, tons of educational and non-educational computer games, gameboy, and gamecube. We have the Interactv DVD system. We also have quite a few electronic games like chess, connect 4, Q20, football, baseball, etc. Finally, we have three interactive TV games - baseball, football, and Star Wars lightsaber. My daughter who is in preschool is allowed 2 hours of electronic media per day, and the boys who go to school all day are allowed nothing that is not educational M-F. On Friday nights, they are allowed a movie or gamecube, and on Saturday and Sunday they earn gaming time by doing additional worksheets that are school related. I would recommend the Leapster Max (LMax) for your first one. Your son is undoubtably above average in the brain department, and this will give you the most flexibility with moving him up in his academic skills. I know when we 'hooked' up our autistic son at age 2 I realized just how smart he was and that he had the ability to understand what was being said to him. While my son was an exception in handwriting, I know many kids with autism struggle with this, and the LMax has a handwriting game that allows them to see the letters form on the TV set. > > I was wondering if I should buy a video game console > for my son who is 4.5 yo. He is a bit immature for his > age and has never played video games before. > > Any recommedations? Which console (Nintendo, PS2,etc) > and games are suitable for such kids? > > Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 YES!! PS 2 has the ability to also play the PS one games.. Or most of them.. And my son LOVES playing Blues clues.. And Elmo's letter adventure. Be prepared.. Some things can be complicated and frustrating ... But weighing that with the eye hand control and fine motor control they can achieve is a Great benefit. Beware of some games though.. They can spurr on a seisure in those who already have seisures.. I know there are other game systems.. But this one will grow with your child In the meantime.. http://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/games/flash.php?contentId=9495524 It is Elmo , try games on the flag pole and there are great learning games all through out this site http://www.kidscomjr.com/games/matching/matching.html This is a matching game , There are also more games on here. http://www.miniclip.com/hangaroo.htm This helps with letters and some words, becareful you will get hooked on it http://www.segmation.com/SegPlayChoose.asp?order=alpha & cat=sun#images This is a paint by numbers board, there are all kinds of pictures to paint and you can make the pictures bigger so the numbers are easier to see http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/WordSearchSetupForm.html Now this one is aboslutly fabulous for spelling words. You can make a game out of them. You type in the words on the speeling test and they make a circle word puzzle out of it http://www.ivyjoy.com/abc/abc.shtml This site has blocks of the alphabet, You click on one and it shows you pictures that go with that letter http://www.fisher-price.com/us/fun/games/abc/default.asp This site I totally give credit for Elliott learning his alphabet. No matter what key you hit it brings up the next correct letter, E played it until he was hitting the right keys http://www.do2learn.com/index.htm This is another great one that has a little of everything on it http://tlsbooks.com/preschoolworksheets.htm This is one that has some good places for fine motor skills on it http://www.activitypad.com/online-games/bigmatch/ This is another matching game with more pictures to match -- ( ) Video games I was wondering if I should buy a video game console for my son who is 4.5 yo. He is a bit immature for his age and has never played video games before. Any recommedations? Which console (Nintendo, PS2,etc) and games are suitable for such kids? Thanks __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 Oh, if you do decide to buy a system, see if there are EB Games stores in your area. " Pre-owned " machines and games can be purchased for much less than new....and we've never been disappointed. We bought our XBox new, but everything else used. Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 My son plays Vsmile in the morning, before and after his afternoon nap and before sleeping.(cause the game is in the bedroom) It is so tough to make him stop till he does not finish al the stages. Now I hide the game till the weekend. --- Neal <teddi3@...> wrote: > Do any of your Autism Spectrum kids play video games > (X-Box or Playstation) for hours at a time? > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been > removed] > > __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 My kids would play all day. They aren't on the spectrum, but have sensory and language issues and are BOYS. They get to 'earn' Nintendo time each day and they get 15 minutes and I set the kitchen timer. The games live on the refrigerator or they would play them in their rooms all day. So far it has worked for us. It is also a great consequence to lose Nintendo time when they don't behave. _____ From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of galu Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 4:13 PM Subject: Re: Video games My son plays Vsmile in the morning, before and after his afternoon nap and before sleeping.(cause the game is in the bedroom) It is so tough to make him stop till he does not finish al the stages. Now I hide the game till the weekend. --- Neal <teddi3earthlink (DOT) <mailto:teddi3%40earthlink.net> net> wrote: > Do any of your Autism Spectrum kids play video games > (X-Box or Playstation) for hours at a time? > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been > removed] > > __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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