My boys, Max eight and Murray 5, are little gamers. They absolutely love the Playstation and play nicely together on it. They play all the Lego Games, Little Big Planet and Plants Vs Zombies.
We have a strict no Playstation on School days rule that they rarely contest.
During the school holidays they attend various clubs and camps whilst carrying on with their usual physical sports, cricket, golf and swimming. So on quiet days I don’t mind them hopping on and playing their games, especially on rainy days. Basically as long as it’s not their only stimulation I don’t mind them playing on it. It’s also used as a punishment ‘Playstation Grounded’ it’s become known in our house and it works really well.
Recently they both asked if they could play and I said they could have one hour’s game time but explained we were in for the whole day and that if they played then, early morning, they wouldn’t be able to play later.
I asked them if they wanted to discuss it and come back to me. The scurried off to the stairs for a couple of minutes and marched back to me with the outcome. “Mummy, can we please play for half an hour now and half an hour later?” I was so proud of them for taking time out and discussing their options and I think their request was just about perfect.
I will definitely be offering choice more, in all areas of day to day life, rather than just hitting the NO button.
Max Recommends
“I would totally recommend Lego Word because if you really like exploring you will love this. It is really creative and it’s imaginative. You explore different worlds and in every level you find new tools to use to create and change the world you are in.”
“I would also recommend Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2 if you are over 8 and lower that 12 (but my Brother likes it even though he is 5) You can play on either sides Plants or Zombies and there are lots of characters for both. My favourite character is the Hover Goat 3000”
“I really love Skylanders and have all the games. I have over 50 of the Characters which are toys that go on a portal that magics them into the game”
Murray Recommends
“My favourite game is the Lego Movie Game. I like that it’s just like the Movie and you can be Emmett.”
“I like Little Big Planet because we have unlocked three characters and you can customise your sack boy”
Molly loves computer games! Edd bought her a nintendo DS last year and she loves her Dog game and also Super Mario. Alice is a bit of a fan too and we let them use it at the weekend or if one of them is sat waiting for the other at swimming/ballet etc. I don’t mind them playing on them so long as they don’t spend hours on end, which they would if we let them!! x
Totally, it’s not like it’s the only way they are able to entertain themselves x
Ahhh the boys reviews are SO sweet!!! Bless their little hearts xxxx
Love them x
Ahh bless Max & Murray, my boys used to love Slylanders too, they still have drawers full of the portals, characters & keys etc, perhaps I should pass them on… xxx
Alllllll the space haha. I think the Skylanders days are numbered in this house too x
That’s such good negotiation and problem solving of your boys 🙂
This post is actually excellently timed for me. My elder daughter is almost five and got a DS for her Christmas present last year. She hasn’t really used it up to now but has recently expressed an interest in playing games ‘like Daddy and Gabe’ (her big brother). Does anyone have any recommendations for things she might be able to play with minimal input from me? She is a proficient iPad/CBeebies app user (obvs 🙄) so she’s not coming from it entirely blind but she’s not fast enough yet for things like Mario.
Hi Sara. Molly is nearly six and has had her DS for her fifth birthday. I wasn’t sure she was ready but she’s mastered some of her games now. One of her favourites is NintenDogs which she can feed the dog, walk it etc etc. It’s got easier for her now she can read as messages do pop up for you to select from. She also has a disney Princess one (Molly has just told me you can have it as she’s finished it!!!) and Gardening Mama forest friends which she likes. She has just told me that Super Mario party is quite easy so it might be worth a go. We’ve kept it limited to a couple of games so she can get used to those rather than constantly swapping and changing xxx