When do kids stop playing with toys? Several questions...

Question

I know that sounds weird but my oldest will be going to Kindergarten in the fall which means that he will no longer be home as often. I'm assuming that his need for toys is going to decrease over the next year because of this. Would you agree?

In your experience, once school starts what kind of toys do 5, 6 &7 year olds start taking interest in? More educational things like LeapFrog? Or what? Suggestions? (I'm thinking Christmas presents here)

We have a wooden train table. He doesn't seem to play with it anymore? Is 5 a good age to put it away or do you think he may still play with it occasionally as he gets older?

TIA for your help.

Answer 1

The old toys will not be interesting after awhile.  But don't replace them too soon. They'll play with them from time to time. You can start giving them a voice in these decisions. Kindergarten will not reduce the need to play.  College shouldn't either.

You might consider an introduction to using an easy paint program on a real computer. There are educational web sites with easy games too.

So what did we do with our 4 year old?  We started him on violin lessons.  At 11, he's had 7 years of violin and maybe 5 of piano.  He's really good.

Answer 2

Kids still love toys at that age.

A lot of boys like cars, boats, planes-either motorized ones, or ones that can move somehow by pulling back first.

They like gliders, or planes or rockets that you can shoot in the air. You need to be careful with these.

Scooters and bikes are fun too.

All kids are different, but I would ask him before you take his train table down.

A lot of kids like Webkinz pets that come with a code to play online. Of course they always want to keep selling you more stuff.

Leapfrog stuff can be fun, but you need to be able to keep track of all the books and things that go with it. In general kids don't seem super crazy about educational toys in my opinion.

Answer 3

Kids never stop playing with toys - they simply mature into different toys.

Also - if a kid is overwhelmed with "lots" of choices - he may play with something more or less.

You should only have a few toys out at any given time - then put the rest away and rotate them.

Answer 4

Your five year old will probably play with toys for several years yet, and I would not put the train table away yet, because it will most likely still get a lot of use.

I have an eight year old son and a ten year old daughter.  As they age, their use of and preference for certain toys definitely change but even my almost-eleven year old still plays with toys occasionally.

Browse the aisles of Wal Mart and Toys R Us and see what your son is interested in, listen for what he tells you he wants and go from there.  

Answer 5

Guys never stop playing with toys.  They just get more expensive.

Answer 6

I would say leave the wooden train table out. I'm sure he will still play with it.

Some ideas for Christmas presents are:

1) http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp... (I got this for my niece who is 5)

2) http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp... (this is cool has a lot of different games you can buy)

3) http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp...

4) http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp... is a really fun game)

Good luck and I hope I helped

Answer 7

You can put the train table away, but keep it in case he asks for it.

My daughter is 7.  Yes, last year her interest in actual toys decreased.  She's more into drawing and coloring, doing craft activity kits, Leapfrog, playing board games.  I have no clue what to do for Christmas yet.

However, although she didn't play with her Bratz dolls for over 6 months, she recently started again.  Same with her polly pocket stuff.  So I guess it comes and goes.

Answer 8

I still play with toys...I didn't know there was a law that said we had to stop.