OT: Game Boy or Other type of portable toy?

[Mom22angels]

Hi!

I was wondering if anyone could give me suggestions! I'm looking for a toy that a 5 year-old can take in the car with him. My husbands sister lives 4 1/2 hours away and she says that her 5 year-old and 3 year-old can't ride in a car that long without driving her wacky! SO - for XMAS I want to get them something that will keep them busy in the car, so they can come visit!

I was thinking about getting him a game boy and getting the 3 year-old a VideoNow Junior.

I have a 3 year-old girl and a 8 month old boy, so this is a bit out of my league right now! I'd love some suggestions!

Thanks in Advance!
Brenda

 

['Countingmom]

Leapster is a wonderful toy. It has cartridges for all different age levels, so they won't out grow it right away. My daughter is now nearly 9 and we are in route to WDW as we speak. She brought her Gameboy (bought it for xmas last year) plus still wanted to bring her Leapster too. PLUS it's EDUCATIONAL!!

 

[sherreis]

I agree with the Leapster. I asked my mother to buy one for my son who was 5 last year when we were driving 12 hr from MD to Atlanta. He absolutely loves it even though he would have preferred getting a Gameboy Advance like his big brother. Now, he also has a Nintendo DS in addition to his Leapster and I find him playing on the Leapster a lot of the time (fine with me cause he has learned so much from it).

My son has the Leapster LMax which costs more than the reg. Leapster. IMO you don't need to spend the additional money for it. There aren't as many games for the LMax and the big difference is that the LMax can be used on the TV.

 

[DisneyMama27]

We bought our kids each a personal DVD player last year for Christmas. DH had been thinking of putting one in the car, but then thought of these - he's so brilliant! We rarely take car trips anymore, and these can go on the plane easy. I didn't like the idea of the kids watching TV every time they got in the car (all their friends do), so we only use them on longer trips, airplanes, and for sleepovers, etc. Best idea he's ever had, at least until he bought DVC last month! Not as educational as some of the other ideas, but more versatile - everyone has DVDs. Gameboy games (we have those too) are more expensive and require looking at a pretty small screen for a long time.

either way, the real gift here is the headphones you include with it! Find child-sized and make sure they fit the port (Gameboys have their own headphones - reg ones do not fit). My DH said next road trip we are getting the nice noise-reducing headphones for the DVDs, since the cheap ones still let too much noise out!

 

[Mom22angels]

Thank You Ladies for your reply! Lots to think about!

Brenda

 

[DisneyArk]

A portable DVD player would be great for all of your kids to enjoy in the car.

I'm in the minority here, but my DS6 does not like his Leapster L-Max. We bought it for him last year when he was 5. He does not enjoy "educational games" and wasn't fooled into thinking it was fun. He does like to play his Gameboy Advanced (but it's probably because DS8 has one). The key with it is to find games that do not have a lot of reading required. Now before I buy him a game, we go to the used game stores and let him try out the games in the store.

The Gameboy Advanced does not give any verbal instructions. I was really disappointed to find out how many games require a lot of reading. Why do they make Power Ranger games that ask the child question after question. Aren't a lot of boys growing out of Power Rangers around the time they start to read really well?

DS6's favorite video system is the PS2. We actually bring it in the car and hook it up to the DVD player. He will play the Star Wars Lego game for hours if we let him.