OT--what does your 5 1/2 yr old girl play with?

[la79al]

Some of the posts on here along with decreasing time due to an upcoming wedding have made me start thinking about Christmas shopping. The problem is that I don't have any good ideas of what to get DD. It seems like she has everything already and goes back and forth with what she plays with. She says she thinks she is ready for a TV in her room but I am SO against that. What does everyone elses little girls play with or what suggestions do you have for me? I have 10 year old DS too if you have any suggestions on that. I'm really thinking gift cards for him as he also has everything (cell phone, IPOD, PSP, etc).

 

[PrincessAbby'sMom]

My daughter just turned 6 in August & she also goes back & forth w/everything that she plays with.
She has a ton of My Little Ponies, Barbies & Dolls (American Girl & just babies). She goes in sperts w/what she plays with too.
For her 6th Birthday she got Brat dolls (alot like Barbies, but still different) and Polly Pockets (small people w/arms & legs, rubber strechy clothes & cars, etc). She also has 2 Groovy Girls (almost like rag dolls) you can also buy them clothes & furniture.
She is now asking for a cd/walkman type player w/earphones to listen to music. Only I don't know what music to get her????
She also got a razor scooter for her B-day & $ for a trip to American Girl (we live about 1 hour south of Chicago)
Hope this helps!

 

[minniebeth]

My Little Ponies, The Littlest Petshop animals (very hot right now), Disney has a (new to me) line of Like-Polly Pockets Princesses and Tinkerbell. I saw a really cute Tinkerbell light up lantern just the other day. Barbies, American Girl stuff is huge in our home right now, Bath and Body Works stuff, any girly accessory (like Claire's in the mall), Build-A-Bear, books, DVDs and music.
As for music for kids who are beyond Barney but not ready for the teen scene yet, we love the Disney Mania Cds. We also have the Disney movie soundtracks such as Lilo and Stitch, Cars and we are the nerds that bought the Partridge Family CDs. My kids LOVE the Partridge Family music.
We have reached a point of saturation in our home. Yes, our blessed kids "have it all", not literally, but definately do not need a thing. We have gone more toward giving them "experiences" such as going to see a ballet, movie tickets, zoo memberships, etc. (More consumable things). We also "adopted" a family and buy things for them all through the year. It is fun to let our kids be a part of what we choose during the holidays. This year, other than a gift from Santa, it will be a surprise trip to WDW in Jan. (...and we would have gone anyway, just using it as a good excuse for a family Xmas gift.)

 

[disneynewbee]

In our extended family we have girls that are 4,6, and 7. They all love littlest pet shops, they love purses (walmart has an adorable selection of disney purses very cheap). They love dress up but are too big for the dress up clothes sold at the stores so we go and buy out the halloween clearance and they recieve those as dress up clothes. You can get so much for so cheap. The older two listen to cd's on there cd players. The youngest collects disney dvd's.

 

[Momof2princess]

My girls love the Polly Pockets, and Bratz Dolls too.
My older DD loves the American Girl Dolls and my youngest is into the Bitty Babies.
I know that at 5 1/2 my oldest loved to play school. So we got her a stand up easel and also the different sets with pens, paper, stickers ect... in them. She would have tons of fun with all this stuff.

Akk...Christmas is right around the corner....I need to get busy shopping too.

"B"

 

[mimif1]

My DD is 7 now, but she has played with Pollys, Petshop, and Barbies. As for music, my kids like the Kidz Bop CDs and any soundtrac such as High School Musical and Disney Movies. They also love crafts such as making Beadie Buddies made with pony beads, fuse beads and things like that. We also get them magazine subsciptions to Nickelodian Magazine and National Geographic Kids. They love getting their new magazines in the mail and it lasts all year.

 

[DisEye]

One thing that both my DDs like (5 and 7 1/2) is the Leapster. It's educational too. We've had it for almost two years and they both will play with it.

 

[kribit]

I agree with Minniebeth...we try and give our children the gift of experience (symphony, museums, art exhibits, hikes, etc...). We also like to take them to shows like Dora, Sesame Street. The way we look at it, at this age there is SO MUCH stuff out there, they would get overwhelmed. DH and I would much rather spend $75 on a family day out vs. a toy that will get thrown in the closet or broken. (we do not have a finished toy room basement). BAD PARENTS huh?

Toy wise, my dd loves her baby dolls (bitty baby) and Fisher Price little people (LOVES THEM). My ds loves Thomas, Thomas, Thomas and Leapster. Both love to read and do art projects (but what child doesn't). They are both 4 though. They also like games...we have tons of them. Their new favorite is Balloon Lagoon. You can't beat the Cranium games, we have pretty much every one. I bet your 5 yo would love these.

My dniece is 5 and likes Littlest pet shoppe, polly pocket, bratz dolls (even though her mom doesn't care for them). Her grandma buys them. I've already discussed this with her that those dolls aren't in my dd collection.

 

[minkydog]

I was very big on giving my kids things to make things out of. Stuff they had to use their imagination to use. My DD13 is older now,but I well remember her at 5. She was obsessed with dress-ups. I spent a lot of time scrounging thrift stores for odd dressups. At one time she had a 50-yd crinoline(petticoat for square dance dresses), a long brown wig, a mink cape, boots,white gloves, and various accesories. She had two Indian costumes so she and a friend could both be Pocahontas.

At 5yo, my daughter loved crafts. I made her a special box and put glue sticks, a paint set,construction paper, markers, small balls of yarn,chenielles, and popsicle sticks inside. She liked to make doll houses out of old shoe boxes. She liked to plant things, so I got her some clay pots which she decorated with acrylic paints and planted marigolds in them.We got her a red wagon, which her brother pulled her around the yard in. She also pulled her babies in it.

At 5yo, DD13 loved looking at Ranger Rick magazine. We bought a family pass to the zoo and went about once a month. She liked taking pictures and putting them in her little album. She adopted a manatee and received an 8" x11" picture of Rosie, which she still displays in her room.

Notice, no electronics...none of my kids had TVs or Gameboys until they were at least 11. No Playstation until age 16. Still don't have any iPods or MP3's. Not that I think they're awful, I just don't think they help build a child's brain creatively.

 

[MinnieGi]

My DD just turned 6 in August. She likes to play with dolls, barbies, dress-up, petshop, little people, basically anything to use her imagination. She also loves crafts. For her birthday party many friends gave her craft kits which she really enjoys.

Good for you for thinking of Christmas! It really will be here before we all know it!

 

[Hope73]

Polly pockets, bratz and dare I say it we love the american girl bitty baby twins.

 

[Lisa_Belle]

I faced this a couple of years ago when grandparents wanted a gift idea. DD wanted to take ballet lessons, so I suggested that - and it's been great! She loves dance, it's something that doesn't have to be picked up, it's a learning experience, it's athletic ... I can go on and on.

Is there any activity that your kids would like to try? If not, I also suggest the "experiences" idea and take them to the ballet, theater, local sporting events, etc. Or maybe get them a membership to the zoo, a waterpark, museum. Sometimes charity auctions let you bid on "experiences" as well. For example, our local ballet auctions off a walk-on part in The Nutcracker. The symphony auctions off privileges to be a guest conductor for a song at one of their concerts. That kind of thing. Take a mini-vacation to a nearby attraction and give them a blank photo album or journal. Then, your kinds will have wonderful memories!

But as for toys, DD's favorites are dress-up clothes and her American Girl doll (but not Bitty Baby).

 

[dismom301930]

The things that my two oldest DDs (ages 6 and almost 5) play with the most are:

Arts and Crafts (any kind)
Puzzles (100-150 pieces)
Games (Sorry, Pretty Pretty Princess, Guess Who and Uno are favorites)
Polly Pockets
Dress-up (I bought clearance after Halloween last year to get some larger sizes)
Tea Party, Birthday Party or Picnic (with stuffed animals and dolls that are all dressed up and accessorized)
Keyboard and other musical instruments

Hope this helps a little!

 

[vanreg]

I have 3 dd's - 4, 6 & 10. They play with the following:

Leapster
Littlest Pet Shop
Polly Pockets
Puzzles
Crayola Color Wonder & Color Explosion
Craft Kits
Doodle Bears
Build-a-Bears
American Girl/Bitty Baby dolls
Groovy Girls
Barbies on occasion

 

[monorailsilver]

My oldest dd is 5 1/2 (May birthday) & this is what she likes to do:

Trains
Movies/DVD's
Board Games
The Computer (basically I have to kick her off so I can play)
Crafts-glue, paints, stickers, beads, etc...
Dress up
I Spy books
I have a sort of I Spy (but it isn't I Spy) picture search book that we got from BJ's in Feb & we are still not 1/4 thru it & we do it often & it was only $10.
She has Barbies but she doesn't always play with them & the same goes with the Polly's.
Horses
Anything outdoorsy
We have the baloon rocket that she & my ds love & my baby likes too.

That is all I can think of now.

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

You've gotten some great responses already. Two other things I plan to get for my dd (who will be nearly 5) for Christmas are:

a jewelry box with a ballerina inside
a watch

I love the idea of getting grandparents to pay for dance classes. My mom paid for the girls to take a music class for my younger dd's 1st bday.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Most of the replays so far (except not Bratz, I have a goal to keep them out of the house.) We don't have too many barbies around here either (but a few of the Disney Princess ones. I like American Girl so I plan to get the girls the new bitty baby twins (one each) for Christmas this year.

DD and her friends also love dress up and imagine play.

Anything Disney Princess at my house is always good.

At this age they can start getting into more complex puzzles, games, arts & Crafts and books too. Always good.

Then again my 5 1/2 year old plays with the 2 years olds toys all the time too!

 

[Tosie]

My dd will be 6 in a few weeks and she is a HUGE fan of Littlest Pet Shop and really likes Polly Pocket. She also enjoys anything art related, the Disney Princesses (of course, LOL!), reading, and Barbie. (I am anti-Bratz also). She also loves anything medical - she has a doctor kit and a vet kit and puts casts on everything. She likes her dolls and stroller too - usually you can find her with a backpack on reading a MK or MGM map as she pushes her baby "through Disney".

 

[emma'smom]

Notice, no electronics...none of my kids had TVs or Gameboys until they were at least 11. I just don't think they help build a child's brain creatively.[/QUOTE]

This has been our philosophy too. I am wondering, though, if I shouldn't be making a better effort to expose my dd4 to the computer. My dh and I use our work laptops (so the kids don't touch them) and dd4 really doesn't ever have any experiences with computers other than observing us. I'm not so concerned at age 4, but I wonder at what age we should buy her computer for word processing, guided, supervised e-mailing (to grandma), and guided internet access.

 

[pooh4evr]

I really don't know what to get DD5 for Christmas at all DD3 I have lots of ideas- big bike, baby doll things, Ariel stuff, but as for my older one I can't think of much! AHHHHH - We go on Christmas/cycle break December 18 so I need ot have everything bought and wrapped BY THEN especially with a new baby on the way soon after-

Do any of the girls play with dollhouses anymore? We have Dora's house and a Barbie Princess and the Pauper Castle is that too many living quarters to ahve in 1 basement - our kids are the only grandkids on either side (great grandkids too) so we tend to get stuff from everybody- would it be completely rude/inappropriate of me to ask for $$ towards a really nice swing set from people if they ask instead of getting more c**p to have around the house?