What age did you get your child a DS??

[mcgrawfan]

I have been thinking about a DS for our DD for either her birthday or Christmas. She will be 5. She can play some of the Sports things on WII, but I don't know if she is too young for her own DS. I am not worried about any durablity issues as we would help her with it for now.

 

[swissfamilyrobinson]

Santa brought one for our little boy last Christmas. He was seven, and I can tell you he had been wanting one since he was about five!!! We held out as long as we could!

 

[redlight]

What's a DS?

 

[Serena]

I have no idea what you are really referring to, but DS means Dear Son around here.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I don't remember which system it was but we got our kids a handheld game system pretty young.

I think it was the Gameboy Advanced.

My nephews play their DS's since they have been 5.

5 is a good age to get them a system.

 

[5 for WDW]

Our 5 year old has the new DSi and she loves it! She only has a few games she can play but, it is great for car rides. Mario Kart is her favorite!

 

[RadioNate]

The Christmas after he turned 6.

We are on our 2nd one as the 1st went missing from our hotel room.

The boy next door got his at 5 and loves it. The sister outgrew hers at about 9.

 

[disneydreamersx4]

We gave them for Christmas last year, DD's were 11 and 7. 11yo DD was asking Santa for one for many years like since she was 7. We gave them Gameboys first when oldest was 7 or 8.

YOu can use Gameboy games on a DS

 

[Ephany]

DH gave DD his this summer and she's 6. She loves it but still needs help with the reading parts sometimes.

 

[All American]

Our daughter didn't techinically "get" a DS. She found my husband's and usurped control of it. She was 4 1/2, now five, and she loves playing Pokemon, Mario Cart (spelling? ), Nintendogs, and Super Mario.

 

[cathyce2]

Both my daughters got them last Christmas. They were 9 and just turned 5. They play Mario Kart together almost every day. It's something they can both enjoy despite the age difference.

 

[skuttle]

DS got his last Christmas at 5 1/2. He's gotten a lot better at it. Mario Kart and Super Mario were easy games for him to play even when he first got it. It took him a little while to get used to Mario Kart...he kept trying to steer by turning the DS like the Wii remote! LOL! He enjoys other games, but they are more for boys: Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones, and Ben 10. My only suggestion is to research the games before you buy them. A lot of games require a lot of reading and are almost impossible for a young child to play.

 

[momof1princess]

my DD got one last year, at age 10. DH swore we'd never have a game system in the house, but my mom got her a gameboy for her birthday last year and i got such a great deal on the DS, i bought it for her for christmas. she doesn't play it a lot, just enough to make me glad i bought it, lol.

 

[karibritt01]

DD had just turned 6 when Santa brought her one. She also got My Little Pony and Littlest Pet Shop games. She loves it, and the games are perfect for her age/ability. She is asking for Cooking Mama and Fashion Designer for Christmas this year.

 

[HelenePA]

We got our first one when my son was 3 he could play all the games we had for it since then. Now we have a DSi as well..

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

My DD7 got her DS for her 6th birthday and a Gameboy for her 5th birthday.

Now she's ready for her DSi for her 8th birthday. I just love mine!

It is true, you can play Gameboy games on the DS, but not on the DSi. Just FYI.

 

[coliebird]

My daughter just got one for her 7th birthday, but she had to use her gift cards to buy it. I didn't buy it for her b/c I had already gotten her an Ipod for her bday and I wasn't buying both.

 

[ICF]

last week....she was 6 1/2 and bought it with her own money when Target had them on sale.

One thing to consider is that lots of the games, even the kid ones, need some reading so the better s/he can read the easier it will be for them.

 

[pyrxtc]

Holy Cow !! I think that's all I can say without offending everyone on this thread !!!

My boys got Gameboy Advances for x-mas last year and I have no intentions of buying them a DS any time soon. They are almost 6 and 8. yes they can play some of the games (I ahve one) but the GA games are easy and not too many buttons to get it started, fits in their hands better and the games (although older) are cheaper. Between those games and thier gamecube, it's more than enough. My kids don't play games in the car, we talk and they look out the window and entertain themselves like I dd when I was younger. They do get to use it on the plane since you can't really count license plates or anything like that from that high. They do have Mix stix's for music but only cuz I paid under $10 for them and 1 was mine that I passed on when I got myself a Mix Max.

The older girls both have DS's but were not bought by us. It is not something I encourage them to play much, I'd rather them interact face to face with people. My DSD is the only one wiht an Ipod and she has a phone, both bought by her mother and neither are used here much.

I think some people are starting their kids way too young on this stuff... I mean if you get a DS or an Ipod when you are 4 or 5, what do you give them when they are 13 or 16 ??? I think it's crazy to spend that much money ona young child. especially after I read that an 8 yr old was over it already ??

 

[coliebird]

Holy Cow !! I think that's all I can say without offending everyone on this thread !!!

My boys got Gameboy Advances for x-mas last year and I have no intentions of buying them a DS any time soon. They are almost 6 and 8. yes they can play some of the games (I ahve one) but the GA games are easy and not too many buttons to get it started, fits in their hands better and the games (although older) are cheaper. Between those games and thier gamecube, it's more than enough. My kids don't play games in the car, we talk and they look out the window and entertain themselves like I dd when I was younger. They do get to use it on the plane since you can't really count license plates or anything like that from that high. They do have Mix stix's for music but only cuz I paid under $10 for them and 1 was mine that I passed on when I got myself a Mix Max.

The older girls both have DS's but were not bought by us. It is not something I encourage them to play much, I'd rather them interact face to face with people. My DSD is the only one wiht an Ipod and she has a phone, both bought by her mother and neither are used here much.

I think some people are starting their kids way too young on this stuff... I mean if you get a DS or an Ipod when you are 4 or 5, what do you give them when they are 13 or 16 ??? I think it's crazy to spend that much money ona young child. especially after I read that an 8 yr old was over it already ??

To each their own. My daughter wanted a DS so I let her use her gift cards to buy it. I don't let her bring it in the car unless we are travelling for 2 or more hours. I also don't let her sit inside and play it all day. She is outside running around all day.... swimming, biking, etc. so I have no problem w/her playing it when she wants to. As for the Ipod, she was always trying to use mine and I don't really want her listening to some of the music I listen to so I got her a cheap one of her own and put her Disney music on it. Again, she doesn't bring it in the car or have it on all day. She listens to it a little bit at night if she wants. Not sure why I am explaining all this except I guess I feel like you are judging those that do allow their kids to get this stuff. I, personally think it's crazy to get kids phones in middle school or younger, but I wouldn't go on a thread and judge others that do.