6-year-old Archives - ResearchParent.com

Bow and Arrows

Michelle — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 04:23:47 +0000

If you’re looking for a gift under $25 for boys between the ages of 7 and 9, a toy bow and arrows is almost a guaranteed hit. I don’t mean to be sexist. Honestly, as non-violent a female as I am, I find shooting a toy bow and arrow to be incredibly satisfying. However, I’ve never witnessed the sort of over-the-top enthusiasm from a girl that boys never fail to exhibit with a toy like this. (Nerf guns are pretty safe bets too.)

Product: Air Z-Curve Bow
Company: Zing
Website: zing.store
Recommended Age Range: 6 to 10 years
Price Range: ~$25
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Comments: One year at Christmas time, we found bows and arrows very similar to this at Costco. It was a year when I was feeling particularly reluctant to deal with the hassle of Christmas shopping. As a result, basically every boy in our family got one, including uncles. Despite my laziness, overall they were a hit. They are pretty easy to use even for kids as young as six or seven. Even though they aren’t able to shoot them as far as older kids and adults, they still have a lot of fun. Also, with the padded tips, they are relatively safe.

A lot of times I like to put a lot of thought into a personalized gift that a child will enjoy. Other times, I’m looking more for the birthday present that will result in the most excitement when opened. I like instant gratification. When you really just want to see a young boy smile, give a gift like this. It’s a no-brainer. While it may not last forever, it will bring a lot of joy and get a lot of use before it either breaks or gets passed to a younger child.

Alternatively, if you want a more personal gift that takes more time, but is less expensive, try our homemade bow and arrows.

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100 Piece Puzzles

Michelle — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 17:40:12 +0000

It must not be a coincidence, but since I posted about 48 piece puzzles a few days ago, my kids have been puzzle obsessed. They must have seen a picture on my computer that reminded them of puzzles, but that was all it took. My 5 and 7 year olds have re-done every 48 and 100 piece puzzle in our house. My 10 year and 3 year olds joined in for the fun off and on, but the middle kids were hooked.

Product: 100 Piece Puzzles
Company: Melissa and Doug
Website: melissaanddoug.com
Recommended Age Range: 5 to 10 years
Price Range: ~$12
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Comments: According to my Amazon account, I first purchased this 10 piece ocean puzzle in 2014, when my oldest would have been 4. I can not even count how many times my kids have done this puzzle. Sometimes they like doing it alone and don’t want anyone to help them. Other times they all work on it together as a group.

There is something so calming and satisfying about working on a puzzle on lazy days. I’m so glad my kids are able to enjoy this old school, technology free activity.

I really love the 100 piece floor puzzles by Melissa and Doug. We also have one with a rainforest theme, though I’ve had my eye on a safari one for awhile. Ravensburger’s 100 piece puzzles are fantastic quality as well and they have a larger selection of pictures. Find a theme that your child will enjoy and watch them get to work!

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48 Piece Puzzles

Michelle — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 19:36:07 +0000

It’s possible that not all kids like puzzles, but my kids definitely do. We can go long stretches of time without doing any, but as soon as I pull one out, they are obsessed. 48 piece puzzles make great gifts for 4 through 7 year olds in my opinion, depending on how often the child does puzzles. Even though my 7 year old is capable of doing larger puzzles on her known, I think she would find a 48 piece puzzle fun and relaxing.

Product: 48 Piece Puzzles
Company: Melissa and Doug
Website: melissaanddoug.com
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 7 years
Price Range: ~$10
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Comments: I grew up doing puzzles with both of my grandmothers. There is something so calming about trying to put all the pieces together. When kids are young, it’s pretty much impossible to have giant puzzles out on the table for days at a time. The kids need something quicker to work on so pieces don’t get lost. Immediate gratification is important at this age to keep them interested.

My oldest child could do 48 piece puzzles on his own when he was 4. Probably because they have so many more activities vying for their time, my younger kids reached this point a little later. Their attention span wasn’t long enough at 4 to carry them through a puzzle of this size. However, when they are ready, 48 pieces is a wonderful number, because it is doable in one sitting. It prevents the child from getting overwhelmed.

My personal favorite puzzle brands are Melissa and Doug and Ravensburger. I like Melissa and Doug for the younger ages, because their pieces are larger making them easier to manipulate

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Scratch and Sketch Books

Michelle — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 15:21:49 +0000

I don’t know where the first one of these books in our household came from, but all my kids love them. I remember doing something similar to this when I was in elementary school. We would color a page completely with crayons then paint over the crayon in black paint. The scratch away effect was similar. These Scratch and Sketch books provide the same entertainment for a lot less work. Thankfully, even though they will be used up at some point, they seem to last a long time in our house.

Product: Scratch and Sketch books
Company: Peter Pauper
Website: peterpauper.com
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 9 years
Price Range: ~$12
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Comments: These Scratch and Sketch books come in a wide variety of topics. ALL of my kids ranging from 3 to 10 years enjoy them. Even the kids that only scribble find great satisfaction in using these books. I can understand why. It’s easy to create impressive art when your wooden stick reveals a rainbow of colors.

The brand of scratch book is not important. My kids have enjoyed Scratch and Sketch books like the one pictured above. We have also owned all of the Harry Potter “Scratch Magic” books. I imagine there are other companies that make these books as well.

There are also two styles of theses scratch and sketch books. Some of them are simply black pages that the child may color (or scribble) whatever they like. Others reveal a colorful picture. My kids have enjoyed both, though I think they slightly prefer the ones without the picture underneath. They like the freedom the blank pages offer.

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Light-Up Tracing Pad

Michelle — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 15:10:11 +0000

Right before my daughter’s 7th birthday, she broke her leg skiing. This Light-Up Tracing Pad by Crayola was a lifesaver during her recovery time. It kept her occupied for hours without having to rely on electronics all the time.

Product: Light-Up Tracing Pad
Company: Crayola
Website: shop.crayola.com
Recommended Age Range: 5 to 8 years
Price Range: ~$25
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Comments: After my daughter broke her leg, the poor kid was in a full leg cast for 3 months. My active girl was confined to the couch for what seemed like weeks on end. On the way home from the hospital after getting her first cast, we stopped at Target to pick up some supplies.

I got her books, art supplies, and a bracelet making kit. However, the item I purchased that day that has ended up getting the most use over the past year was a Light-Up Tracing Pad. She used that tracing pad to make hundreds of pictures which she then gave to her family and friends.

Her 5 year old brother loved it as well, which caused a number of arguments during that time in our lives. Even though it has been a year now since her accident, this tracing pad STILL gets pulled out on a weekly basis by one of my kids. (I know because I am constantly nagging them to remember to turn off the light so batteries don’t die.)

All in all, I think this was a great find. It was relatively inexpensive and helps kids practice their fine motor skills in a fun way. I think it would make a great gift for any aspiring artist.

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Magna-Tiles

Michelle — Tue, 06 Dec 2016 16:00:00 +0000

This widely recommended magnetic building toy is very cool, but unfortunately also very expensive. However, the tiles will last a long time and they are great for a wide range of ages, making them an excellent family toy. I’m grateful that we received the 100 piece set as a gift, but I don’t think I would pay over $100 for it. (Edited to add: We received an off-brand Magna-tiles set for a much more reasonable price and they are basically indistinguishable!)

Product: Magna-Tiles
Company: Valtech
Website: www.magnatiles.com
Recommended Age Range: All Ages
Price Range: ~$120 (for 100 pieces)
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Comments: Even though our family has owned the 100 piece Magna-Tiles set for 4 years (thanks, Dad!), I’ve held back on recommending them because they are just so darn expensive. I love owning them, but I didn’t pay for them, and I’m still not sure that I would. (If I could find a used or discounted set, it would be a no-brainer.)

Also, my first 2 kids did not really enjoy them that much when they were toddlers. They preferred our Magformers. The Magna-Tiles are great for making large structures, while the Magformers are better for making 3-dimensional forms you can hold in your hands. My first 2 kids were easily frustrated when the Magna-Tile shapes they tried to build broke apart in their hands. To be fair, I probably would not drop $100 all at once on Magformers either, but I’ve ended up spending over $100, by buying sets a little a time. Now we have about an equal sized set of Magformers and Magna-Tiles for about similar prices total.

It turns out that kids really just need to get used to playing with the different types of magnetic toys for them to be fun. My current 2 year old has loved them for over a year. He plays with them several times a week and can make some pretty incredible structures for someone so small. I recently gave him the Magformers and, being so used to the Magna-Tiles, he was very frustrated that *those* didn’t behave the way he was accustomed to. It seems both magnetic toys are great for all ages, but owning both can cause some difficulties for young kids.

Anyway, since the toddler frequently likes to spread the Magna-Tiles all over the floor and leave them there, my 4 and 6 year olds have re-discovered their love of them as well. They like to build bridges and forts for their action figures and castles for their dolls. After 4 years of being stepped on bashed around, I’m pretty sure these tiles are indestructible.

Probably the best aspect of these toys though is that they can be packaged in a small, dense box (about the size of a shoe box). Our house is so overrun with toys, I love that they don’t take up much space. Also, they are a great toy to bring out when multiple kids are going to be playing together. I’ve brought them to grandparent’s houses and yoga class so that all the kids could entertain themselves. Once I leant them to my sister when she babysat for a family with lots of kids. They are basically a great, foolproof toy for keeping kids engaged for a surprisingly long amount of time.

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Kinetic Sand

Michelle — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 13:00:01 +0000

It may not seem like much for what you pay for, but at least in our family, this little package of fun has provided long-lasting entertainment for my 2, 4, and 6 year olds, even after 2 months of near daily use.

Product: Kinetic Sand
Company: Spin Master
Website: www.spinmaster.com
Recommended Age Range: 2 – 8 years
Price Range: ~$10 for 2 lbs
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Comments: My preschool-aged daughter LOVES Playdoh. However, there are a few problems with her obsession. 1) Her favorite way to play with it is to mix all the colors together. 2) It ends up all over our house and is a pain to clean up. 3) She never remembers to put any of it away and it dries out quickly. For her 4th birthday, I was hoping to find an alternative, more convenient, less annoying substitute. When my dad asked what to get her, I recommended a couple ideas that looked promising. (Note: Playfoam/floam was a huge failure. While it didn’t dry out, it collected animal hair like nobody’s business and, like Playdoh, it also turns an unattractive color when it’s mixed all together.)

I’ll admit, I was a little disappointed with the kinetic sand initially as well. First off, it seems like you don’t get very much for the price. I was expecting more. Second, it really doesn’t make a great birthday party gift, because when a child’s in open-the-present-as-quickly-as-possible-and-move-on-to-the-next-gift mode, a box of dirt doesn’t really illicit many squeals of delight (at least not from my child). However, when we got home and dumped our tiny box into a plastic bin, I couldn’t believe how long my 3 kids (2, 4, and 6 years) played with the sand. (My daughter had also received this tiny sand molding kit, which my 6 year old who is learning ancient history especially appreciated, since he could make pyramids and ziggurats as well as a Coliseum and Parthenon.) After a week of all 3 kids enjoying the sand, my mom ended up buying them two more boxes so they wouldn’t have to share such a little quantity. A box per kid definitely seems sufficient, especially for younger kids. (My 2 year old really just wants enough to bury his toys and find them over and over.)

Since we have a cat, I was worried that our kinetic sand box would end up being mistaken for a litter box, but after 2 months, so far it hasn’t happened. I was also concerned that like our failed floam experiment, it would collect pet hair, but since it’s not sticky at all, that hasn’t happened either. Occasionally I find a cat hair or two in the box and it’s easily removed. I told the kids that if they got any outside the box, I was going to sweep or vacuum it up and throw it in the trash, but honestly, it is so easy to clean since it sticks together so well, that the tiny bit that has been removed from the box is easily clumped back into a pile on our hard floor and thrown back in. Best of all, it doesn’t dry out, so I don’t need to monitor when my kids play with it, like I do with Playdoh to make sure it all gets put away.

I should probably look into making our own kinetic sand at some point, but honestly, I think this prepackaged stuff is worth the cost. Everyone in our family (and even child and adult guests) love how the sand feels. It doesn’t leave any residue on hands or clothing. After 2 months, I think we’ve lost very little of the original amount and it still gets played with by someone in our house nearly every day. Mostly, in this era where it’s a challenge to get kids to resist the siren song of media, I love the tactile, creativity-inducing play that kinetic sand inspires.

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Zoologic

Michelle — Sat, 12 Sep 2015 13:00:28 +0000

Oh my goodness. I love this game. Prior to purchasing Zoologic, Rush Hour Jr. was my favorite single-player puzzle game for my 5 year old. However, now they are at least tied. If anything, I like this game slightly more. I think Zoologic will last several years and requires more critical thinking skills than any of the other puzzle games we’ve purchased so far.

Product: Zoologic
Company: FoxMind
Website: www.foxmind.com
Recommended Age Range: 5 to 10 years
Price Range: $20-$25
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Comments: I love puzzle games. I’ve loved them my entire life. Multiplayer games are fun too, but they are mostly fun for the interaction. Puzzle games are fun all on their own, simply for the pleasure that comes with solving a challenging problem. I want my kids to become familiar with this sense of satisfaction. I want them to know the joy that is possible when we work hard on something difficult and finally figure it out.

When I was a kid, I used to always love doing logic puzzles. The kind with little boxes that you “X” out to say that Suzy won’t sit next to Timmy or that Fred likes to play soccer. When my kids are a little older, I definitely need to find one of those books. However, really, this game is even better. It poses similar sorts of problems requiring you to organize all the information and figure out where everyone goes, but you get to solve the problem in a hands on way with real pieces that you move around.

Basically, there are 4 animals (mouse, cat, dog, and angry dog) and 3 foods (cheese, fish, and bone) and rules about who can’t be next to what. Each animal can’t be placed next to a food that they will eat (such as a mouse next to cheese) and each animal can’t be placed next to their enemy (like a cat and mouse). Basically, you have to place all the animals on the board to maintain a very careful balance where everyone is happy. This is really easy to teach to kids, because if my 5 year old accidentally placed a mouse next to cheese, I would pick up the mouse tile and move it over to the cheese saying “om nom nom…yummy yummy”. If he put a dog next to the cat, I would pick up the dog and say “woof woof woof” in a gruff voice to the cat. He got it. This is the sort of thing kids are great at understanding.

However, while he was able to do the first several puzzles (out of 60), he’s not that good yet at thinking logically and sequentially. He’s still in more of a trial-and-error stage, but that’s perfectly okay. He’ll get there.

However, the main reason why I think this game is amazing is that my husband and I (both with PhDs in engineering), had a blast trying to solve the last puzzle. One night, after the kids went to bed, I decided to try it just to see how hard it was. I’d been working on it for about 5 minutes when my husband came over to see what I was doing. He immediately started to “help” which is really hard in a one player game, so I just let him have a turn first since I had other things to do anyway. Over the next several minutes he said about 3 times, “I think I got it!…No, wait.” Finally, about 20 or 30 minutes later, he finally said, “I did it!” I said, “Great! Now take all the pieces off. I don’t want to see the answer.” Another 20 or 30 minutes later, I finally got it too…WAY past my bedtime.

So basically, given that even my 3 year old can do the first puzzle and the last puzzle is fun for the nerdiest of adults, I have to assume that this puzzle game is great for everyone. I highly recommend it.

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Catan Junior

Michelle — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 13:00:51 +0000

This is an entertaining game for families with kids 5 years and up. It’s one of the few games I really like to play with my kids. Catan Junior teaches many useful concepts such as abstract math through the acquiring and trading of resources to purchase pirate ships and lairs. It’s also a good first introduction to strategy, requiring the child to make decisions at every step of the game.

Product: Catan Junior
Company: Mayfair Games
Website: www.catan.com
Recommended Age Range: 5+
Price Range: ~$25
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Comments: My son received the game Catan Junior for his 5th birthday about 6 months ago. During that time, we’ve probably played it 8 to 10 times. The box says it is for kids 6 and up, and while it is probably the most “grown-up” game my son owns, I think it is perfectly fine to play with younger kids (though the youngest kids will obviously need help). At 5 and a half, my son is good at remembering the rules and what needs to happen all on his own. He’s not that great at strategy yet, but I think he’ll figure out that his decisions have consequences naturally as he gets older and as we play more and more.

What’s nice about this game is that it is appropriate for a wide age range. Unlike many kids games, this one is fun for grown-ups. My 3 and half year old is able to play with us as well, though really she needs step-by-step instructions on what to do at each point of the game. Honestly, she seems a little bored by this one and would probably rather play something else, but she is not the target audience and it’s nice that we’re able to include her instead of telling her she’s too young. I’ve played this game with 5, 6, and 7 year olds and they all had a great time.

Catan Junior is also great at subtly teaching useful concepts without being obviously educational. For example, it teaches abstract math and value concepts by having certain assets (like ships and lairs) that you can buy with resources that you earn (like molasses and gold). It also involves the use of a card that has algebraic type formulas. For example, one ship = one goat + one wood.

It teaches strategy in the number of decisions that need to be made at each point in the game. Do you want to trade any of your resources? Do you want to purchase any additional resources from the stockpile? Is it worth taking a chance and purchasing a wild card or should you just spend what you earn on purchases that will bring you directly towards your goal? Once you buy a ship or a lair, where will you place it on the game board?

This game is not simple by any means. Even though we’ve played this game nearly a dozen times, if it’s been more than a month since the last time we played, I always need to read the directions again to remember all the little subtleties of game play. However, it’s not so complicated that I need to keep the instructions next to me while we play. The rules are a bit complicated, but they are also fairly logical, so once you are reminded of what to do, the game progresses naturally.

I should also point out that this is a fairly long game. It’s not Monopoly long by any means, but game play really does take 45 minutes to an hour, especially including set-up. We can only play this game during the toddler’s naptime as he is still the sort that would eat the pieces when we weren’t looking and just generally cause destruction when he wasn’t ingesting pirate ships. As a result, we only get to play this game once in awhile, but my 5 and half year old always thinks it’s a special treat whenever we do.

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Rush Hour Jr.

Michelle — Sun, 24 May 2015 17:04:43 +0000

My 5 year old and I are completely in love with this one-player game. What a great way to get kids to exercise their brains and learn to face a challenge.

Product: Rush Hour Jr.
Company: Think Fun
Website: www.thinkfun.com/rushhourjr
Recommended Age Range: 5 to 7 years
Price Range: $20
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Comments: I am so excited about this game. This is the sort of toy which I would have loved as a kid. It’s really more of a brain-teaser than a game and it’s something that’s meant to be played alone. I think this is the perfect toy to get kids to learn to love a challenge, which is such an important life skill. It’s not trivially easy, but also not so hard that it’s immediately frustrating. I really want my children to learn to keep trying when things get hard, so I’ve been looking for lots of these types of independent puzzle games which we call “challenges”. We have several, mostly by the company SmartGames. We like those ones too. However, Rush Hour Jr. is by far the biggest hit.

In terms of age ranges, I think this is a good game to start with if your child is under 8. I introduced my child to this game when he was about 4 and a half. He was able to do the first puzzle right away, which was a boost to his confidence. By the time we got to the medium ones, he started to have more difficulty. Although he didn’t think so, I thought this was great, because the purpose of the exercise from my point of view was not to teach him how to solve the puzzle quickly, but to get him to learn that it’s okay not to be able to do something. I wanted him to learn to keep trying and not get frustrated, because even if he couldn’t figure out the puzzle today, one day he would be able to do it if he just kept working on it. By his 5th birthday he had made it to about card 16 out of 40, which he was able to solve after working on it for about 10 to 15 minutes at a time over 3 days. This persistence is exactly what I’m trying to foster. However, at that point it was clear he had reached his limit. His frustration was clearly starting to outweigh his enjoyment, so we put it away for awhile.

Now at nearly 5 and a half, he’s done about half the deck and I’m sure we’ll work our way through it over the next year or two. Whenever he’s ready, we’ll happily buy the non “junior” version of the game. I don’t think a parent should be reluctant to start their child with this junior set. While I haven’t seen the older kid version, the puzzles in this set are not trivial. I’m sure all kids will have different abilities and different levels of cards that give them difficulty. The nice thing is that I can almost guarantee that this set includes the full spectrum: cards which will be easy to teach them how to play and boost confidence as well as cards that are so hard they will struggle quite a bit to complete.

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6-year-old Archives - ResearchParent.com

Bow and Arrows

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100 Piece Puzzles

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48 Piece Puzzles

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Scratch and Sketch Books

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Light-Up Tracing Pad

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Magna-Tiles

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Kinetic Sand

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Zoologic

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Catan Junior

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Rush Hour Jr.

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