non-violent entertainment for grandchildren

[ChickieMonkey]

I have a delimma....my 5-year grandson wants to go to his paternal grandparents because they have an xbox (that's why they got it). Before then, he preferred our house. I do not want to compete, but after a year of this, I'm starting to cave. However, i have found out that all my grandsons, ages 5, 9 and 13, want to play the violent, gorey war games. I hate those things, and wonder if anyone has any suggestions for cool, fun games for kids. I use to do cool, fun experiments with the 13 year old, including Dr. Dreadful and crafts, but the younger ones don't want to do them. What's going on? Does anyone have any non-violent suggestions?

 

[Kevin565]

. Do your grandchildren have certain interests outside of video games? If so we may be able to think of creative ways to build on them.

 

[ChickieMonkey]

The 13-year-old loves quad runners (those 4-wheel, off-road vehicles) and the two younger ones love sports. Thanks for asking!

 

[ChickieMonkey]

....and thanks for the 'Welcome'!!

 

[Kevin565]

Have you tried doing science experiments involving sports? They can be a lot of fun as well as educational.

 

[furbabymum]

Tough one. I admit, I played gorey games. I also had terrible nightmares. I can blame Halo for a lot of missed nights sleep! Yes I realize that makes me a wimp.

As for entertainment I'm just not sure. I have a 1 year old and I've mostly cultivated his love for reading. I have a nephew that can't sit still 2 minutes because he's been addictively playing Wii since he could walk. His grandparents use the Wii to entertain him. They told me they'd do the same for my son. Needless to say they never get to watch him.

Guess that's my thing. What's with your kids allowing their kids to play these games. They are the parents and they can forbid it.

 

[HeatherLynn]

I have kids the same age as your grandkids. Not sure how cool it is honestly but we have a ton of dvd's from old tv shows like the littles and old chipmunks movies. Especially the chipmunks. We also have old kung fu movies. Like jackie chan. Those are funny too. Arthur and the Invisibles is pretty good movie. Video games are hard but I caved on getting a system. We have stuff like super bubble pop, harvest moon, animal crossing, lego star wars ( semi violent I guess, no gruesome though), we have aviation type games, racing games. You can even get sports related games.

If we are going down and dirty competition though. ( thats what I suggest anyway. all is fair in love, war, and family relations you know) I would hop on craigslist, get a WII, and get whatever games you can live with. I check out whats available first and then search those titles out. THEN I would take it up a notch. Popcorn while you game? Brownies? Root beer floats? sleep over where you stay up late and game with the kiddies? How about even planning a weekend special outing. Parents sometimes don't have time. Find something sportsy to take them to. I set up stuff for my parents to do with the kids at times to make sure they have fun with them.

There is no shame in caving, well thats what I tell myself anyway.

 

[newfoundland]

I can completely sympathise here. Have just returned from staying with my sister and during this time she had her grand children for a few days. Their behaviour was frankly unacceptable. They were rude and cheeky and we didn't really have an answer for it. My nephew, their father blames these games, and of course TV for the deterioration in their behaviour. The trouble is I think that if exposed to too much of these things they start to lose sight of what is reasonable behaviour. It's like swearing, expose them every day to this and it becomes the common currency of their language. Steer clear I say, for their sake.

 

[HEChicken]

For years I was adamant I wasn't getting a game system for DS for the same reasons you stated. Then I realized that if we didn't have one at our house, he would just go to his friends' houses to play. That would mean I'd see him less AND have less influence on the type of games he was playing. So I got him an xbox and a large-screen TV to play it on and now all the kids want to come to our house to play!

The surprise for me was that I found some games I like to play myself and I never thought I'd be a "gamer". Try the Lego series of games. They are cute and fun and rather than violence and gore, you have to solve puzzles to advance to the next level. I love them and create my own game on them to progress at my own pace. Do a YouTube search for Lego X-Box and you will find tons of videos you can watch to get an idea. They do mostly the major movies like Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the game progresses with little video clips depicting scenes from the movie (with Lego characters), interspersed with the puzzles that are fun to do.

 

[reveriereptile]

I agree with others that either buying an xbox or wii would be good since you can keep an eye on what they are playing. My husband and I are more into the xbox but we like the gory games and more detailed games. The wii would be good for everyone to play. We have one that our MIL got us and we liked the Mario games. The Skylander game for the wii is becoming very popular. We haven't tried it since you have to buy those little characters to use them in the game and we know we would probably get addicted. One of the attorney's my husband knows got the game for his son and he even plays the game along with him.

If you think you might break down and buy a game system look for any game stores around that might have used games for sale. Games are expensive but if you can get a used one that works as good as a new one it will save you money. Video stores might also have games for rent. You might even be able to ask around and see if you can rent a game system and see if they would like the wii before buying one.