What Gift to Give a 5 Yr Old Who "May" Not Know His #S & LOVES Video Games?

How about a board game? Hi Ho Cherry O is a great game for learning counting and simple addition and subtraction. Chutes and Ladders will help with counting to 100 (although my kids show little interest in that one, the chutes make it last way too long). My six year old is obsessed with Uno. It helps with number recognition and matching. A deck of cards...teach him some games. You can learn about number recognition and sequencing with many games. War can help teach value. The game Trouble also involves a lot of math and counting. And I have seen Star Wars themed Trouble, so if he's into that, it may make it even more fun for him.

Board game - they are fun and the kids have to count to know how far to move their pieces.

If he doesn't have a learning disability, then it sounds like he plays too many video games as a "babysitter" for the parents, and is way behind. I feel sorry for him. If it IS a disability, they should get help for him and spend time on that instead of video games.

You can tell what I think about young kids and video games.

Can you find a game of some sort at an educational store about numbers and counting within your budget? (Not a video game - a real game.)

Dawn

I was going to suggest a game that involved counting, as well. I would tread lightly, though. You don't want to get him a game or toy that's too babyish & run the risk of embarrassing him.

I hope that really is not true since most 3 year olds can count past that and many 2 year olds can too. I agree, a game would be great. At this time of year board games are under ten dollars, I have seen Chutes and Ladders for 5 dollars. What about a piggy bank with big fake coins? There are also activity books centered around numbers that feature Thomas or Cars the movie. My son enjoys those.

I love the leap frog series.. they have DVD's for math and reading, etc. I try to go more educational for gifts b/c they get so much junk!

One inexpensive idea is wooden pattern blocks. Melissa and Doug offers some, there are offerings from other companies. We love them at our house (all of us sat around with them making 'stars' last night). My son is four and through these has learned some basic sight counting as well as working on patterns with repetition, which can help develop math skills. If you can, find a set *without* the instructional cards (they show different things you can make with the blocks... I personally find that kids have more fun with them when they don't have preconceived ideas/instructions).

Some of the counting-based board games (where a dice is used) are also good. Oh, how about Mancala? He can either play the game OR use the board and pieces for his own play, so very versatile. Dominos, too.

Good luck, whatever you chooose.

I just found a cute little Lightning McQueen car that is both a racing game and an educational electronic game. He opened it when we walked in the door and sat in a been bag and started playing. It was around $25 in Target.

I had the dual gift in mind too and had only found either an educational game or fun game. I was about to buy one of each, when I found that car.