How much do age recommendations on toys mean?

[Arch]

I have a Christmas present dilemma.

I'm after something 'spacey' for Oli, who is 5. But not a book, he has loads of those already, and anyway, he's getting a bookish thing about dinosaurs. I've found an an assemble-it-yourself* orrery in Smiths, and an activity pack in M and S, (which also has a sort of orrery**, plus other stuff like fact cards and a sky map). But they are both for 8+.  He's a smart kid, and would have Mum or Dad on hand to help him with stuff. Too big a leap? He's mad about 'facts' generally, has lots of factcards about dinosaurs and animals, and seems to value them even without being able to read them himself - he gets a grown up to read the bits he can't. He's also pretty dextrous.

It seems that no matter how old Oli gets, I always see stuff I long to give him that's above his age. 

*basically, paint the planets with paint provided, and then slot them onto a central axle in order. TBH, I'm not dead keen on it, because the planets are equally spaced and it's all a bit plasticcy. I'm not expecting perfect scale or museum quality, but even so....

**this one is a demi-sphere for the sun which sits on the table, and the planets going round it - all glow-in-the-dark... Looks a little more in scale than the Smiths one.

[Feline]

I used to buy my son toys a few years above his age rating at that kind of age, and he had no problems with them. The age guides are often as much about 'safety' as ability anyway, so if he's being supervised it should be fine IMO.

[Feline]

By 'safety' I mean things like if a type of paint that won't wash off things is involved they will tend to give it a higher age guide and things like that.

[Kim]

Yeah, I always assumed it was about how edible the parts weren't.

[Veloman]

As Feline says, safety and ability.

Jigsaws, for example, are a classic age challenge.  Pieces not too small and not too many while also avoiding the choking aspect (too big to put in the mouth).  I'm sure the same principle applies to other toys.

If they are up to it then why not?  nothing like pushing them to greater things!

As an aside, I use jigsaws for 8+yrs in teambuilding exercises for adults!

[tom_e]

On the ability front, it depends a bit how much adult time will be available. It's nice to stretch them a bit with an adult alongside, but if every present is like that then eventually the adult will wander off to do something and child can the become frustrated at nothing they can do by themselves. So you (and them) want a mixture really. So check with the parents if it fits with the balance of the rest of the pressies?

[L CC]

On the ability front, it depends a bit how much adult time will be available.

As a single parent to 4 children, this, in spades. I used to dread gifts that required a great deal of adult interaction.
8+ usually means 'largely read for themselves'
12+ means independent
3+ means no longer chewing everything first.

If you're going to be there to set this up with him, that's great. If you're putting it in the post for his parents to do, ask them first.

[Butterfly]

I agree with Boabacca. Cool presents are boring if they take too long to make and no-one is around to help you.

[Jaded]

8+ means lead paints. 

[CrinklyLion]

3+ generally means 'finally I can get my hands of something worth fecking playing with' in my experience. 

8+ and crafty will probably need adult supervision and support - I get the impression that Oli is the sort of chap who would probably want it Doing Right and might get frustrated otherwise?  Choose your adult carefully for this task...

One note of caution with 'make exciting delicate stuff' gifts.  Has he got somewhere to actually keep it when it's done?  That's been a not infrequent problem for us....

[Kim]

One note of caution with 'make exciting delicate stuff' gifts.  Has he got somewhere to actually keep it when it's done?  That's been a not infrequent problem for us....

GPWM

The Sopwith Camel incident still haunts me to this day.

[Feline]

The age ratings for Lego are completely wrong anyway. The average 8 year old will have no problem assembling a 12+ rated Death Star but an adult would take ages to suss it 

[Kim]

The age ratings for Lego are completely wrong anyway. The average 8 year old will have no problem assembling a 12+ rated Death Star but an adult would take ages to suss it 

It's the thermal exhaust port.  The design confounds anyone born before 1983...

[Arch]

3+ generally means 'finally I can get my hands of something worth fecking playing with' in my experience. 

8+ and crafty will probably need adult supervision and support - I get the impression that Oli is the sort of chap who would probably want it Doing Right and might get frustrated otherwise?  Choose your adult carefully for this task...

One note of caution with 'make exciting delicate stuff' gifts.  Has he got somewhere to actually keep it when it's done?  That's been a not infrequent problem for us....

Yes, I'm thinking about the where to keep it thing - he does have shelves and a tall chest of drawers in the nursery, although of course the younger brother is getting taller all the time.

I'll be there, as we're all having Christmas at Mum's, and I'd be happy to play help with it. I helped him assemble a wood-cut velociraptor last year, which was quite a lot beyond his years, but he seemed to just enjoy passing me the bit I told him we needed next.

Looking at the box, I don't think the space project thing is too fiddly-crafty, probably more like assembling a Kinder surprise toy. I liked that it had some fact cards and a night sky map thing too, given his fact mania.

BTW, apparently his pressie from his parents is a digital camera, after the old one he'd been using died. I wasn't even allowed to touch our camera as a kid, until I was 9 or 10! But Oli takes some pretty good photos!

Taking all your cautions into account, I think I'll go for it!

(Max, the littly, has been easy. His Mum pointed him at a web page of Thomas the Tank engine engines, and he picked two....)

[Jaded]

The age ratings for Lego are completely wrong anyway. The average 8 year old will have no problem assembling a 12+ rated Death Star but an adult would take ages to suss it 

It's the thermal exhaust port.  The design confounds anyone born before 1983...

1977 

[Kim]

The age ratings for Lego are completely wrong anyway. The average 8 year old will have no problem assembling a 12+ rated Death Star but an adult would take ages to suss it 

It's the thermal exhaust port.  The design confounds anyone born before 1983...

1977 

That one was recalled due to a potentially dangerous flaw in the presence of proton torpedoes.  They released a modified version in 83 

[Jaded]

Aha!

[hellymedic]

Once kids are past the eating toys stage, as Olly is, age ratings should be ignored or have a universal n-3 rule applied.
Bright kids get BORED if toys are 'age appropriate.
Olly would be fine with an orrery so long as he has a helpful adult to help and a safe place to keep it.
Sir Patrick Moore had a rather nice one in his office when we visited...

[Arch]

Once kids are past the eating toys stage, as Olly is, age ratings should be ignored or have a universal n-3 rule applied.
Bright kids get BORED if toys are 'age appropriate.
Olly would be fine with an orrery so long as he has a helpful adult to help and a safe place to keep it.
Sir Patrick Moore had a rather nice one in his office when we visited...

Cool, thanks!  He's certainly bright. In fact, I fear this orrery is a bit simplistic, but I guess they don't make properly scaled ones in childproof.

[CrinklyLion]

There used to be a science museum branded one knocking about that was nice, I think.  Maybe look in anti-gravity?  They stock some of their stuff, I think...

[Kim]

There used to be a science museum branded one knocking about that was nice, I think.  Maybe look in anti-gravity?  They stock some of their stuff, I think...

I still need to visit that shop.

[Arch]

There used to be a science museum branded one knocking about that was nice, I think.  Maybe look in anti-gravity?  They stock some of their stuff, I think...

Oh, I hadn't thought of them, I'll try and have a look before I commit.

[hellymedic]

There used to be a science museum branded one knocking about that was nice, I think.  Maybe look in anti-gravity?  They stock some of their stuff, I think...

Oh, I hadn't thought of them, I'll try and have a look before I commit.

http://www.sciencemuseumshop.co.uk/category/Space.html

[Arch]

There used to be a science museum branded one knocking about that was nice, I think.  Maybe look in anti-gravity?  They stock some of their stuff, I think...

Oh, I hadn't thought of them, I'll try and have a look before I commit.

http://www.sciencemuseumshop.co.uk/category/Space.html

Well, the shop didn't have anything suitable. Lots of cool stuff, but all a bit too grown up, or requiring too much parental input (ant farms etc).

Looking at your link, Helly, there are a couple of suitable things, but nothing that floats my boat within my budget. I think I'll go for the M and S activity pack!

[a lower gear]

Many mentions upthread of to-scale orrereyeyeys scale models of the solar system. If the models of the inner planets are visible to the naked eye, the resulting system won't fit in the child's bedroom house. See  http://thinkzone.wlonk.com/SS/SolarSystemModel.php   with Mercury at 0.1mm diam, the radius of Pluto's orbit is 149.8m   

Or make a model yourself 
Scale Model of the Solar System, Scale = 1:14,000,000,000

planet    scale    size    perihelion    aphelion
The Sun    10cm diameter 40 watt bulb 0 0
Mercury    1/3mm paint drop 10 3/4 feet    16 1/4 feet
Venus    1mm paint drop 25 feet   25 1/2 feet
Earth    1mm paint drop 34 1/2 feet    35 2/3 feet
Mars    1/2mm paint drop 48 feet    59 feet
Jupiter    10mm white marble or bead 173 feet    191 feet
Saturn    8 1/2mm hatpin or pearl 316 feet    353 feet
Uranus    3 1/3mm map pin or pearl 642 feet    705 feet
Neptune    3 1/5mm map pin or pearl 1045 feet    1063 feet

Add in their moons using fuse wire and pins with further small blobs.

Alpha Centauri will be another light bulb, 1800 miles away which is somewhere between Istanbul and Baghdad.

(Copied from http://www.essex1.com/people/speer/model.html )




More seriously, age recommendations are at best an indifferent guide. Best be guided by a combination of instinct, knowledge of the child, and - if not the parent yourself - liaison with the parents.