Reality check in Wal Mart

[kgianforti]

Ever some across something while shopping that makes you really WONDER!!

I was in Wal Mart last night doing some shopping for baby dd and was looking at the Garanimal brand puzzles. There was a wooden alphabet puzzle there that was labeled 3 + years old. It wasn't even a 26 piece puzzle (some of the letters were combine) and it wasn't interlocking.

3 + years old?? Is that for real???

Share your reality check story....

[staceychev]

I noticed that when I was in Home Goods shopping for puzzles for my 2 year old nephew. A lot of the toddler puzzles were marked 3 and up. Really? I kept wondering if maybe, just maybe, they could be a choking hazard in a way that I don't understand, and that the 3+ marking was for that and not for developmental ability.

That being said, my DD's preschool has lots of puzzles and most of them are pretty low level (12-24 very large pieces, interlocking).

I don't know that DD is gifted, and if she is, I'm sure she's just moderately gifted. But, her father and I were labeled gifted, as were both of our siblings. Our friends are all relatively intelligent people, and therefore, it seems, the kids are all a bit brighter than average. My reality check always happens when I hang out with kids outside of my social set!

[HappyMommy2]

Yes - I think that 3+ is just the default for choking hazards.

[kgianforti]

That definitely makes sense but it still was a bit like "huh"!

[momtoS]

I agree that the 3+ is a choking hazard warning.....

[kgianforti]

Ok, my mistake! I think we established that it was for the choking hazard!!

Share your story now....

[wookie]

conversely, i just noticed that those big blocks/lego-type sets? they have a 1+ label. umm..my almost 4 yr old likes to build castles with that

he's good with 50-pc elaborate puzzles so it's not like he's behind or anything... so idk what these labels are all about.

[eepster]

Originally Posted by wookie

so idk what these labels are all about.

Usually safety. On things like the Duplo, the "1yo and up" will mean that they are safe for 1yo and many 1yo can do something with them.

[daytripper75]

This isn't really a story so much as a question...I've been dying to know...

Is Calliou really what a typical 4 year old sounds and acts like?

[Holiztic]

I just realized that while he still enjoys it very much, DS has just about mastered the skills "taught" in his High Five magazine (for ages 2-5), and he's not even 3. But I hope he keeps enjoying them for a long time (doesn't seem at all bored), I love them!

[heatherdeg]

Legos. Is it a reality check that my 5yo can do the ones that are labeled to start at 8yo? I mean, mine is almost 6, but he's been able to do the 8-14yo sets for almost the whole year.

But maybe that's normal? I'm just thrilled that he has something that requires sustained focus.

Another reality check: when your at some kind of gathering and tell your dc to read a story to the other kids... who are all his age but can't read yet.

[expecting-joy]

Originally Posted by daytripper75

Is Calliou really what a typical 4 year old sounds and acts like?

I think so. It's grating. Maybe it wouldn't bother me so much if my kids ever talked like that. One more reason they don't watch TV.

[eilonwy]

Originally Posted by daytripper75

This isn't really a story so much as a question...I've been dying to know...

Is Calliou really what a typical 4 year old sounds and acts like?

He seems like a bright but typical four-year-old to me, yes. His speech is a bit more clear than most fours and he understands new concepts relatively quickly, but other than that he strikes me as quite typical. I've known lots of four-year-olds like Caillou.

[kgianforti]

Originally Posted by expecting-joy

I think so. It's grating. Maybe it wouldn't bother me so much if my kids ever talked like that. One more reason they don't watch TV.

I think his voice is just very whiney!

[franklinmarxmom]

Originally Posted by daytripper75

This isn't really a story so much as a question...I've been dying to know...

Is Calliou really what a typical 4 year old sounds and acts like?

I've been wondering this forever!!! Glad to hear the responses! My soon-to-be-3 y/o has been obsessed with that show for almost a year!

Over the last six months, I have listened to his speech and his logical/problem-solving skills catch up to Calliou, and wondered if that was typical. He's about at Calliou's level now. And his voice is probably equally whiny--which must be why Calliou doesn't bother me so much!

Which raises another question: do kids typically watch shows and read books about kids their own age, or kids a few years older?

When I was growing up, I always sought books and shows about kids 2-4 years older than I was. (For example, reading Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing in 2nd grade. Liking Saved by the Bell in early middle school, but hating it as my own HS years approached.) I thought all kids did that, aspiring to be older, and that kids shows were designed to attract audiences 1-3 years younger than the characters in the show. Since Calliou is 4, I thought it was designed for 2-3 y/os. Is that true, or am I just skewed?

[kme]

Yes, I think it is normal for kids to like shows about other kids that are older. I have 4 kids (only 1 gifted) and they are all like this. I have a 9 and 11 year old and they like shows like Drake and Josh, I Carly, Tru Jackson VP, Ned's Declassified Guide.. about middle school/high school kids. I can't imagine they will watch these shows when they are 13 or 14. In fact, my 11 year old is already losing interest in them. I think they gear them down for younger kids.

My kids (all of them) watched Caillou as todders - around 2.5-3. I find Caillou very annoying (his voice) but they seemed to like how he was like them as opposed to shows like Dragon Tales, Little Bear, Franklin, Max and Ruby, etc which were all animals or fantasy. Caillou in contrast is reality based. I think Caillou is pretty typical of a 4 year old. I think that's why my kids liked him so much. I am glad they are past the Caillou stage and I had a few friends who refused to let their kids watch him b/c he is so whiny.

[staceychev]

Originally Posted by franklinmarxmom

Which raises another question: do kids typically watch shows and read books about kids their own age, or kids a few years older?

When I was growing up, I always sought books and shows about kids 2-4 years older than I was. (For example, reading Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing in 2nd grade. Liking Saved by the Bell in early middle school, but hating it as my own HS years approached.) I thought all kids did that, aspiring to be older, and that kids shows were designed to attract audiences 1-3 years younger than the characters in the show. Since Calliou is 4, I thought it was designed for 2-3 y/os. Is that true, or am I just skewed?

I was so into Sweet Valley High when I was in late elementary school...

Anyway, Susan Linn talks about this in Consuming Kids. Yes, kids are more attracted to things that they perceive as being for big kids, and yes, marketers use this to their advantage.

[Alathia]

Originally Posted by heatherdeg

Legos. Is it a reality check that my 5yo can do the ones that are labeled to start at 8yo? I mean, mine is almost 6, but he's been able to do the 8-14yo sets for almost the whole year.

But maybe that's normal? I'm just thrilled that he has something that requires sustained focus.

Another reality check: when your at some kind of gathering and tell your dc to read a story to the other kids... who are all his age but can't read yet.

your DS sounds like mine! I think the whole lego thing is about the number of small parts. Last year my DS1 really got into legos at age 3, and was consistenty doing the sets for ages 5-8? This year he's moved into the sets that are for ages 6-12 and 8-12. He even sleeps with the lego instruction booklets.

my DS is often the one reading to other kids during free play at preschool as well.

[HeatherJ]

Originally Posted by staceychev

Anyway, Susan Linn talks about this in Consuming Kids. Yes, kids are more attracted to things that they perceive as being for big kids, and yes, marketers use this to their advantage.

When I was a graduate student back in the 90's, there was a research project in my department looking at changing children's food preferences (in the direction of eating more fruit and veg.) They used the age difference as an important part of the process. It turned out if you let 5 yr. olds watch 7 & 8 yr. olds eat fruit and veg, and give the 5 year olds stickers when they ate the same, you could get 5 yr. olds to eat all the right things.
The problem was that the 7 & 8 yr olds had to be bribed to get them to model fruit-and-veg eating for the younger kids, and they weren't bribable with stickers - they wanted walkman's and videos. The project wasn't cost effective enough to be adopted in a wide-scale practical setting.
It always seemed to me that they just needed to ask some mums about the idea before they started....

[daytripper75]

Good to know about Caillou! I can't wait until my children's love affair with him ends!