Help me decide whether to get a wii for Christmas...

[Allearia]

I have been thinking on and off about getting my kids a wii for Christmas. They will be 9 and almost 6 then.

 

I am interested in active, multi-player games. Are there some fun games that can almost be "exercise"? Not a replacement for soccer or going to the park, but on rainy winter days when we are stuck inside and I am trying to get some work done for my part-time job.

 

I was thinking they would earn maybe 1-2 hours on this on rainy days.

 

I don't want games that will be addictive and the kids will want to sit on the couch for hours at a time.

 

We are a family that watches movies and videos every day, but we try to limit screen time. We have no problem with popular culture. My younger son tends to get addicted to some video games we have let him play on the computer so we will keep up strict limits.

 

So.. any input? Will this meet my needs or just be another screen that will suck up our time?

[mamato3 all-boy boys]

Last Christmas we got the kids a Wii as pretty much their only gift. I will only get multi-player games (although for a birthday gift, a friend gave them a Star Wars game) that are sport-ish related. Wii Sport Resort is a huge favorite here. At first, they wanted to play to a lot, but we are pretty good about limiting screen time here. On icky days, I've let them pool their time for longer bouts on the Wii. We use it for family nights sometimes, when we all trade and play a game together. It really hasn't been too much of an issue here, and I'm grateful that they don't want to spend too much time on it.

 

Like most things, moderation is key and the willingness to Just Say No.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

My daughter has been begging for a wii for years and for years we (see how I said "we") have been saying, NO!!!!!!" Then my husband and daughter played on one together and they are now teaming up against me.

 

I told my daughter that if she would get rid of ALL her possessions except a few exceptions dictated by ME I'd get her a wii for Christmas and it would be her only gift.

 

She readily agreed.

 

She doesn't have to get rid of:

*Board games that all three family members agree to keep.

*American Girl stuff

*Lego Stuff (but duplo has to go)

*Doll house stuff (but only b/c my uncle made it -- it'll probably go to the attic)

*Big box of fabric

*Clothes/shoes/accessories that are in good repair, match something, and fit or have grow room.

*5 movies and 5 CDs

*Bed, dresser, book shelves

 

She has until December 1st to get it done and I'd say she's about half way there.

 

Also, I lied about it being her only gift. It will be her only Christmas gift from St. Nicholas but I'm giving her a couple of things I'm making, some books, and a couple of other things she needs.

 

Oh, Dance Dance Revolution is the game we're getting for her and it seems very cardio intensive. Other games we've seen at friends' seem as if they would be (like tennis, et c.) but once they've figured them out, they just stand there and wiggle the little game thingy and don't get the exercise. That's the case for our friends and for the kids at the library Wii day.

Edited November 15, 2010 by MomOfOneFunOne

[Allearia]

Thanks! Making them get rid of stuff first is a great idea... we desperately need to purge our house of toys they are too old for.

 

Anyone else? :bigear:

[clementine]

The Wii has been a great addition to our family entertainment! We've had it for 3 years and it still gets played almost weekly. We stay home on New Years Eve as a family and play a new game purchased especially for that night.

I love that it can be played by one person or several. I love that kids can come over & be active inside. I love watching my kids play games against their grandparents - who knew that granny could be so competitive with her grandchildren in Wii bowling.....so funny :lol:.

[Jennifer in MI]

I love watching my kids play games against their grandparents - who knew that granny could be so competitive with her grandchildren in Wii bowling.....so funny :lol:.

 

Yup! My 4 yo beat her grandpa a couple months ago and he didn't let her win! LOL

 

We got ours three years ago and it still gets played with a LOT. The kids ask every day!

[MLT]

I totally love the Wii for that reason. The boys were 6 and 8 when we got ours and they loved the Wii fit (and more so the Wii fit plus now) and all the olympic games are very active (at least the ones we play). Wii sports resort is fun too. It's just nice to be able to send them in there to play together, they get exercise and I get a bit of a break. (Especially on bad weather days!)

[dm379]

My ds is usually sweating when he's done playing the wii. My kids play a good bit due to the weather here. Plus we inherited tons of games. There's plenty of games that are active. Ds is really into the boxing and karate ones right now. There's a little icon at the top of the game box for the ones that are more active.

[Mothersweets]

We have a wii and yes, it is a lot of fun for everyone from the 20yo to the 4yo. BUT, this year I am thinking I want to get Xbox Kinect .

 

You are the controller and from what I've heard (from friends who have one) there is NO sitting down while playing. The kids are up and running in place, jumping, hopping, paddling, you-name-it.

 

I saw a flyer in the Sunday paper where you can get just the Kinect Sensor thingy for $150. My nephew bought an Xbox bundled with the Kinect and the Adventures game for $299 at Walmart last week.

 

Just thought you might want to have another option. :)

[rwjx2khsmj]

We got a Wii last year as our family Christmas gift and I don't regret it a bit. It is part of our screen time and hasn't increased the amount of time they spend in viewing pleasure. The Wii has given them another option and since I took the cable back to minimum basic, everyone is happy.

[Embassy]

I've had Wii for a year and the Active Life Outdoor Challenge has been a great way for my boys to get exercise. They get very sweaty jumping around and having to move fast on the mat. I recently wrote about it and attached a video to my blog post.

[Forget-Me-Not]

We love it here. We have both active games and 'sit on the couch' games :D I let my kids use it to burn off energy on days when it's too yucky to play outside.

[Mimm]

We have a Wii and love it. If you are anti video games though, I wouldn't bother to get it because you're just giving yourself another battle to fight. We watch no television and very few movies. We stream some stuff over our Wii through Netflix, but prefer video games as a form of entertainment. They are interactive and you are always responding to things as you play. Players must set goals and work to attain them in a video game. Video games can be played with multiple people. My husband often plays with our kids. One night last week they had a Wii boxing marathon. The kids were sweaty and everyone's arms were sore the next day. :)

Edited November 16, 2010 by Mimm

[Lucy in Australia]

The Wii is probably the only electronic game I'm glad we got. It doesn't seem to have the addictive effect that games like PlayStation do, and most of the games we got for it are very physically active.

 

Also, with the Wii Fit, we can weigh the baby :lol::lol::lol::lol:

[Catwoman]

I would definitely recommend getting a Wii. It's an excellent system and seems to have more games geared toward kids and family play than XBoxes and Playstations. (Ask me how I know... somehow we have managed to end up with almost every gaming system on the planet... :glare:)

 

Some people will tell you that other systems offer better graphics and that sort of thing, but we've found that if the games are fun, it doesn't really matter, especially for kids. (And the graphics are fine -- I think it's just hardcore gamers that complain!)

 

Cat

[RoughCollie]

All of my kids love having a Wii. DD uses it to play DDR now, but when she was younger she played a lot of video games on it, too. The boys don't use it any more, that I know about -- if a new Mario game comes out, they will, though. Note that my kids are now 15 and 16 -- yours have a long way to go before they think they've aged out of the Wii, if they ever do.

[Allearia]

Thanks everyone! I had dh read this thread and I think he is finally convinced it would be a good purchase!

 

(I am also trying to ignore all the posts on the Kinect... but it really looks great.... for twice the price... I guess there is always something bigger and better coming along)