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"I want a remote control Ninjago Lego set. Can you text Santa?"
punkinann
Member Posts: 16
He's 4 and obsessed with Ninjago. I haven't gotten him any because I'm generally opposed to play weapons. What would you get him that is a) not too violent and b) not too expensive?
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Comments
So much for the winter post office and log cabin I got for Christmas.
Ha! I'll have to remember that one...
Today my son asked me how you ask Santa for stuff for Christmas, I told him we could mail him a letter, he then looked at me with a blank face. I then said, "well, we could e-mail him". He said, "all the way to the North Pole?"
God I love kids! :) Well, most of the time. :)
@punkinann there's really nothing that corresponds to that request, does he have a favorite ninja? you could look for a set containing him. My TRU still has fire temples which would get you a dragon but you'd probably have to build it rather than him. For star wars I'd find out what character or story he most likes too. It's no use getting him a set where he doesn't know who the minifigures are.
Lol at texting Santa
We need an @Santa
Edit: Complete with a profile picture too!
Always fun with the kids (until it isn't any more :))
My son should be a black belt by the time he is 9 years old. The ironic thing is that a kid his age who has earned his black belt is probably the least likely kid to ever get in a fight. You can see as they advance through the belts that the kids gain confidence and hold themselves differently. It's hard to explain, but just by looking at a black belt, you can tell that this isn't the person you want to tangle with.
Anyway, with all of that said, Ninjago isn't exactly a martial arts documentary, so the theme may be more violent than what your son would learn in a typical martial arts program. In my opinion, weapons are tools. It's how they are used that determines whether they are good or bad. The 'ninjas' in Ninjago aren't exactly historically accurate, they are more like historical samurai in their honor system and fighting for what is right. I think if you stress that to your son that you won't be corrupting him.
I also highly recommend looking into a martial arts program for you son. You'll gain a new perspective on 'violence' and your son will learn self-discipline, respect, and so many things that have nothing to do with fighting. If you had seen my son 3 years ago, he was wiggly, didn't listen, etc. Now he sits straight and still, is more polite, shows respect to his teachers and parents... all things we would have taught him, but I know for a fact that Karate made it much easier for us to teach him these things because it is much more disciplined than any parent would be with their 4-5 year old.
It is texting now? LOL
I know I'm fighting a losing battle...after shooting the lasergun on the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disneyland, the kid came home and arranged all his minifigs with an gun-like object in the hand of each one. It was a minifig massacre in the making.
If swords and spears are OK with you, then 9441 might work. If not, there aren't many options, but 9552 has no weapons except a snake, two vine pieces, and two magical staffs that don't really resemble any real-world weapons. Unfortunately it's hard to enjoy 9552 fully unless you also have a spinner set, and almost all of those have weapons that could be considered violent depending on your perspective.
I took a different stance. We talked about weapons for defense. Swords could be used for defense, but not for killing...the concept of stun, or freeze rays to immobolize and capture, but not kill. Pretty much every kid in my son's prek, and now K, knew of Ninjago, so they were playing it at recess. I figured I might not be able to completely avoid play weapons, but I could control how I talked/presented it. In his play, if I hear gun, I simply redirect it to stun/freeze ray, and we talk about how we don't play with guns.
I think with your son wanting Ninjago, Star Wars and Knights/Dragons... And with you recognizing this is an uphill battle, I really do think you can avoid anything too gruesome. Just take a look at the sets and see what you feel would work best.
My 7 year old son already has his own gun, a real gun, not a play gun. I was shooting around his age as well when I was a kid. He was about 4 when I first showed him guns, let him hold them, touch them, see what they were. I wanted to take away the mystery, to remove the "forbidden fruit" so he doesn't go out looking for them.
Sooner or later, he would have found one, either here or at a friend's house. Now he knows he can see them any time he wants, he just has to ask, but they are not toys and he has seen what a bullet does to an apple. He has no desire to see that happen to a person.
The irony is that at short range, a sword is much more deadly than a gun is, but it does take more skill to use. :)
If you're against weapons, might I suggest not even trying to do Ninjago? The entire theme is fighting, there is really nothing much to see or do with it other than fighting, it is the whole point. Creator or City might be better.
Yes, I think it is simply a matter of where one is living and how one is living. For my mom, her brothers grew up with guns. This is how they helped put food on the table. I think when it is such a way of life for a family or even an important hobby, it does become something you do expose your kids to early. As you said, the forbidden fruit element is gone. You take away the mystery and you teach them respect for the weapon.
I know the conversation has been had on the board between the element of 'real' and 'fantasy'. For me guns fall in the 'real' category, and thus are not items for play. Because we are not in an environment with guns, this is the way we teach respect for them... by discussing and making it clear they are not for play. Swords and lightsabers fall in the realm of 'fantasy' for me. Yes, I recognize that swords are 'real', but not in the sense that they are used as weapons today. Knife are probably the closest exposure kids have with swords today, and respect for those can easily be taught in the kitchen.
As you said... simply different parenting tactics. :-)
If you're against weapons, might I suggest not even trying to do Ninjago? The entire theme is fighting, there is really nothing much to see or do with it other than fighting, it is the whole point. Creator or City might be better.
It wasn't clear if this last part was addressed to the OP, or me. I had actually considered the Police Station as a wonderful city set for the OP, but that of course has guns.
For me, I'm not so much against weapons, but against 'realistic weapons' in play. (and yes, my definitions doesn't include swords).
Yes, Ninjago is a fighting theme, but I do see it more as the standard theme of good versus evil.... good guy versus bad guy. Some kids, like my son, gravitate more to that element, than just the fighting.
It might also be worth noting that a childhood filled with Action Man, Star Wars figures and classic Lego Space (where they had guns just no obvious enemies) didn't stop me from growing up to be an old hippy.
If you still don't feel comfortable with weapons you could buy one of the vehicle sets and just remove the swords until you think he is old enough to have them.
People have different opinions and beliefs and this is good, what bothers me are people who are so strong in their beliefs that they think they are right and you are wrong and they must "fix" your wrongness, regardless if you need "fixing" or not. Ok, I'll grant you that we don't have a lightsaber problem...
But swords actually are still used and taught in some modern military forces (the US Marines still require every officer to own a sword), they are a serious weapon that has its place. But I'll agree they are the extreme exception to the rule, rather than common.
That being said, after four thousand years of service in every battlefield in every corner of the earth the military sword's most frequent use today is to cut wedding cake. :) Actually, it does not... LEGO does not put guns into City sets.
For Starwars maybe something like 9498 Saesee Tiin’s Jedi Starfighter, nice green ship, 2 funny figures, 1 droid, no guns. Not my cup of tea, but just trying to think of something to fill your requirements.
Hope you get something that fits the bill and I'm sure your son will have a great Christmas.
Fear does not exist in this dojo, does it?
NO, SENSEI!
Pain does not exist in this dojo, does it?
NO, SENSEI!
Defeat does not exist in this dojo, does it?
NO, SENSEI!
Sorry. Just saw Karate Kid this weekend. :-)
OP, I would recommend the 2013 Ninjago golden dragon set. To me that covers Ninjas, and dragons. You can then deal with weapons as you do choose.
If you are okay with Police, the Police Station really is wonderful for this age group. There is a megafactories episode you can find on YouTube that talks about the Lego factory and the design for this set. My son was enthralled, and this set he ended up buying himself with Christmas money. That is pretty big.
Maybe a small set like the Ninjago cycle if you can still find it.
I will always plug Lego Master Builder. My son has loved this program. The first set is a space designer set with 3 ways to build.
What about Dino? At least some of the sets are tranquilizer guns... so more for catching and not killing. Does he like Cars? That has some smaller sets.
I think the big question, though, is at 4 what level set is he capable of? That may have a bigger impact on set.
If you are looking for small, and inexpensive, and without weapons, how about this? The most Batman has is a boomerang.
http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Catwoman-Catcycle-City-Chase-6858
In the end, I succumbed to a sale.
Target has #9449 Ultra Sonic Raider on sale today for $59. I get 5% off with my a Target card, so it looked like a good deal for a set with 4 ninja minifigs. I will discreetly remove the more obvious weapons. Thanks to legofantexas for the recommendation in another thread.
@princedraven, thanks for researching this. I should have mentioned that he's never watched the Ninjago TV show or Star Wars, so he doesn't know much more than the characters. We looked at #9498 and he thought Even Piell was Yoda. In fact, he was brought to tears by my assertation that the Even Piell minifig was not Yoda.
@tamamahm, he put together a City Airport set with almost no help, but regrettably has no interest in police, dinos, or batman. It's all Star Wars, Ninjago, Angry Birds and Pokemon or combinations thereof, "And this yellow ninja Angry Bird evolves into..."
Also looking at a Star Wars Yoda watch with a Yoda minifig--Yoda's his favorite. Darth Vader's his 2nd favorite. Weaponless lego sets with Darth Vader, hmm.
Of course, now he wants the Ninjago spinners that he saw in the Lego Club magazine. It took me 2 free issues to realize that the magazine is nothing more than a way to hook kids on lego collections, doh!
The ultra sonic raider is his 2nd top request for Christmas. I am sure yours will enjoy this set.
As an aside, a cheap item yours may like...Target sells Angry Bird erasers for something like 2.99, which are usually on an endcap in the toy section. My son will take this and combine them with Lego bricks or wood blocks to create his own game play.
I also recommend then, looking at Lego Master Builder for the future. My son has really enjoyed the program, and has learned a number of techniques.
@tamamahm, I'll look for the erasers at Target--maybe they have Star Wars Angry Birds. Thank for the tip.
#9495 (2012)
#7965 (2011)
#7879 (2011)
Yoda (Clone Wars):
#7964 (2011)
#75002 (2013)
These are currently available sets.
@legobulder9001, somehow I'm more OK with the weapons in Star Wars because as someone pointed out, they're incidental to the theme, vs ninjago where it's all about fighting.
I think I'd be less concerned about toy guns if like Legofantexas's son, my son had seen a real gun and seen what it can do, and had emphasize all the safety precautions that people take guns, so he would really get that a real gun is not a toy. I'm not OK with him seeing guns as toys. Hope that makes sense...
Obviously, Ninjago will have fighting, because there are Ninjas. :-) At the same time, I do think the show makes some positive points. Sensei Wu does teach them about self control, and they have to reach their true potential. I really like that Zane is different, and while it takes the Ninjas time to accept him, they do. I think there are some positive themes that can be talked through with a child, as opposed to it simply being about fighting. There is fighting, though, so probably not ideal for your 4 year old. I also really liked the inclusion of Nya, where she is a Samurai.