what are children 4-7 y/o into?

[patricia39]

got a little summer job where i need to care for & write stories for 4-7 year olds. what are they into?? im only 18 but i feel absolutely clueless regarding what little kids do. thanks in advance!

 

[meowland]

@patricia39 Bluey, Legos, coloring, imaginary play, parks. Carve out some time to watch some kids shows on Netflix or Disney Jr. and get a feel for what type of stuff they watch, how they act and speak, and gather a few things you can talk to them about.

 

[hakqiu]

@meowland When did you start introducing Legos?

 

[jhatfield2]

@hakqiu for us, as soon as they could stack blocks we gave them duplos, and as soon as they stopped shoving everything in their mouths they got regular Legos.

 

[meowland]

@jhatfield2 Yes, exactly this. Just follow their lead.

 

[pants]

@patricia39 My 5 year old girl: unicorns, princesses, fairy tales, riding bike, swimming, dancing, pink.

My 7 year old son: Minecraft, legos, all sports, music.

They both like playing organized games or board games even though one is extremely shy and the other outgoing.

Kids this age like to feel seen and noticed by a grown up or big kid. Follow their lead and they will love you.

 

[deseret]

@patricia39 Not to commercialize everything, but the Wirecutter lists of Best Gifts for X-year-olds is pretty great indicator of age-appropriate entertainment.

Here are links (use incognito to avoid paywall) and some examples from the list

4yo: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/gifts/best-gifts-for-4-year-olds/

• Play-doh
• Frog & Toad book
• Very simple board games
• Drawing tables
• Building toys (between Duplo and Lego complexity)
• Dress-up
• Tea parties
• Dolls
• Magnet toys
• Zoos/nature centers

5yo: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/gifts/best-gifts-for-5-year-olds/

• Colored pencils and pens
• Modeling clay
• Book about self-discovery
• Mo Willems books
• Bugs
• Fast-paced simple board games
• I Spy
• Advanced pop-up books
• Jenga
• Toy power tools
• Basic gardening
• Simple science experiments
• Dress-up in more advanced scenarios
• Magnet toys
• Musical instruments
• Bicycling

It's taking too long so I'm not going to provide more examples, just peruse the lists...

6yo: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/gifts/best-toys-gifts-for-6-year-olds/

7yo: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/gifts/best-toys-gifts-for-7-year-olds/

 

[heatherthehumble]

@patricia39 If you have direct interaction with the kids ask them and seem excited when they tell you. There are many things they could be into the question is what is personal for them.

 

[twocreast]

@patricia39 6, soon to be 7 year old girl. As to "brands" she's into, big into Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, Adventure Time, Pokemon, Bluey, Roblox. Activities, she loves art. Coloring, drawing, playing pretend. She adores stuffed animals, Polly Pocket, her Gabby's Dollhouse kitchen set.

 

[bianca2015]

@patricia39 That when my kiddo was that age we would write stories about different toys.

You could ask them to pick one (or more!) toys and then write a little adventure for them.

Most kids really enjoy that, and it’s fun to see the place their imagination takes them.

I think everybody else totally covered the toys!

 

[faithpeace]

@patricia39 Yes to everything above and adding some ideas that don’t require buying anything: hide and seek, Simon says, 20 questions, I spy, any games with music like freeze dancing

This age also really loves it when you are silly and point out things that are obviously not true. Like, “it’s not sunny outside. It’s raining!” And then making up things together when they play along.

 

[randomthought12]

@patricia39 If you're making up stories something you can do is rip off existing stories. Even if you don't remember it well you can at least have an outline. At one point I was telling my kid stories about Hercules and when I ran out of legends I just started integrating similar myths that fit the setting as well as plots from the TV show. Liked characters replaced other ones and got carried over into stories they didn't exist.

A bonus is if a kid realizes you ripped something off they get to feel super smart.