5 Yr. Old Wants a DS for Christmas!?

I got my older son a used Gameboy for $25 from Game Stop for his birthday, and some used games. The Gameboy games will work on the DS when he upgrades someday. I wanted to make sure he would get use out of it and be able to take care of it before investing in the pricier item.

Leapster is also nice and I saw some excellent prices this year. My younger son has one - the graphics are excellent, a very nicely designed game. But I don't think the games available will appeal for as long as your daughter gets older.

My 5yr son asked santa for the Nintendo D.S as well. However the money wasnt the issue for us but the system it self . It has a lcd like screen and if they were to press to hard on with the pen it could break it( around $40. to replace , also most of thier games you have to beable to read and do math . So I decided to purchases a leapster 2 for ages 4-6 as well as educational (around 50) . Leapster also makes Diji for 6-8 yr old again educational but you have to beable to read again .

Hope this help

Leapster - educational and lots of games out there. My 4 year old plays with his Dad's DS and we have never had any problems. You might check ebay and see you if can get a used one for less....just make sure it's a DS lite....that's the newer one. The older DS's...the screen is kind of hard to see. You could also maybe get a gameboy...sounds like she wouldn't know the difference. But the Leapster would probably have the most age appropriate games.

I also say go for the Leapster. The most basic is $50. I wanted to get one for my 5 yr old, but decided to wait until her birthday. But after researching the games, it's definitely he best route. There is such variety in the games offered. They have licensed games like Dora, Cars, etc. f that's what your child likes. But you can also find games that target their interests like maze games (my daughter loves makes) that help with spelling as well. They have Ispy games, basically anything your child is interested in you can find a game.

Vsmile also has a hand held but the games are mostly licensed and I've found that my kids outgrow the characters fairly quickly. Good luck