Furby

My personal opinion of Furbys is they come from the Island Of Possesed Toys.

My son gave toys that suddenly start to talk when no one else is around that name. One of his daughter's toys did that one night, she was asleep, and one of her toys, just sitting on the couch, just started talking, scared the daylights out of my 6' 2" 200+ lb son. (giggle -- giggle)

My son is 4 1/2 and he got one after much begging from his grandparents. We have cats that he loves and is gentle with so for him, he was very gentle with Furby and loves it. His favorite part is over feeding Furby and making it throw up...over and over. You just have to watch that when Furby is dancing it doesn't fall off the ledge. It's expensive so make sure your child really wants it. I personally love them.

My now 16 year old daughter had one when she was four. She ended up keeping her furby closed up in a cabinet because that was the only way to keep its sensors from going off throughout the night. She eventually threw it into a wall. It was so annoying. Since Furby speaks their own language she was never able to understand what it wanted or how to teach it to do all those cute things it does on tv. Just like talking baby dolls, it will just start talking in the middle of the nights and scare the socks off you. She was so torn between wanting to play with the cool toy that all her friends wanted, and being frustrated with it not responding when she wanted to play and then activating randomly. I felt so bad for her. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone.

I used to own furby's when they came out years ago. From what I remember they have delicate mechanized ears, eyes and beaks. If they are mishandled, you'll end up with a broken $50 doorstop. You need to make the determination on your own if you can keep your daughter from holding it by the ears or trying to pry the mouth open or mess with the eyes as they blink and move. If you really want one, you should buy one for yourself and only let her play with them while you are sitting there with her. Leave them unattended and I'd bet good money that the gizmo's will no longer be animatronic very quickly. (I have a six yer old daughter and when she was a fresh four year old, she was not very gentle with her things. I wouldn't leave her alone in a room with a furby.)

I know someone who uses Furby's for target practice at the range.

A 4 yr old will love a sock monkey.
It won't drive you crazy with noise and no batteries are needed.

http://sockmonkeycompany.com/category/Colorful-Sock-Monke...

My daughter had one. It was annoying. Couldn't make it shut up. Hated it. After the novelty of a day or two it just went in the closet and eventually thrown out. Waste of money. And, a four year will never figure out what to do with the dang thing!

My son is getting one and he's 6. I also have an origninal one:)