My son, who is almost 9, is VERY "into" World War II. Especially tanks and aircraft.
Aside from the Wii/Xbox flying mission games, are there any toys or games that your kids enjoy?
Obviously, Battleship and army guy stuff....but what else do you kids like if they're into stuff like that?
(He has lots of model aircraft. And some great history books about that period.)
Am I missing something obvious?
Any ideas?
Thanks!
My boys (now men) love history anything.
I bought them both the USA state quarter maps; they had a blast "searching" for the quarters....had me looking too!
Also the presidential dollar folders, those are harder to find, but they still are searching.
They both love the history channel, and national geographic!
The DVD set of Band of Brothers.
It is really amazing.
Sometime, do a marathon and as a family sit and watch all of it together. Close the drapes, darken the room and make it like a theater.
You will all have a lot of conversations after each episode.
I love it because the actual men that are being portrayed actually speak at the beginning of each episode.
Maybe go to an Army surplus place and consider getting him a tent that he can learn to set up in the back yard.. It can be like his club house.
They also sell uniforms all sorts of things. K rations, everything.
Oh gosh - welcome to my world. Our TV is constantly set on the Military Channel (DirectTV). They also love History Channel.
Between my two (17 & 14) - they could tell you everything you ever wanted to know about WWII.
Younger son LOVES all the "Civilization" PC games, as well as Age of Empires. It amazes me how much accurate history he has learned from his gaming! I wish they would come up with a complete curriculum - it would be a great way to learn history.
If I think of anything else I will message you!
You could order box sets of the History Channel'sWWII documentary style programs. It was the real life Band of Brothers.
Of course, war it pretty graphic by nature and if you are uncomfortable with showing him that side of war - definately understand, but wanted to offer it as my husband and my 8 yo love History channel documentaries.
I know it can be expensive, but how about a 2-3 day trip to DC. I believe Pittsburgh is only about 4-5 hour drive and if you stay in Maryland, you can get good hotel rates. But they have the war memorials, and the air and space museum as well as other museums with awesome stuff from WW2. You can also check some museums locally. I know the here in Dallas we have a Air Museum with airplanes from WW2 that actually still fly. They do air shows in the area from time to time and I enjoy them.
My son watches the History , Discovery, science channels. He has lots of puzzles centered around military, planes, historical, etc. Gettysburg might be a neat place to go to at somepoint. Are their any museums in your area that are military centered? He might enjoy a trip to O. as a gift.I see DC in his future! I know we are planning to take my son their O. summer. The history channel does have a lot of documentaries available on DVD. You could look them up online to see which ones he might like to watch.
It also might be neat if he could write to or meet with a World War ll veteran that he could talk with and ask them questions. My son, who is 8, is very into planes, as well as military centered history. He enjoys asking his great grandfather about his experiences in WWll and what he did. It is enjoyable for both of them.
We live in a great older neighborhood with many men that fought in the war. We have been able to pick up some footlockers and suitcases from that era. He loves them to keep all his war stuff in them. And he has got to hear some first hand accounts of the wars.
My 6 year old LIVES for history stuff. He went to Antietam and the Battle of Cedar Creek reinactments this year! So fun! I love it too, so I love that he is so excited for it.
He even asked for a picture of a soldier leader for Christmas :). I'm going to print O. of him in the clothes he put on and frame it for his room.
Sorry about not being able to give more advice on it. Not sure about toys. Can you do battle field tours with him? You're probably not far from Gettysburg and only a few hours from many other ones.
ETA - right on Victoria!! DC is a breeding ground for amazing history!! LOVE IT!! And there are tons of hotels close for a great price.
Denise - if you come to DC, do the Dullus Air and Space Museum...you beat the crowd in DC and it's got a lot more stuff :).
My men enjoy watching history DVDs. My husband usually picks up the complete set or series of each war. WWII, Vietnam, Korea. Those are the top 3 fav.
We went to Wash DC last month and we all watched the PBS series beforehand, The History of US...and that was superb. A bit watered down and redundant but perfect for your age son.
We usually pick up a deck of cards while at military museums, as the pictures are great for studying.
This site has some fun options, like a great puzzle solver and memory game:
My 6 yr old us obsessed with Military Channel, anything in jungle camo (has to be green jungle camo, no tan dessert camo) and all warcarft. His dad was in the Navy, so he loves aitcraft carriers, jet planes, helicopters, guns, grenades, cargo planes, you name it. I found a big selection of this stuff at Dollar General that he can go nuts with and it was cheap enough that if he breaks it, it wont break my heart. We are also buying a remote control helicopter. I bought him scooby doo pjs that have him in jungle camo, private scooby doo. A camo backpack, and tennis shoes. He's gonna flip. They also have a lot of tshirts on line for military buffs. I thought about buying him a real Army or Navy shirt. Some are graphic tees with skulls and daggers and some are just the branch. Oh and you can order replica dogtags online. You can even make them for $5 at the machine at walmart. Hope these ideas help.
What about an "old fashioned" game of risk? It's not specifically about WWII, but it does require strategic thinking and world domination ;)
ETA:
TOTALLY agree with MomK2CK - Udvar Hazy Air & Space museum is rockin' cool!! It's $15 for parking - entry is free. beats the crowds in DC hands down. Chantilly has some great hotels right near the museum as well.
Greg loves his World War II and Vietnam books. Scholastic and other book companies have some GREAT history books.
There are model tanks too. My boys have the metal ones - you can get them at Target - they are a tad bit more than the plastic ones - but my boys have a full battlefield set up - these packages are to scale, metal and have a set - sand bag, wire fence, tank and men....etc. Target also has this...
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my boys LOVE this game!!
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