I know this is off topic, but I also know there are some serious slotcar guys and whatnot on the board. My boy Gus is turning 4 this year and I want to get him a cool toy to inspire his future hot rod building (he's already got some pretty good ideas).. but the poor kid has 2 sisters.. one younger and one older.. so he's surrounded by the pink stuff. Toys have changed a lot since I was his age, but I'm thinking legos or something that is really interactive that he can spend some time on.. he (like me) is bored easily with the static stuff. Any ideas are appreciated. Here are a couple I found: Street racer thing Dirt Track Slotcars If I pick your idea you can be an honorary uncle (or aunt)
Het him a copy of Mad Fab 4... My 3 1/2 year old likes to pretends that he is Johnny working with Bob Bleed on that 34 pickup. He even has a toy grinder that he uses. (I had to turn the volume down on some parts... that Bob has a potty mouth). You should have seen him all slack-jawed watching B*** drive his '29. - Joe
Go with Legos...the Tech sets, make sure you get the sets with tires/wheels in 'em...hahaha!.....or Erector sets....
One thing kids need to learn at a young age, is that it's fun to BUILD stuff. So legos, erector sets, blocks, lincoln logs, tinkertoys etc all RULE. (anybody remember the "Spin Weld" kits??). Another cool thing I would do with my Dad is build little race cars/hotrods out of wood. Either make the wheels or buy them and cut out some bodies from wood with a jig or saber saw. Use dowels or nails for axles, dowels for exhaust pipes etc. "Paint" them is optional.
Good suggestions all! I don't think a copy of MFS would fly with mama.. hahaha. I'm leaning toward a lego set.. This one is pretty cool but I think it's a bit too advanced: lego buggy I just wish I could get something a little more related to the hotrod...
Snap kit model cars rule! My 3 yr old has done a couple. When we went to a car show this past weekend, she had the choice of corvette or hot rod model. She's smart and built a super *****in' purple '33 3 window.
My girl loves american Graffiti. I remember as a kid building cars and such out of legos and that was cool. I think some of them have motors now. Plus legos and stuff will help him figure stuff out.
How about a pedal car? They repop some cool metal ones that look like a highboy roadster. Check with Speedway Motors for what's available. Another plus with the pedal car is that he will get some exercise! I got my pedal firetruck for my 4th birthday and it was my favorite toy. I've still got it hanging from the ceiling in the Hot Rod Grille Garage 49 years later! Jim Winter The Hot Rod Grille www.wvpinball.com
Hit up Ebay for older Technic sets....the new one's have such "set specific" parts in 'em.....I remember the earlier kits had ALOT of options for different 'builds' and the kits had alot of interchangability between 'em.... Wish I still had all my old Legos.....for scale mock-ups of co****...
You need also a couple of antiques--these are relatively common ones, not outrageousy difficult or expensive to buy on the internet: Auburn rubber hotrods, race cars. Hubley same--fairly expensive but neat and bulletproof cast iron toys that will survive for your great-grandchildren. Toy circa 1952 hot rod with transparent engine, moving pistons. My parents firmly believe that I would be a productive citizen if someone had not given me this as a toy...hot the rod and spoil the child! Yes, these have to be hunted...but they are too cool for your kid to miss. Leg0--I have several lego cars sold in tiny boxes as small kits. They have wretched proportions ***embled by the instructions--but move the front axle up to or forward of radiator they become nifty hotrods! Teach the kid traditional proportions and style for $3!!
Go to Target and look for Sizzlers, they are the same ones, in the same package as they were in the 70's, and what they are are matchbox type cars with batteries that get re charged and then switched on and they haul. Also pick up the Big oval race track for them. Had em as a kid and loved them. Ditto for the pedal car, check speedway.
Have you seen the little 1:32 scale cars that are covered in rusty patina? It comes with a small battery powered buffer and various tiny tools to "buff out" the **** and bring a "rusty" jalopy to it's former or future glory. I almost bought one for myself so it would feel like I had accomplished something. Check around the model kits, I think I last saw some at KMart.
If your kid is turning 4, he's probably already well on his way to growing out of the Speedway pedal car, unless he's really small for his size. My son Luke is 6 1/2, but he's about the size of a 4yo, and he's just now growing out of his. Luke is big time into cars of all kinds, and the Lego thing has been huge for him. He's made some really cool stuff. Most of the kits come with directions, so he's learned how to read & follow directions (only for the first build of a given kit), then he gets real creative and comes up with his own designs. There are also some "kits" made under the Hot Wheels brand called "Mechanix". They have a vehicle that you hafta use these little tools to interchange parts from a stocker to a pretty wild "custom" version of the Mustang or Hummer or whatever. I haven't seen these in stores for a while, but you might keep an eye out for them. One of these days, I'm gonna get a visible V-8 kit to put together with him. Oh, and even if you're not in boy scouts or whatever, some hobby stores carry all the Pinewood Derby supplies & parts... those have been an awesome way to help Luke learn about patience & craftsmanship. He's done a couple of them now, and he understands why it takes more than 23 seconds worth of sanding to make it nice.
Ditto! Start exercising his creativity with simple wooden blocks, coloring books, then the basic lego sets, water color paints, etc. Then more advanced stuff. Let him "help" you build toys out of garage s****s- metal, wood, etc... He may not actually ***ist you much, but he'll be watching the fabrication process first-hand. Let him hang out with you in the garage- give him the coffee can full of loose nuts & bolts and let him play with them. When he gets bored with that, let him pretend that your needle-nose pliers are crocodiles and vice grips are T-Rex's. Before you know it, he'll be contributing tech threads to the HAMB like my 5-year-old: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143110&highlight=tech+body+dolly
Get him a go-kart; jackshaft it down to garden tractor speeds. that's what I did with my 4 year old...
...then when he's 5, he'll suddenly realize the jackshft pulleys could be REARRANGED a tad...the knock on the door will be the cop who just clocked him at 127 on the sidewalk...
You are right to think about age appropriate toys... nothing pisses off my son more that a cool toy that is simply too advanced for him, or one that he can only play with while supervised. The toy manufacturers really do a good job of marking toys correctly. - Joe (I still think that MFS4 would be a kick *** gift) Poutous Sr.
You guys are giving me some great ideas... he's a big boy, so the pedal car is out, but he does have several powerwheels that were hand-me-downs that we are "modifying" They also have a gokart, but they're just not quite old enough for it (but close) Thanks for all the ideas! (maybe abe lugo will chime in?)
Buy him a real, honest-to-God Craftsman 12-foot tape measure. Very deliberately teach him about keeping his fingers away from the edges when he retracts it...explain that it could cut him if it goes too fast. He'll repsect it. Little boys LOVE tape measures. It's a "REAL!" tool, just like Dad's. It's HIS real tool! It's about six bucks, and warrantied for ever. You want him in cars? Get him tools early. My son got one when he was 4, after breaking mine. While getting my replacement at Sears, I thought about it and got him his own. He's 12, and still has it. We always taught him to completely respect sharp things, and how to use them properly. He was cutting his own food with a knife at 3 years old...freaked people out in restaraunts when they'd see him pick up a grown-up knife and fork. But he was always told they weren't toys, and to use them properly, and it was always reinforced. Using a grown-up knife was a previlige, and he knew it. And he, being a little guy, was proud of it, so he made sure to do it the right way. At 5, he had his own small Swiss army knife; 1-inch blade, tweezers, nail file and toothpick. I was uneasy with it, but he found it at a restaruant, and we talked very long and deliberately about it. Taught him to use it, respect it. Don't cut toward you, always away...careful when you close it...never leave it laying open on the ground or table when you set it down. He nicked himself once with it, and the only reason I knew about it is because I heard him go into the bathroom, go into the cabinet, heard water, and then heard the bandaid wrapper. "Cut yourself?" Huh-uh. "Is it bad?" Nope. "Did you use soap?" Yup. He threw the wrappers away and went merrily on his way. He still gets on me when I set a knife down with the blade out. Go with the tape measure...I promise he'll love it. -Brad
Visible V8s are cool, but I think he is still a little too young. I have a 2.5 yr old nephew, trust me, I'm dying to buy "him" one! He has a Little Tikes (or Playschool or something of that variety) workbench with plastic tools (just like real tools) and an engine stand. He plays with it constantly! I worry with legos, 4 is still kind of small and they still put things in their mouths. Here are some really neat building sets for 4 year olds: http://thomas-tank-engine.com/train/construction-toys-c-80.html?page=1&sort=products_sort_order Lots of toy websites let you shop by age which helps a lot. Of course, a kid can never have too many Hot wheels!
Chevygirl, that website is great. I don't worry about him putting stuff in his mouth, but his little sister does, so that is a bit of a concern. Brad, I like what you're thinking.. he got a tool set a couple years ago and it had one of those dumb rubber tape measures, it didn't work right, so I gave him one of mine. It's one of his favorite toys. thanks guys for all the suggestions!
what if you find him a little schwinn pixie or stingray bicycle, you guys could restore it together on the weekends. It would be an easy project, and he would learn how things come together and how to use basic tools, and after all the hard work of sanding etc. he will enjoy riding it that much more!
Man, i'm 52 and would love an old Gilbert Erector Set. Have you seen one? Know what it is? Ebay? Here's one (i'm going back for more) #320130598015 #170124932189 Man, check out the whole Ad for the 2nd one!!! You and your kid will love it. Invite me over when it gets there
That's a GREAT idea! I got Pop's Ferris Wheel set (circa 1940) when I was a kid; Pop had filed one of the gears into a saw - and even set the teeth. Man, I did some damage with that until Pop saw it in the set and took it away - like it was okay for him and not for me. 52 - you're older than dirt, man. No wonder you're so grumpy.
The Jalopy Journal
