Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My soon to be 6 year old is obsessed with the Nintendo Switch, so he talks all day about the new Zelda game he's playing and Mario Odyssey. He also loves playing and watching Pokemon, and all the boys also love building in Minecraft. The boys all know about stuff like Trolls and Frozen, but I never hear them talking about movies like the girls do.

Your son and mine should be friends.

I don’t fully agree that op is overly concerned about what is “cool” or “popular”, I do recall being the kid whose parents wouldn’t let her watch any commercial tv or play with any of the toys that were big in the 80s - Barbies, my little pony, etc. I definitely felt like the odd kid out when other kids were playing their imaginary rainbow brite games, etc, and I appreciate wanting to have your kid well versed in age appropriate “pop culture” as it’s part of socialization.

I guess my feeling then is that the kid will ask you for something if his friends have it. So you don't have to manage that for him.

Anonymous wrote:My soon to be 6 year old is obsessed with the Nintendo Switch, so he talks all day about the new Zelda game he's playing and Mario Odyssey. He also loves playing and watching Pokemon, and all the boys also love building in Minecraft. The boys all know about stuff like Trolls and Frozen, but I never hear them talking about movies like the girls do.

Your son and mine should be friends.

I don’t fully agree that op is overly concerned about what is “cool” or “popular”, I do recall being the kid whose parents wouldn’t let her watch any commercial tv or play with any of the toys that were big in the 80s - Barbies, my little pony, etc. I definitely felt like the odd kid out when other kids were playing their imaginary rainbow brite games, etc, and I appreciate wanting to have your kid well versed in age appropriate “pop culture” as it’s part of socialization.

My soon to be 6 year old is obsessed with the Nintendo Switch, so he talks all day about the new Zelda game he's playing and Mario Odyssey. He also loves playing and watching Pokemon, and all the boys also love building in Minecraft. The boys all know about stuff like Trolls and Frozen, but I never hear them talking about movies like the girls do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone find it odd that the OP is worried about keeping their kid up to date on what is cool? It literally hasn't crossed my mind that this is something to be concerned about.

Agree with you.

OP what does your kid like to do?

+2... I have an only child boy who had very little exposure to the "popular" stuff before he started school. Didn't watch a lot of TV, and we bought him lots of legos, magnates, etc... very few "branded" toys. Somehow they learn the "cool" stuff, like by osmosis. DS had never seen Paw Patrol but I took him to a Paw Patrol birthday party and knew all the characters. Everyone was talking about Frozen when he was in preschool and I actually was a little proud of the fact that he didn't seem to care about it... then one day Let It Go was playing and he started belting it out. Enjoy the time now before he's influenced by what everyone else thinks/likes... it's much more fun to help him explore interests on his own and it'll be soon enough that he's begging you to play Minecraft (or Roblox or Fortnight or Beyblades or whatever), buy him a Nintendo Switch, or whatever.

This is op. My 5 year old likes to play redball 4 app & slither.io app, not into cartoons but loves to watch YouTube videos that are run by mostly kids ( toy review, silly games/pranks, play video games), read books, not much into any sports ( but like to jump on trampoline, kick some ball, & running), build houses, and play some toy cars/ card game/ board games. He likes to do silly things, and says some silly things at home.

I am conflicted by his silly conservation/behavior, but he seems to like to play video games/board games that seems to be for older age level. I don’t understand why he is not into cartoon anymore, but he constantly watches YouTube videos.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5 year olds don’t talk about this stuff. They just go run around together.

You’ve obviously never met my 5 year old he and his little friends talk about their interests and do a lot of pretend play relating to their interests while they run around together.

As a parent of a 5 year old girl, in my experience yes they talk about their interests, but there isn't much of a sense that something is "cool." My kid wasn't at all into Pokemon and her entire class was. It was not a big deal.

Anonymous wrote:5 year olds don’t talk about this stuff. They just go run around together.

You’ve obviously never met my 5 year old he and his little friends talk about their interests and do a lot of pretend play relating to their interests while they run around together.

5 year olds don’t talk about this stuff. They just go run around together.

My 6yo likes PJ Masks, Scooby Doo, Pokémon, and Star Wars. Starting to get into LEGO. He likes science and craft projects.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone find it odd that the OP is worried about keeping their kid up to date on what is cool? It literally hasn't crossed my mind that this is something to be concerned about.

Agree with you.

OP what does your kid like to do?

Anonymous wrote:Anyone find it odd that the OP is worried about keeping their kid up to date on what is cool? It literally hasn't crossed my mind that this is something to be concerned about.

+1 let kid explore and make his own interests. Just bc my kid liked paw patrol doesn't mean yours should. Set up outdoor play dates with preschool friends and put him in outdoor camp next summer (if health allows). He'll be fine.

Anyone find it odd that the OP is worried about keeping their kid up to date on what is cool? It literally hasn't crossed my mind that this is something to be concerned about.

I can’t speak to overall popularity but my 5.5 year old boy loves what I consider pretty typical little boy interests: dinosaurs, trucks, building things w legos, riding a bike or scooter, playing at the playground, playing soccer in the yard or park, playing some basic board games like Candyland or connect 4. His favorite movies are Toy Story, Cars, and Monsters Inc and favorite tv shows are paw patrol, magic school bus, and Sesame Street. I think his interests tend to skew a little younger (most of the above would be appropriate for a kid age 2-5, IMO) But he is the oldest child w younger siblings so we generally like to keep things appropriate more for a younger crowd so they can all enjoy it together. I think a lot of his friends his age are watching superhero shows/movies which we haven’t gotten into yet and many kids his age are already into organized sports and activities like Karate (pre Covid anyway) but the only organized class or activity he’s done was swimming lessons.

I also wonder how it’ll be once we finally are able to get together w other kids in person...I’m glad my son is mostly happy to play independently or with his siblings but I worry how this extended time without same age playmates will affect him socially.

My just turned 6yo is into Miraculous - Xavier Riddle on PBS, Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, Pokémon (a bit), card games like crazy 8s, the movie Wreck it Ralph (and sequel), Mario Karet and Minecraft on the Nintendo. He likes to read Dogman (which I don’t like) and Narwhal & Jelly books. Pretty much his conversation revolves around most of those topics. He finds shows he likes on Netflix or pbs kids, we get books from the library to see what interests him, and his older sisters sometimes influence him as well - they all like to watch baking shows together, like Sugar Rush, Nailed it and the British Bake-off.

My kid has not played & talked with any kids in person since March, and I don’t want him to act social awkward when school is open in person ( hopefully spring 2021). I am not following what are popular these days among kids. He is the only child. What are popular these days for 5-6 year old boy? Like tv show, cartoon, toys, games, apps, hobbies, hot conversation etc? How does your child find out all these? Through friends, internet, magazine or word of mouth?