OK, Not "War Toys for Christmas," but For a Birthday. . .

[mrlynn]

Daughter says OK to get a Nerf gun for 8-year-old Sam's birthday.

Recommendations?

We didn't have Nerf guns when I was young. I did have cap guns. Maybe that's an idea, too. . .

/Mr Lynn

[Anonymous User]

An 8-year-old should be taught how to quickly kill and eat a squirrel or rabbit with an accurate Daisy.

[saintyohann]

The springs are pretty strong in a lot of the Nerf guns, an 8-year old might have trouble arming the spring for each shot. Maybe a battery-operated Styrfe, or if you think they can handle the spring, a Strongarm.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Is there a sibling or neighbor to have fights with? Multiple guns. Two pistols so she gets training dual wielding, and then a long gun of some sort.

I have no current experience with the lineup at Toys-r-us. warning: Gizmodo link.
The Best Nerf Gun for Every Kid (At Heart)

Edit: might want to include eye protection.

[Racer X]

I concur with Huey. Single shot .22 LR by 10. I think they make pink Crickets, if that might appeal to her. Or pink Muddy Girl camo. BUT SHE NEEDS TRAINING AND SUPERVISION! Does she have a Swiss Army knife yet?

Really cool Zombie themed Nerf stuff these days. Really bright colors. My 17 yo stepson just had an afternoon of Nerf wars with his friends in the park last weekend. I ordered an extra 100 darts from eBay too.

[mrlynn]

Sam is a boy. 'Daughter' is his mother. Read more carefully.

Sam has brothers 6 and 4, all active. Maybe three of these?

http://www.amazon.com/Nerf-N-Strike-Elit...-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1442888984&sr=1-4&keywords=nerf+guns

And maybe two for Mom and Dad?

/Mr Lynn

[Racer X]

So, you saying a boy won't like pink? I know a guy with a purple Ruger 9mm. Another with a raspberry .22 target pistol.

And for that matter, a hot pink Hemi 'cuda?

[mrlynn]

Any of you parents out there with experience with these things? I need recommendations.

/Mr Lynn

[vision63]

mrlynn wrote:
Any of you parents out there with experience with these things? I need recommendations.

/Mr Lynn

When we played cowboys and indians our guns were sticks. My mother saved a ton of money.

[3d]

Parent here of a 5 and 2yo with an 8 year old cousin.

Nerf guns for the 8 and 6 year old is fine. 4 is a bit young. The 4 year old will struggle with the gun or run out of ammo in 5 seconds and end up being a sitting duck. Extremely unfair. But you can't really just give two of the boys guns and leave the 4 year old out. That's a disaster waiting to happen. So just give the three of them ONE gun to share with the rule that they are not allowed to shoot or aim it at anyone. Just using it for target practice is fun enough. If they break the rule, take the gun away.

Another rule we use, is that after playing they must find and account for every single bullet. It's not that bad since they are doing controlled target practice. They are not running around and jumping on furniture shooting blindly on full auto at each other. Yeah, I'm a buzzkill. They deal with it.