Toy guns and other weapons ... what do you think?

**pinkbutterfly** · 31-01-2011, 11:00 PM

Something that happened today made me wonder if it's ok or not to have some weapons as toys. A friend of mine had a 4 year old in a pushchair who was holding a toy knife and a gun. It sort of threw me as I think it's a huge no-no. He has older brothers so I guess there is a lot of war play going on at home.
Here are some items I thought about all toys of course:
- army knife
- revolver
- sward and shield
- one of those swords from star wars that light up
- toy soldiers
- solider outfit to dress up
- superhero outfit that comes with weapons like the spider-man net for example
What do you think?

**Doofuz** · 01-02-2011, 06:23 AM

This is an interesting subject...when I was younger I used to play with a toy revolver all the time. It was my favourite toy. It didn't have ammunition and I was taught that it was to be used for good - like our soldiers in the Gulf. Many years on and I have been an Army Cadet, applied to the Forces (didn't get through and fully support all of my friends that are fighting for us overseas. There is a book on the market by Penny Holland called 'We Don't Play With Guns Here: War, Weapon and Superhero Play in the Early Years' (OUP). It makes really good reading on how to support this type of play. Just keep an eye on how the children are playing and what they say. Rein the play in a bit if it gets rough and remind them that they are superheroes who help us, not the Taliban.

**mrs robbie williams** · 01-02-2011, 06:59 AM

My ds loves nerf guns so mindees often play with those xx

**mushpea** · 01-02-2011, 07:08 AM

thing is how far do you go with this,,,, i mean is not ok to have a toy gun but in the sumer have water pistals??
I dont have toy weapons here to play with but they often build them from lego or junk modling and when we go to the woods the older ones use sticks as guns and swords and in the playground the 7yrold i have uses his hands as a gun so unless i chop off his arms i cant take all the weapons away,,,, obviously guns etc are dangerous and i do teach that in reality its a lot different to their play but anything can be used as a weapon in make belive and also in real life,,, its not just guns that kill,,, cars can kill if used wrong and i wont stop them playing with cars,, people drown others in water but i dont stop water play
anyway basicly i dont have toy weapons but i dont stop them playing with what they have made or use their imagination for.

**The Juggler** · 01-02-2011, 08:08 AM

hon, there is lots of research about this - def. worth googling (google scholar) if you are interested.

I think it's ok. boys (particularly) can develop their imagination, it teaches them boundaries within their rough play they dont' learn with totally imaginary guns.

if you don't give them guns they'll use sticks or whatever. yes, guns and swords can kill but I think when kids do this nowadays we associate with slasher movies and those bloodfests that are todays video games rather than good old fashioned cowboys and indians and pirates that we played when we were kids.

BTW not sure cowboys and indians and pirates were much less viciuous in the killing stakes

but guess they had more of a heroes and villains touch than some of the games around today

**Daftbat** · 01-02-2011, 08:30 AM

I used to be really against this type of play but having done research and listened to other people I have to agree that there is no point in banning anything - they will use other toys as alternatives. I think my own views came as a result of having two daughters and no sons - its all part of educating children i suppose

**sweets** · 01-02-2011, 08:36 AM

i really dont like them and dont like seeing a child with a gun, especcially a small child. i would never ever buy any sort of gun but will buy 'water squiters' but try and get ones that dont look like guns!

BUT if children use sticks, fingers etc as a gun then i dont particulaly stop them, just ignore the play as i know that they like playing these sort of games especcially boys.

my friend was horrified a while ago when her and her baby girl met up with a friend who had a 3 year old boy, this child had a toy gun and kept pointing at the baby, his mum never said anything. Knocked my friend sick

**manjay** · 01-02-2011, 09:14 AM

Originally Posted by The Juggler

hon, there is lots of research about this - def. worth googling (google scholar) if you are interested.

I think it's ok. boys (particularly) can develop their imagination, it teaches them boundaries within their rough play they dont' learn with totally imaginary guns.

if you don't give them guns they'll use sticks or whatever. yes, guns and swords can kill but I think when kids do this nowadays we associate with slasher movies and those bloodfests that are todays video games rather than good old fashioned cowboys and indians and pirates that we played when we were kids.

BTW not sure cowboys and indians and pirates were much less viciuous in the killing stakes

but guess they had more of a heroes and villains touch than some of the games around today

I agree!! and yet again something I have researched

I don't have any toy guns in the dressing up box but I do have some swords that the children have made. It is something I have changed my mind on over the years and having done the relevant research.

**maisiemog** · 01-02-2011, 09:16 AM

I went to a really interesting course on this a few months ago and the general basis was that it isn't wrong to let them play with weapons and that it can be a really valuable learning experience.

They basically talked about how labelling guns and weapons as bad is a negative thing because so many children have parents who's jobs involve something that could be used as a weapons e.g police, soldiers, butchers etc. By saying a weapon is bad the child thinks you are saying their parent is bad for using it. Plus they will use something else as a weapon if they want this sort of play.

I personally dont like them and dont have any in my house but I think thats probably more to do with the fact that I have a daughter and all but one of my mindees are girls! I think they'd look at me in disgust if I brought them a gun, although they did all ask for a sword when we went to see a balloon modeller!

**ajs** · 01-02-2011, 09:23 AM

i do absolutely hate guns( my grandparents were held up at gunpoint in her shop but that's another and very interesting story )
and don't have them in the house although i do not say they are bad for the reason stated above buti will not allow the children to kill each other or point anything at another child, so the poster above who saw the boy pointing att he baby would also make me sick adn i would have to stop that.

as soon as they start to kill each other i try and change the game

**singingcactus** · 01-02-2011, 09:38 AM

We have quite a large collection of play guns, swords, bow and arrows, light sabres, etc - we even have a home made trebuchet and a wheeled catapult for firing ping pong balls. We don't shoot at people, but we have regular play with them.
For the people who ban them cos a family member was held up, injured etc by someone using a gun, consider my uncle who was kicked to death one night by two yobs. No weapons, just feet. Would you also ban feet from your setting?
Not sure banning an item because someone else misused it is the way to teach safe use of that item.

**Dragonfly** · 01-02-2011, 10:05 AM

You have some very good points singingcatus.Children that play with toy guns swords etc dont usually turn into murderers as adults. I had all those sorts of toys for my own grown up boys (3) but not for my childminding children, and i dont know why as they make guns from duplo sticks kitchen roll insides and Im happy with it.

I think fists,feet and lots of other objects are just as dangerous.

**PixiePetal** · 01-02-2011, 10:46 AM

I don't have toy guns in the house - if children make lego/stick guns I don't stop it unless they aim at each other and there is talk of being shot dead. I do realise it is, for some, a natural part of exploration and role play and I do allow 'water squirters' - we squirt the plants and soak each other without talk of killing.

Walks in the wood often mean a collection of sticks gathered and games of the Robin Hood type.

Also have a castle with knights and a wheeled catapult and cannon pinging balls - just not shooting at each other.

I live in a rural community - DH has real guns and they are taken seriously here. A friends son was killed in a shooting accident with his friend so it is something on my mind - always.

Sorry if I am a bit mixed on this but I have to do what is right for me

**Dragonfly** · 01-02-2011, 12:01 PM

Exactly we all do whats right for us.

**ajs** · 01-02-2011, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by singingcactus

We have quite a large collection of play guns, swords, bow and arrows, light sabres, etc - we even have a home made trebuchet and a wheeled catapult for firing ping pong balls. We don't shoot at people, but we have regular play with them.
For the people who ban them cos a family member was held up, injured etc by someone using a gun, consider my uncle who was kicked to death one night by two yobs. No weapons, just feet. Would you also ban feet from your setting?
Not sure banning an item because someone else misused it is the way to teach safe use of that item.

Oh i think that comment is very facetious, yes i am very sorry for the person who was killed by the yobs but i will not diminsh the terror experienced by my grandparents when they had a sawn off shotgun pointed at them by a man already wanted by the police for shooting Martin Luther King.
I wouldn't wish that fear on anyone and I am very proud to say they fought him off and survived to telll the tale

Oh i didn't say either that i ban them just that i don't allow them in the house

**singingcactus** · 01-02-2011, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by ajs

Oh i think that comment is very facetious, yes i am very sorry for the person who was killed by the yobs but i will not diminsh the terror experienced by my grandparents when they had a sawn off shotgun pointed at them by a man already wanted by the police for shooting Martin Luther King.
I wouldn't wish that fear on anyone and I am very proud to say they fought him off and survived to telll the tale

Oh i didn't say either that i ban them just that i don't allow them in the house

I most certainly was not being facetious! My uncles brutal murder holds absolutely no humour for me whatsoever!

Pipsqueak · 01-02-2011, 12:45 PM

This is a very subjective and emotive subject.

A lot has been written, researched and articled about this. there is a conclusion that children - if they do not have access to toy guns etc will still make a toy gun out of their fingers and say pow pow/bang bang for instance.

Like anything - its how you instruct children - guns are dangerous, knives are dangerous - these things can kill and maim - they ruin peoples lives.
That said - for centuries now young children have played with representations of guns, bow/arrows, swords, daggers, axes etc - where I DO think we are coming unstuck is the video games that kids are allowed to play - the gratuitous violence and the apparent lack of respect for life (animal or human)

There will always be 'villians' and the unscrupulous though who no matter what they are taught will still go down that route.

I was bought up knowing about guns - my dad owned guns, so did my uncles - I handled the casings etc. They taught me to respect guns and the danger in them. what I never liked though was the thought of them killing bunnies and the like. however it was not killing for the sake of killing it was a way of life and they ate what they killed.
I was also shown pictures of my ancestors in their full military uniform - including guns etc.

**Hebs** · 01-02-2011, 12:56 PM

I have NO issues whatsoever with children playing with toy guns/knives

it does not make the child more likely to go shoot someone in real life, no more than a little girl playing with a doll will make her fall pregnant very young

if the children are old enough, it is a perfect opportunity to talk to them about gun/knife safety

**georgie456** · 01-02-2011, 02:27 PM

I don't allow my children or mindees to play with toy guns, nor are they allowed to pretend other objects are guns. I hate them with a passion. If they feel need to try and play that sort of thing I swiftly find them something more constructive to do.

**louised** · 01-02-2011, 02:54 PM

I don't allow my children or mindees to play with toy guns, nor are they allowed to pretend other objects are guns. I hate them with a passion. If they feel need to try and play that sort of thing I swiftly find them something more constructive to do.

I feel exactly the same about any kind of weapon, my children never had them and I don't have any for mindees. There are so many much more interesting and educational toys for children to play with, I don't see how allowing them to play with weapons has any benefit to them whatsoever.