How young is too young?

[bxlt]

I've searched and couldn't find a good answer so I hope this hasn't been talked about before but I have two young boys (4 and 2) and they both love to come out in the shop and "help" me work on my cars. I have never let them drive any as I hardly ever drive any of mine. But I was wondering at what age would you buy a hobby grade car for your kids? I haven't bought them a single RC car because I can't stand wasting money on crap but I also don't want to buy something that is way to much car for them and will wind up hitting something at speed that it shouldn't and either break the car or whatever it hit ie little brother.

Any help appreciated. Let me know at what age you started and with what type of car and how it worked out.

[slapshot1979]

I started my kids on a losi strike at age 3-4. they now have a Lunchbox (thanks Paul-RC10eh) a beetle blitzer and my clod. Now at age 4-6. they can do pretty good around a wide open spot.

[slotcarrod]

Start them now and watch them spank you in a year or two!

[farmer]

get the oldest a grasshopper with the 380 a cheap wheel radio change the rear tires and let him bash it
as he starts to show control, and respect
move him up to a stock traxxis sc rtr
almost unbreakable,and by that time, the the youngest will be ready for the grasshopper
4 years is a prime age for a introduction to the rc car world
shoot u never know mite be the next B.K. or CAV
But u have to keep the tradition and get him a grasshopper for his first
i would say at least 70% of us started with a grasshopper of some sort
i had always got the cheap kmart are sears cars throughout my childhood
but my first hobby quality rc car i would say i was about 10 or 11
have fun they are only that age once
getting started asap
farmer

[CamplinP]

Never too young. Get something easy to fix, tone it down and let them have at it.

[civilguy]

My daughter was 5 or so when she rebuilt one of my old Grasshoppers. A few winters back my son (2 yrs her junior) & daughter took turns each doing an assembly step on their own Frog ( http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=8488#p80364 ), and then the next winter they built a Lunchbox in the same manner ( http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=15034 ). Both cars were fairly fragile and we did break within a few packs every time out-- but learning how to repair was valuable too.

The same Christmas as the Lunchbox, I got them each a 2wd Slash. With the 'training' mode on the XL-5 esc you only get 50% power so it was great for them (& their cousins) to learn on. We've let kids as young as 2-1/2 run the Slashes and they do take a serious beating.

Mine are now 10 & 12 (teenager next month!), and can run pretty much anything you hand them. They can both fly most anything on a buddy box (but they don't like to listen), and even some slower stuff (GWS Slow Stick) solo. They've started developing their own tastes in hobbies, but still like to help build stuff. We picked up a Warthog foamy for my son & I to put together this winter, and my daughter started with a crawler build last spring that she still has to finish.

Bottom line is involve them as much as you can and as much as they want to be. Having an appreciation for any hobby is a good thing... and spending time with your kids can't be replaced. Have fun!

[slapshot1979]

A wheel radio is almost a must, as their thumbs are not long enough to hold the radio and reach around to operate a stick radio

[Halgar]

Never too young. Get something easy to fix, tone it down and let them have at it.

X2

Also, choose something that is pretty stout. It's not like you'll let them run the thing on their own, so you don't have to worry too much about them hurting themselves or abusing the RC just for the sake of abuse.

I have let toddlers run my clod, which is slow and easy to handle. They are told to be careful and to NOT hit things on purpose. As long as they abide by the rules, they're welcome to play in my presence. Start smacking into things just to be a turd and they'll never touch it again. I've only had one pair of young boys who abuse the privilege out of all kids (and adults ) whom I've let play.

It also really helps to go to an area that is wide open where there are no obstacles to hit, at least until they understand what they're doing and learn good vehicle control.

[LTO_Dave]

Great topic that I was going to start myself but never did.

I'm trying to get my older brother back into the hobby and start his step sons, ages 4 & 6 I think, into R/C. So I ordered my bro a RTR Axial SCX10 Jeep Rubicon and my parents and I went together and got the kids a RTR Axial SCX10 Honcho and LiPo's for Christmas this year. I'll be in charge of the batteries (no pun intended) and everything will be stored in my hobby room.

Since they're somewhat slower than other available 2WD RTR vehicles and my friends and I all have crawlers and extra parts, we figured it would be the perfect intro into the hobby. And I think I will be able to limit the speed of the ESC with my Castle Link, so I can do my part to keep them in control...for now.

[Lonestar]

One xtra piece of advice - make sure you go for 2.4GHz even if you have stashes of old RF laying around... Kids tend to forget they need to switch on the transmitter first and THEN the receiver (Merci Hugues pour ce precieux conseil!)

My 3yo got his first RC this week for his 3rd birthday (Flash McQueen front/rear toy, it's crap btw), my 5yo daughter got a kyosho wheelie car when she was 4.5, and she got a proper 2wd (Mad Rat with 540 and small pinion!) this spring. At the moment they mostly have "fun" with the cars for a minute max, and then they move to something else

Paul

[CAT3K]

My little girl started showing an interest at about 5, so i let her use an old Mardave Cobra buggy i had lying around to get her started. For a couple of years it was just fun messing about in the back garden, but she'd been coming with me to my local indoor track for a while.

She started racing properly indoors (12th) at 7, and 1 year later she's pretty good, if i do a 10 second lap, she's doing 12-13 seconds so they get up to speed pretty quickly

The one thing i don't let her do is marshall, i have to do that for her.

Paul.

[Hcp22]

I would say: something that don’t need a lot of maintains, could stand a direct hit from a wall and gear down

[Groomi]

I dragged a box of old Hornet parts out from the loft and built it up for my Son when he was about three and a half. With a couple of parts kindly donated by a friend and an improvised shell made from a squash bottle, it only cost me the price of a new set of rear tyres.

He's pretty please with it as you can see (photo taken before new tyres arrived):


Again to save money, I just used my old Futaba stick transmitter but copied what my dad did for me with his boats when I was a little lad - clipped a lanyard to the transmitter and put it around his neck. That way he doesn't need to worry about holding the weight of it, just keeping it steady and moving the sticks - he got to grips with it straight away.


He'll love being a part of Daddy's hobby.

[Hcp22]

One lucky kid I would say!

[Groomi]

More like lucky Daddy who is allowed to get his toys out again.