Never too young! I put my two year old on a stool all the time to play with me.

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my son malcolm, age 2

didn't get my first machine until my daughter was just turning 9, but she took to it immediately....loves all the ones that have come through the door since...

These were 3 years ago, and she has gotten better since.11_0322x004.JPG11_0322x003.JPG

My rule is, if they need a stool, they're too young to play. Super fun to have every game just running on 4 player mode because all they can see is the start button. Toddlers and pinballs is about as good as cats and pinballs. Neither go well together

Children have an innate ability to start 4-player games.

This thread title is going to land someone in prison.

my 4 yr old son on bk2k

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I bet no one calls you the fun uncle.

This.

My son loves to start games and they all end up 4-player... Thankfully in Star Trek, he can launch the ball as well!

My kids hardly touch the pins, if ever. It is a novelty to them for a while when a new game comes home and that's about it. Even the local neighbourhood kids don't ask to play them anymore when they are over playing with my kids.
They would much rather play xbox etc.
I reckon it is a very fair bet that this hobby will die a slow death with this generation.

Any cousins, nephews, nieces or other younger family members immediately mash the start button then walk away after maybe plunging the ball.

have faith, maybe ps3/4 and xbox/one will help. ps4 has a huge amount of fantastic tables to play that translate very well for what it is. maybe after playing the video version they will warm up to the real thing given the opportunity.

Well, if they're old enough to speak clearly they might We have plenty of fun things to do in the house for toddlers. But pinball just isn't really one of them.

I'll go ahead and play devil's advocate and say that my son has been playing (with a stool) since about 2 1/2 - he's 5 1/2 now, still insists on having a stool to stand on the lower rungs when playing, beat the default GC on AC/DC Pro on location and is obsessed with pinball and which designers made which games (the Stern "making of" videos are responsible for this). Yeah, it's an irritating window of time where they insist on starting up a 4-player game and walking away, but that was a 6 month window. The other day he was making "whitewoods" out of cardboard boxes with his mom....I wasn't home, and this definitely wasn't her idea.

See, now that is just amazing. As a father I hope that my son will take interest in the things I love, and the earlier I can foster that the better.

I was holding my daughter who is almost four weeks old, I told her, hopefully one day you can make it to Valinor since Daddy has no chance

I was in the camp never too young until my two yo that loves to play pinball was actually a bit scared to play the lotr twice. We got over it though lol.

My son just turned 2. I hand him two tokens, and he runs to the stool, climbs up, inserts the two tokens, presses the start button and reaches to both sides of the machine. Granted, he loses interest in the middle of ball 1, but I'm willing to bet that he'll gradually learn, just like he gradually learns to feed himself, talk, etc. I also bet that he won't learn that he's not allowed to play them and have no interest in them by the time he's 5 and able to see over the lockbar while standing on the floor.

my son (2) will play several games in a row. plus he usually just starts one game at a time. he flips at more or less the right times, cheers when he hits the ball well, goes "oh noooo" when it drains, and immediately moves to the plunger to launch another ball. he definitely grasps the fundamental idea.

my daughter (6) knows how to start Borg Multiball and knows how to get jackpots. she is more accurate with the cannons than i am, and intentionally and appropriately uses post passes, dead passes, and cradles while she plays.

20140221_224731.jpgOkay, which of the conventions will be first to have an under 5 tournament? Let's include the littles!

I have a 2 yo grandson that loves my pinball game. He figured out how to turn them on and start a game so we bought him his own stool. He will stand on that stool and in front of me and either watch or flip for as long as I will play and is actually getting the hang of hitting the ball with the flipper, not just flipping.
Fav game is ACDC and loves WOZ however since WOZ is a wide body is face is planted directly on the glass so he can reach out to the wider flipper buttons.

Make sure everyone gets participation trophies, too.

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When my son was about 4 months old I started playing with him strapped to my torso. He's 10 months old now and still likes watching.

Suppose you ban women along with toddlers and cats?

yeah man right on - kids are just not mature enough to truly appreciate pinball and need to feel like losers as early in life as possible.

some people take themselves and this hobby way too seriously.

just let kids play don't worry about the rule set

My daughter used to stand on a stool in her diapers playing.

Here she is now ....

http://elocal.co.nz/View_Article~Id~1144~title~ELocaL%20COMMUNITY%20MAGAZINE%20-%20View%20Articles.html

rd.

And the award goes to.....

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AWESOME article RD ! She's ranked 4th in NZ ? That's truly amazing. One question....how do you get your wife to make coffee for you ?

Like most Dads, I'd be the 1st one to cut someone's throat if they laid a hand on my girls. But that thread title ...I couldn't help but think about Police-Tek 2000 .....

Damn I miss that show....

Here's my littlest.

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I agree. I brought my nieces over to play and the start button isn't the only button that gets mashed. I regretted it as soon as they started playing. When I was finished moving my fish tank out to the garage, I came back in to find all the machines running 4-player mode, still running a game, and completely left alone as they went to watch TV.

I suppose for those who have brought them up on pinball and have had a chance to observe them while they play, it may not be so bad. Hell, I have brought adults over to my place that didn't know how to play though.

Ask nicely

Here's this morning Moccachino in bed

rd

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You guys sound like a bunch of miserable old farts. Now granted I taught my kids from the start not to jam the start button and always to finish their game before shutting it off, but it just takes a little guidance. I know there are some younger but at 39, I am pretty much the last age group to have experienced pinball on location in its heyday. Sure kids are different today growing up with the consoles they have today but it doesn't take much to teach them to play and play properly. My kids are 5 & 6 and ask to play all the time. The button mashing has been the hardest part to teach but they are finally learning to take their shots. Just last night my 6 year old daughter sat with me watching pinball videos checking out machines to look for our second machine.

Instead of just banning kids from your precious GAMES (that's what they are), try taking some time to show them how to play properly and maybe make another generation of player.

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Some of the comments here are absolutely mind-boggling. These are freaking toys. They were built to withstand much worse than a toddler, and I'm guessing a little banging on the flippers is a lot less damaging than the average drunken slob or obnoxious teenage who played these games on location originally.

Why bother owning these toys if we can't share our love of them with the next generation. My daughter started playing when she was 6, and got it right away. At 4, my son could consistently hit Rudy's hideout, trap the ball, and beat most adults. My kids know how a solenoid works and why a plunger moves inside a coil. These things alone made this hobby worth it for me and are more valuable than any of my machines.

My avatar says it all she's a wizard in training

At least toddlers won't be spilling beer on your games...

Toys? Toys R' Us carries toys. I don't consider pins toys any more than a motorcycle. They are to be cared for meticulously, not abused, slapped around, and plunger yanked on. It's not just kids. There are adults that I have had over that I won't allow over again.

Depends how anal you are. Lots of OCD people in this hobby. I'm not one of them.

I have little kids at my place all the time. We had 90 people here last night, from 5 to 65 years old.

When they come here they learn a few things, and they generally stick with them.

a/ if you start a game, you have to finish it
b/ don't bugger off with RD's pinball keys!
c/ don't double flip all the time because the racket does RD's head in

after a visit or two, they soon work it out.

If you don't tell em .... they don't know.

rd

um, they were built to live in a chucky cheese, not a museum.. they definitely are toys, in fact.. they are industrial strength ones.

if pinball is to live hooking them young is needed before they get a cellphone or tablet. What will kill pinball is a bunch of anal retentive but heads.

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Nope never to young here my friends little one

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give em a chance, kids love pinball. the reality of a physical game is something different for their brains. Try it with a young teen (13-15) they'll love it, especially the girls!

Awesome article RD! The memories that you have created with your daughter are irreplaceable! She will never forget who her dad is!
I built my game room not only for myself, but for a place that my wife and I can build our relationships with our children, future grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, and neighborhood kids. I live in a small town and people know that my home is a safe place for their children to hang out at. They don't have to worry about all of the horrible things that life and reality will throw at them elsewhere. They will be protected here and at the same time, I know where my kids are and what they are doing. Who they are hanging out with. My wife says that we have a revolving door at our place. She never knows who is going to be here when she gets home from work. My son's friends will sometimes show up on their own just to play a few games. They know the rules and respect them.
Here is a pic of my daughter now that she is all grown up. Watch out, it happens in the blink of an eye!

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Love that photo!

I love seeing pictures and reading stories from pinheads that take the time to teach little kids a thing or two about our hobby! Be patient, repetitive, loving, and gentle. They will get it. Remember, someone took the time to teach you about it at some point in time.Pay it forward!
Here are a couple of pics of my niece and my son playing. Enjoy!

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my cutoff age is 18 years old...well I had a 17 year old about 4 years ago but she turned 18 2 months after...