Toddlers & DDR -- How young is too young

[Wermo]

I have a nearly 8 week old son that won't be playing DDR for a while yet but his mother and father do fairly extensively (at least while he's sleeping while they are not) I want to ask fellow parents of kids (and any kids on these forums) the earliest age they think is reasonable for kids to play DDR.

I think the primary constraints are

1) Concentration and focus. Freestyle Mode (XBox UM3) would probably fix some issues here
2) The ability to stand, walk, "stomp" properly while maintaining balance
3) The love of music
4) Exposure. There are chess kids at 2 and 3 years of age; why not DDR as it is great exercise and greater fun!

I am guessing 3 years of age is reasonable especially on a soft pad that is taped to the ground and not some huge clunky metal pad with sharp edges.

So with that I leave it out to the floor to discuss!

[ddrgirl4evauk]

Hi!! interesting question!! I am DDR mad and play it alot around my son who is 5 and a half!! and he loves it aswell!! obviously coz he has seem me play it alot!! He has got the general idea of it and is quite good with his timing of hitting the arrows!! He can also manage the double jumps too which is quite impressive!! He can clear beginner and get an E!! on dancing stage fusion on the ps2 and some easy beginners on dancing stage euromix 2 at the arcades!! He also likes to use the joypad to hit the arrows!! Obviously he has a long way to go but I think he is capable of progressing pretty quickly in the next few years!!
I think 3 is maybe too young though, because it's getting the whole concept of the idea of hitting arrows on time!! and maybe boredom may kick in too!! Also DDR does'nt appeal to everyone so maybe some children would rather play with barbies/action men than hop about on a dance pad!!
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[GNOME_300]

[Julie QQQ...?]

Snooj's son, Parker

I believe Snooj also started up a Recall account for him, too...

[linkismyhero]

I didn't start playing until I was 12 (I'm 15 now), so he shouldn't be allowed to play until he's 12. So there!

J/K, I think he should start playing whenever HE wants to start playing.

Sir Link has spoken.

[zero_delocke]

Two things I've got to say:

I saw this 6 year old (he really is, I asked his parents) playing on heavy and damn near passing Sakura. He has a handful of AA's under his belt too. 6 YEARS OLD. Amazing.

My two year old likes to play DDR with me. While she cannot hit the right arrows at the right time, she know that you have to hit an arrow at some point. So while this thinking is just beyond her comprehension at this point, I expect her to be able to pick it up fairly soon. I've been training her since she has been able to walk. She enjoys it, so I'm not forcing her. So really anything I've said is inconclusive as to how young is too young, I figured it might help spur your mind to think... *gazes off*
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[Wermo]

[chaosemerald]

my 14 month old nephew loves to stomp on my soft pad he will defintley be a
DDR freak I think 3 is a good age to teach by 4 or 5 a kid should be able to do it!
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[Grace]

When my son was just barely 5 he was able to AA 4-5 foot songs at home on a soft pad, but he had a lot of trouble on the arcade pad (he was small). I couldn't, for the life of me, get my daughter into it or to even understand it until recently (she just turned 5...coincidence?). She likes to play stepmania and she calls it 'finger ddr'. I think at 5 they can definitely understand the concept and have the coordination to play, but before that their attention span is just too short.

One really bad thing about my kids playing ddr: I hear the same 2 songs over and over....My daughter loves daikenkai and my son (now 7) loves sakura.
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[Synaesthesia]

[Daddead324]

under 7 years old that's too young for me anyway
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[El Band Geek]

[Zanshin]

When your child can run, jump, distinguish left from right, tie his shoes and get through simple puzzles (like the 'One of these things is not like the other' and such), then they're ready.
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Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. Yeats

[Molobolo]

I guess when ever hes old enough to actualy reatch the 4 panels, and being able to stand straight, and can run, and is healthy.....But....DDR can be considered a "exercise" but, I cant imagine a little kid <10 Playing anything hard and fast with cross-overs...

[wakassjak]

[Phrekwenci]

[ddrgirl4evauk]

So what, I like to use exclamation marks alot when I post, wow big deal. You didn't even contribute to the god damn post. So stop critisising me and get a life King_Dedede.
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[FreakyDDR]

i started when i was 9 (now 15) and i picked it up fairly easy, but there was on beginner for ME when i starded playing 3rd mix...

[Da-Risin-Smoke]

2 years is just way to young.
some toddlers dont even know the difference between left right, or up and down.

at least 5 or 6.(amazin, i wish DDR existed in the US wen i was 6)

- Da-RiSiN-sMoKe
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Acura TL

[Baby Lemonade]

I would say... start out with soccer, and tee-ball... that way he/she will make some friends that aren't crazy arcade people like most of the people on this forum (myself included).