How young is too young....

M

mmills88

Well-Known Member
My daughter is soon to be 7. Is she too young to take to an Iowa football game?
 
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If you think she would have the attention span to sit through the whole game I think you would be fine. I took my son, who was 8 at the time, to a game last fall and he absolutely loved it. We tailgated and sat with a friend of mine that has no kids so he was a little bored before the game started but the game was great. I work most Saturday's but we have decided to make sure I take one off every fall for he and I to go to Kinnick each year.
 
mmills88 said:
My daughter is soon to be 7. Is she too young to take to an Iowa football game?
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Does she like football, and is she easily entertained? If those are yes answers, then she's definitely old enough to take.

I've been taking my son to a game every year since he was 5 or 6 years old (he's 12 now), and have never had a problem. I had to explain the ground rules about going (or more specifically, not going) back in the tunnel during the game for food, drink, etc., beforehand, and it worked great.

My daughter, meanwhile, is 9 years old, and I wouldn't dream of taking her to a game. She hates the sport, doesn't care about it and it would be a nightmare for her, me and everyone around us.

So I think it's more about the individual kid and less about the age number.
 
Took my 5 yr son to the Iowa Michigan game last year, he loved it. Kept looking for Herky.
He had to stand on the bench to see most of the game.
 
My first game was Tavian Banks' record setter against Tulsa in 1997 (I was 7 at the time). I didn't realize the magnitude of what he was doing at the time, but it was still a blast. I still have the #6 jersey that my dad bought me that day in the Hawk Shop.
 
I still remember my first live Hawkeye football game as a kid. We where in the end zone and right in front of me, Perry a Hawkeye DL Pick up a fumble at the 5 yd line and ran it back 95 yds for a touchdown. That was over 50 years ago. I think that was Dads day and my older brother went to SUI that year.
 
My buddy brings his daughter (7 now) to games for the last couple years. She does great. We make some extra trips to potty and concession but she is a blast. I hope you sit near the aisle.
 
I am taking my son to his first game at Kinnick this fall. He will be 7. I agree with HawkI1969 though, I will need to set groundrules. He is ready though and talks about it non stop. Have a feeling he will be hooked!
 
My kids are 5 and 8. I have been taking them to games for two years. Took them to Outback in 2009. The sorority girls around loved them. Also people got on others around for language and such. It was an awesome experience. Now we had a sitter for the Orange Bowl, because it was just too late. Of course it is also always helpful to be able say Disney only happens with good game behavior.

Now, I do it realistically. No kid is going to just sit there for 3 1/2 hours until they get a little older. So, we bring the kit to keep them entertained when they need it. We don't break it out immediately. But we do come prepared.

Also, we go to game watches where the kids get to eat ribs and hang out with other kids and such. Basically, we just try to make it a good experience. Oh yeah, I have a girl and a boy and they both love it.
 
NEVER too young to be a Hawk fan. That being said, I'd probably try it at 5 or so, but even for adults who don't know football, it's hard to sit that long.

Just hope that it's a high action game.
 
I've taken 3 of my 4 kids to games so far, starting at age 5 and they loved it. The heat can be a problem though. This year, my youngest daughter turns 5 so she'll get her shot. She's already been to Twins, MN Lynx and Timberwolf games and did well at age 4.

My 3 oldest kids are sports nuts though ages 10, 9, 7 now (watch sports on TV everyday. Watch the Twins everyday in its entirety, same for FB games, even the replay). Our youngest watches quite a bit as well.

I took my boys when they were 6 and 8 to Twins baseball games. They love watching it on TV, but I worried that live it would be too slow. They loved it! We arrived 2 hrs before 1st pitch to watch BP, so spent total of 5 hrs there.
 
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I was 6 when I went to my first game. Someone else mentioned this but I had a lot of trouble seeing over the guy in front of me. As others had said, explain the ground rules (my Dad did to, still remember the conversation) and things should be fine.
 
I started going to games when I was 6. Totally different story then. Anybody else remember the knothole tix? Used to go with my uncle who was a student trainer. That's how I remember seeing Jim Caldwell play in '73. Found a ticket stub in my old room when I was home last week from that season, so no, 7 is not too early. I took my daughter to the Northern Illinois game in Soldier Field a few years ago, she was 7. Have a blast, and don't let her drink too much pop before the game... you'll be at the restroom doors all day. BTW, funny team, that '73 Iowa team. Lost every stinkin' game, but the roster included some giant football names.. Dan McCarney, Jim Caldwell, Bobby Elliott, Joe Devlin, Rod Walters, Jim Jenson, Dan Dickel... I wonder if any other winless college team in history has had a team full of success stories like that?
 
If I were you I would wait until it turns a bit colder to take a young child. I took two kids ages 7 and 5 to the PSU game in 2008. They enjoyed themselves and it was cold enough that they were excited to bundle up, took their minds off of food and drink for the most part.
 
Last year our season tickets were a row behind a Granddad, Son and grandson. The grandson couldn't have been older than 7 and he did great every game. He was a blast to be around always wanted high 5's and cheering as loud as he could.
 
We are taking our 4 year old to Ball St. He went last year to Arizona and had a great time. He slept on my shoulder for 2nd quarter but was good for the rest.
 
hawk0311 said:
We are taking our 4 year old to Ball St. He went last year to Arizona and had a great time. He slept on my shoulder for 2nd quarter but was good for the rest.
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I'm just glad this discussion hasn't been derailed by the "I pay good money for my tickets! I don't want to have to watch my language or sit near some whining kid all damn day!" crowd.

Very refreshing.
 
Very little cursing where I am at, just take the opporitunity to let the lil ones know we don't act that way. Also a lot less cussing at the scrub games. (I know 'zona isn't a scrub really)
 
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