Simon K

Hi all,

I have a 3 year old son and Im thinking of buying an Ipad to help him with his writing / reading / general development and introduce him into the world of technology.

Ive seen a number of Apps designed for children so am thinking of buying an Ipad. Im not an Apple person, Im an Andriod / HTC phone using chap, so am not too clued on this at all.

What are the differences between the different Ipad 2 / 3 ? Seems one is much lower than the other. Also, how does these compare to this Andriod tablets I see ?? The Andriod ones seem far cheaper still, but am I then restricting the number of children applications I can download ?

What have the other parents on this forum done in regards to ipads and thier children's development ?

SBK

sciboy

it an expensive toy to break

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

An iPad for a 3 year old! Are you mad or do you just have to much money?

Why not get him something aimed at his age range if you want to help him with his reading and writing. Something like this perhaps which is not as expensive to replace when he throws it off his bed and shatters the screen or sits on it, stands on it, drops it etc.

http://www.vtechuk.com/innotab/InnoTab/

Frosticles

iTrader: (1)

Pens, Pencil's, Crayons, Paper & Books worked for both of our children. At that age as well, Writing is very important for their development. An Ipad is an expensive "Toy" which is very easily broken at that age.

The Zohan

pen, crayons, pencils and paper at that age! plenty of time for this as they get older, better learning social skills along with hand/eye coordination and control that comes from using different materials and will not affect their eyesight.

TinyTim

iTrader: (3)

How ever much money you spend won't beat reading to him every night/practising drawing shapes, basic letters etc.

Simon K

Hi all,

Yes, I do read to him each night, and yes we do practise letters and have various word cards. I like the Vtec toy, but individual games are expensive, and I cant use it surf ebay.

Its the modern world, and its never to early to introduce technology to your children. My introduction was via a Merlin / speak and spell :-)

Without going down the road of why bother / age / breakages / pens / pencils, can someone who does know about them give an opinion. :-)

Any good recomended children apps ?? Im sure many have some download on their phones, which they've then let their children use.

Im more interested in what users of the Android tablets feel towards their units.


SBK

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

I have three girls, my eight year old has a 7" Android 4 tablet, she dropped it after 3 days and is now away getting repaired. My 3 year old is quite advanced in that she knows how to turn the pc on and go to the cbeebies website, I would still not give her anything as delicate as a tablet though. Crayons and paper are the tried and tested route.

specialx

I must be the lucky one then My 2 boys 3 & 7 play with our Ipad daily, We have some great apps my 3 year old loves and bigger boy apps for my eldest.


Ipad kiddie etiquette is very simple

1, Child must always be sat down & never slouched etc

2 No food or drink anywhere near it!

3, No running with it at all!!!

4, Wash hands first, no greasy fingers!

5, one at a time unless playing very nicely!

6, Itunes is always locked so nothing can be purchased in error!

The only other point I would say always be around them while using it just to be sure but luckily we have not had any near misses as yet!


The plus points are for us as a family far out way any downsides, it has improved my 3 year old's literacy and numeration no end since we got it last Christmas. The results are clear to see, but for both the kids it's great seeing them get the concept of downloading, working stuff out to progress or laughing at stuff on youtube or Cbebbies.

I think in this day and age it's never to early to get your kids o fay with technology.


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Ant

our little girl is 20months and she can sit with us playing with ipad fine, just dont leave them unattended with it too long.

oh the ipad 2 would suffice

Devildog

Interesting one this

A friend of mine bought her son an Ipad 2 for his 4th birthday, because he kept stealing his dads. So when he was 3 he was happily using an Ipad 1.

Ironically, in 12 months the only damage to the ipad was caused when his dad dropped it.

The only problem is make sure you never leave your itunes account unprotected - he managed to download about £45 of games until the visa bill came in..

So I would have to say now, if you can afford it, go for it. No point in getting a new ipad - get an Ipad 2 and save a few £££. Get a protective cover for it and a screen protector for scratches, etc.

Cant comment on apps for kids, but there must be thousands.

TinyTim

iTrader: (3)

You prob misunderstood my post. My eldest is 4 and he only uses my iPad for the odd game.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

My mate lets his 2yr old play on their iPad 1 all the time, and it stands up to the abuse pretty well (within reason - its not being thrown around the room, but sees its fair share of knocks),

Infact I'd say the iPad has found a good niche as the perfect childs toy. As there's some pretty good learning apps on there for speach and words etc.

Better and more interactive than dumping them in front of Cbeebies all day .

Ant

fisher price do brilliant apps

these are ellies favourite

Simon K

Cheers guys. Just trying to read up on the Andriod vs Ipad comparisons. I realise the Andriod ones allow my more user access, control, but if used for a child then this isnt really an issue. Im leaning towards an Ipad3 at the moment. Where I currently work offer discounts on them.

Also, my son's god father is quite high up in a large supermarket chain, so Im trying to lean on him to get one from his stores, or as I call it "He needs to make it right, and ensure his god son is well tech'ed up " :-) Will see how that goes first.

When I get one, I will create a new itunes account, and ensure all locked. SepcialX, good call on those rules, I will implement a similar set myself. Breaking the rules will result in a sound beating :-)



SBK

mje_wrx

iTrader: (6)

my daughter is two and has a ipad 2, she sits there and uses the games, flash cards, listens to stories. at 12 months she was openeing my iphone and pressing all buttons. had a baby app she loved to watch.

Ant

for a child ipad will be easier to use imo

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

For a child of two, dora the explorer Vtech etc would be easier to use.

JackClark

Good idea, move a thread about children's education to Computer Related where the Geeks live. 50% of the people that read threads in here have never had sex.

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

Lol yea 49% of the rest are liars too.

Ant

That's all good if a child likes Dora the explorer....

nizmo80

iTrader: (2)

the thing with a ipad is they are easy to break if dropped and for a young
child they are probably going to drop it at some point.
If you do get a ipad for your 3 year old it might be a good idea to buy a protective case for it
for instance I have a case called a otterbox for mine and it is the most protective case
I think you can get for the ipad as I use it to protect my ipad for when I am flying offshore
on a helicopter and its in my bag as the baggage handelers just throw the bags about.

An0n0m0us

+1

I have handed my ipad 1 over to the kids and my 2 year old loves it as much as my 5 year old and 7 year old and he is far more capable with it then I would have given him credit for. Shows just how much they watch you and learn as he unlocks it and opens the apps he wants and off he goes.

Of course they have all the 'normal' toys and colouring/drawing books etc but this is an addition to not a replacement of those toys. It means they can have all their favourite dvds put on it as well as games and then there is the internet browsing too (which only my 7 year old does).

Recently we went on holiday and my 2 year old was using the ipad and the people next to us on the plane couldn't believe he was able to use it so well. I think people need to realise now that technology is an integral part of growing up and not just for adults any more.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Yup, I'd go with that....if a 2yr old can turn on the TV, the set-top box AND enter the correct channel for Cbeebies without any help....they can use an iPad.

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

I did say etc.