Kids and tablets

[Bitter Clinger]

Do any of you here have the kindle unlimited app for your kids? Or another alternative? My Niece's birthday is coming up and I think she is ready for a big girl tablet, with some restrictions. She has taken great care of her current one but it will no longer charge. To get it repaired would cost almost as much as a new fire HD. Just wondering if the reviews are as good/bad as amazon makes it out to be. I am open to other alternatives as well. She is going to be 9 if that helps. I already bought her a gun that she doesn't get til her mom and I feel she is ready to learn (she is almost there). looking for a new tab that the can use for learning and entertainment.

[sniper7]

My son is 3 and has his own iPad. He has had and iPad since before he was 1. The kid now flies through the thing, he knows all the passwords to the 5 iPads we have to open them up, the only thing he struggles with is typing his YouTube searches in for the videos he likes to watch. We have it restricted for content and he doesn't know the appleid password so he can't buy apps which is a good thing.
we download almost all education apps for him so he can learn from it, but there are some time occupying apps as well when we need a break or for car rides to keep him entertained.
i look at it as embracing technology, his homework will probably be on a tablet or computer, he knows how to type, the motor skills from touching tiny spots on a screen and moving objects on a screen helps tremendously.
we still limit the time as he could sit there for hours on the thing, and make a point to pull him off, but he usually does a great job on his own and heads out back to play with his toys in the sandbox or down in the basement or with play dough etc.

my wife had a kindle but they just don't have the capabilities of an iPad in my opinion. I use an iPad at work, all over the world and the thing is flawless, and we have 5 of them total with no issues so that says a lot.

for her, I think a 32gb or 64gb iPad would do her well since she is probably getting into music or close to it and would want to download to her iTunes. It isnt hard to turn on restrictions and create a master account for her parents to control content. I know they are a bit expensive but maybe talk to her parents about going in on it. And get her a protective case and screen protector as well.

[Bitter Clinger]

That's the 2nd Ipad recommendation so far(one on FB), I just can't do apple. Gotta be droid.

[newracer]

You're a day late the Fire HD 7 was on sale yesterday for $60 off.

[Rooskibar03]

iPads are becoming more prominent in use at school. May as well suck it up and get her into the ecosystem that she is likely to use for the remainder of her school career.

[kwando]

ipad mini's are $230ish last time i checked. I picked up a used one from a friend for my 84 yr old grandmother for $150. Mini's are nice because it fits their hands better.

[StagLefty]

You're a day late the Fire HD 7 was on sale yesterday for $60 off.

Damnit I would have done that in a heart beat, I have the 2nd gen. one.

[MarkCO]

Both of my boys 11 and 13, have FireHDs. We got them for them in the last year. They do have to read ebooks and they do use them for entertainment some as well. We checked out tablets from the library for a while prior and it just became a PITA.

I think time limits are good (essential) and that too many people see them as the electronic babysitter. Kids need to play (like with other kids, outdoors, physical) so as long as they are doing that enough, I am okay with them.

[hollohas]

My kid has a Kindle fire that stays in kid mode the entire time. The Kindle Free Time kid mode is the best kid mode out there. You can control apps, content, media and even how many hours a day they can use each. I don't the like Kindle for the things that I would need it for, but it works amazingly well for the kid that just uses apps and media. Her shows and movies are Amazon instant video and you can block/hide any grownup media you may also have on your amazon account.

She uses the ABCMouse app that runs very well. The other educational apps run well too. If you keep any apps on there that you don't want them to access it's as easy as un-checking a box.

Any the Kindle bump case is legit.

[ben4372]

My boy has the Kindle Fire kid version and it is plenty tough. And it comes with a kid proof warranty .The Freetime system is pretty good, about as good as it gets. Lots of limits and such, you can force educational content.. 150 for the kit, and a year of the Freetime. Liked it enough that we just ordered one for his sister.

[blacklabel]

My son is 4 and has his own Android tablet. Mostly educational games with Netflix thrown in. I've got it completely locked down. He can't download anything, access a web browser, youtube etc.

[cmailliard]

iPad

As Roosk said, they are becoming more useful in school, especially with Apple letting go of some of the stupidity around Mobile Device Management in the Apple ecosystem. I was part of EdTech at JeffCo Scools for a year and saw some amazing things teachers were doing with them. You have a good teacher who has embraced the technology and they can do awesome things.

In addition they do everything a Kindle will do, plus a bunch more. As with anything technology get the most you can with the money you have at the time you buy.

I have finally shifted all my technology to Apple. I have one Dell laptop left to use for some older things and some radio programming. Go with an iPad you won't be sorry.

[asmo]

Computers/Laptops have input devices - tables do not. Therefore:

Computers/Laptops help people to create... Tables help people to consume.

Which one do you want your kids to be?

[Bitter Clinger]

Thanks for the input. Gonna go with a kindle with the free time app. I like the ecosystem and prefer something a bit tougher than an ipad.