Which tablet-type device would you recommend for children?

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vickstar

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Wannabe Geek

#111933 20-Nov-2012 11:18

Just was wondering if anyone could recommend a good tablet-type device for young children.
My 5 year old son has been asking for a Leapad 2 for christmas. While it looks okay I cant help but thinking that I may as well buy a standard type tablet and tailor it to suit my son. Has anyone done this? How has it worked? What tablet would you recommend?
Any advice would be greatly appreaciated.

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Hawkes Bay
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#720002 20-Nov-2012 11:30

iPad.

My children have one (iPad 2), they're allow a small amount of 'screen time' each day.

Nothing ever goes wrong with the iPad. They haven't been able to muck anything up at all, and easy to lockdown purchasing apps / in app purchases / deleting apps right from the stock settings menu.

Every time they use one of my Android devices, they require my intervention within 15 minutes.

tonyhughes

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#720004 20-Nov-2012 11:33

The other good thing about iDevices is that it only has one physical home button on the front, and no soft keys.

Kids are always accidentally hitting 'Menu' or 'Back' soft keys on my Androids.

On the iPad, the home button is basically impossible to press accidentally, and there are plenty of good paid apps for kids with excellent educational content (My sons love the Sesame Street and Chuggington stuff, as well as some of the more mainstream arcade games).

vickstar

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Wannabe Geek

#720006 20-Nov-2012 11:40

Thanks for your reply. That is a very good point about the home button! I will have another look at them now.

trig42

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#720007 20-Nov-2012 11:42

I'd go with the iPad also.

iPad mini is a great size/weight for kids.

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#720013 20-Nov-2012 11:51

We have an iPad 2, and the 4yr old loves Angry Birds, and it's good for watching the odd Thomas the tank engine episode on youtube etc. No flash is the main limiting factor - for CBeebies etc.

We haven't installed any 'educational' type apps yet. I was thinking of installing Cargo Bot to introduce concepts of programming..

A Nexus 7 would probably be just as good, but agree that it will need more parental supervision - when said 4yr old goes on his sister's android phone, he manages to get stuck on a menu somewhere most times.

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#720014 20-Nov-2012 11:55

Another vote for the iPad.

You can lock it down a bit through the Settings (General->Restrictions) - which is passcode protected.

There are a wealth of apps for kids, particularly for children with any developmental issues (not saying your child has any - just commenting).

The only major downside for me with the iPad Mini is the non-retina resolution. Although, that might not be a consideration for you.

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josephhinvest

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#720015 20-Nov-2012 11:57

I am a big iPad fan. Kids use my old 1st gen, it's locked down with the built in restrictions, they work well.
I created a new gmail address and apple ID and they can email grandparents etc, iMessage us.
I have a hard case on it for a little protection, thus far it has held up well.

Cheers.
Joseph

skewt

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#720016 20-Nov-2012 11:57

Just ordered my 8 year old an 'Ainol NOVO 7 Flame', meant to be pretty good compared to a Nexus 7

I heard the Leappad 2 games are very overpriced

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#720031 20-Nov-2012 12:13

vickstar: Just was wondering if anyone could recommend a good tablet-type device for young children.
My 5 year old son has been asking for a Leapad 2 for christmas. While it looks okay I cant help but thinking that I may as well buy a standard type tablet and tailor it to suit my son. Has anyone done this? How has it worked? What tablet would you recommend?
Any advice would be greatly appreaciated.

We have several Android and iOS devices in our house with 2 boys (6 & 8). They move between devices depending on what they are playing. We've just bought the 6 year old a Nexus 7 for Christmas.

I would say stay away from Leapad as although I hear its good you're kind of held to ransom by Leapad. Ive been in that position with some of their other products (for example the game console thing was $80 per cartridge).

At least with iOS/Android youre free to download what you want and much of it is free.

As others have mentioned locking the device is a must so the kids have to ask.

PS Noel Leeming have a kid proof Android tablet for $269 but the Nexus was a logical choice given the current price and hardware spec. Heres the link http://www.noelleeming.co.nz/shop/computers/tablet-computers/oregon-scientific-op0118-12-meep-7-tablet/prod119801.html

Regs

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#720036 20-Nov-2012 12:33

ipads have been around for awhile so they have a good selection of products

the new "kids corner" function on the Windows Phone 8 devices looks awesome. Hoping they might bring it to the new 'surface' tablets (or win8 in general). windows devices can have per-user logons with restrictions, so if you're really wanting to lock stuff down then that's an option.

android devices are probably going to be the cheapest overall...

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vickstar

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Wannabe Geek

#720050 20-Nov-2012 12:56

Wow thank you so much for all of your replies!
I will look into all that has been recommeneded and go from there. At least my orginal thoughts were confirmed and I will stay away from the leapad.

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wanghou168

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#720435 20-Nov-2012 22:44

I would recommend the ipad 2 as well.
I used to have an ipad 1 in the house, my younger cousin (5 years old) used to come around during the weekend a lot and play on the ipad without any issues.
But since I switched to android tablet, I get asked how to use this and how to use that every 10 to 15 min.

If you want to try android, then I would recommend Kindle HD tablet, they have this kid spot or something which lock the screen to kids mode only, only kids books, games are shown which will be much more straight forward for young kid.

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#720449 20-Nov-2012 23:10

Im a little surprised by the comments around Android tablets effectively being "too difficult for children". My 3.5yr old boy manages to use our Nexus 7 just fine. Plays the apps and games he wants to without help from us. Sometimes comes and asks us for help within a game, but that's nothing to do with Android just a case of he can't work out what to do in the game.

We've even loaded some movies up onto it and he knows how to start those and watch what he likes.

We set up a separate account for the tablet and locked the Play store with a pin account so no issues with him buying something on his own.

<shrug />

I guess my point would be that any modern tablet is probably fine for a child. Find one that fits your specific needs.

Wade

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#720453 20-Nov-2012 23:19

My 7yo would recommend an ipad as she has a minor addiction to "No More Zombies" which seems to be an iOS only app. That said she can happily navigate iphone/ipad/SGS3 with ease blissfully unaware of how different the two OS ecosystems are, kids adapt so if they can work one they will soon work out the other

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#720556 21-Nov-2012 09:17

My daughter has just been given a LeapPad Explorer by her grandparents. I would recommend against them for the following reasons:
-almost no apps included with the device
-you must provide personal details in order to use the PC based update & app store software
-uses AAx4 batteries (some my see this a benefit)
-mains power adaptor is $30 extra, no built-in charging, and swapping batteries is a bit fiddly.
-no way to 'jailbreak' that I have found so far, only a bit of hacking.
-most importantly - Apps are WAY overpriced. $50 each or 2 for $70 cartridges at The Warehouse. Appstore programs range from US$5 for the most basic ebook to US$30 for 'premium' ebooks.

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