Buying And Android Tablet Or Ipad For A Toddler

Would you give your toddler an android tablet or ipad? Are you considering buying one for your child? I bought one for my daughter and she loves it! There are plenty of educational apps as well as age-appropriate games to choose from for toddlers!

I gave my two and a half year old daughter an android Tablet for Christmas. One month on she was expert at operating her tablet! Switching between which Apps she wants to play.

Coming up to Christmas, I noticed how good she was at playing games on my android phone, in particular how good she was using 'touch' to operate it. And, after looking at other electronic 'educational' type devices suited to her age group and finding many still had 'old fashioned' buttons, and/or activities which were either limited, or expensive to purchase for the particular gadget I decided I'd look for an android tablet for her, due to the thousands of apps I could choose from to download to it for free.

Not being sure how much she'd use it, I decided against an ipad. I also believe they are too expensive to purchase for a toddler, who ultimately could drop it at an time! There are toddler-friendly casings you can purchase for an ipad, but again I think they're too expensive to purchase for a 2 year old. So, after a quick search on eBay I found I could purchase an android tablet starting at around $60... Even cheaper than most of the popular kids educational devices! There were several sizes to choose from - the most popular sizes are a 10 inch and a 7 inch. I opted for a 7 inch as I felt it would be the easiest size for her to carry around.

When her tablet arrived I was really surprised by how slimline and light-weight it was and the quality would be fine for me to use myself. Some of my friends with ipads were quite fascinated by it (And quite jealous because of the price they paid for theirs and what I paid as this would do the same job for a fraction of the price).

With android tablets you use apps from the Google Play store, but that doesn't mean you're required to pay for all of your purchases, you'll just need to set up a Google email (Account) to be able to access the apps. Before I gave the device to my daughter I went to the app store and downloaded about a dozen apps for her device. I add more occassionally, but it seems like around a dozen is enough to fill one screen on the device with icons so she can choose which ones she wants to play all from the main page of the tablet.

You can buy apps from Google Play from about $0.99 each, but unless there is something in particular you feel you have to have, or you feel you want your chosen app to be 'advertisement free' you probably won't need to pay anything as there are PLENTY of free apps to choose from! You search the Google apps store just like you would if you were performing a Google Search - A ton of results will come up for you to chose from!

Now my daughter is Barbie crazy and I did download some 'Dress up Babie' type games but in particular I was interested in the educational apps. Wow! And I've been so impressed. It's been a fantastic inter-active way for her to learn to recognise letters, and their sounds. To even trace them with her fingers, and to colour and draw, learn sorting, shapes and memory games. In addition to these learning focused apps, there are all the usual Nursery Rhymes, which we download as interactive books. In addition to the story book (Which can be set to auto-read to your child) there is usually some additional games included which include games along the lines of matching up puzzle pieces, counting objects or finding a missing object. It's great that these apps can also give your child an out loud "Well done! Good work!" when they solve the puzzle etc, as it does help with making learning fun.

Of course I control when she can use it as I wouldn't want her computer addicted completely at such a young age. I allow her to use it after her shower, before bed time. Or, if she's waiting for me to finish getting ready or tidied up before we go out... And because of all of the educational games I've downloaded on it, with icon's set up so she can choose herself which one she wants to play, I know the time she spends on it is educational for her. We don't have it connected to the Internet. I like my child to be active and have active play time, however for quiet times, this device fits in well with our life-style. I do occasionally allow her to use it in the car if we are taking a long drive, but I'll give her regular books as well as I still read her books most days.

Lately she is also learning to take photos with it too! I have asked her not to use it in the tiled area's of the house, such as the kitchen, still with concerns that one day she may break it. But she hasn't and I'm finding she handles it with the greatest care because she loves it so much!

I wanted to share my story, as I know some people may be concerned about giving a child a computer gadget at such a young age, but in my case I think it's a positive thing allowing my child to use educational apps on an android tablet, in fact I recommend it as I feel it's of benefit for helping a toddler learn to recognise letters and begin the early stage of reading, and they pick up using it very quickly and find it so much fun!

Author: AustralianNappies Copyright 2013