Another post from the dad’s perspective today! The hubs is dishing out on apps for kids and technology usage with the little ones. It has been a while since we shared some of our favourite apps. So here’s part two!
One of the great parenting debates these days is the amount of exposure children should have to tablets and other tech devices. Even Steve Jobs had said that he did not allow his children to use iPads. Experts have warned that screen time should be limited for children due to the dangers of addiction and exposure to harmful Internet content, and we have certainly discovered that a tablet can quickly turn into a parental crutch when we need some quiet time at home or on the road. However, when used responsibly, a tablet can be a great learning tool, and a valuable distraction for anxious children while travelling. Though we always try to limit the amount of time Little Monkey spends on her tablet, we are usually open to allowing an extra hour or two while travelling, allowing us to peacefully explore new places and cultures with our kids.
We have found a number of great apps for kids over the past 2 years that have taught the Little Monkey a wide range of topics and responsibilities, but we have also found that not all apps are created equal. In testing out dozens of apps, we found a number of poorly designed apps that frustrated our daughter quickly. We also found that many apps for kids feature too many advertisements and a few even offer in-app purchases. Having heard the stories of kids racking up thousands of dollars from in-app purchases, I recommended that you update your Android or iOS settings to protect yourself against these purchases when sharing a tablet with a toddler (or turn the Wifi off like we do).
Here are a few of our favourite apps for kids:
Baby Care & Dress Up: Here is an app that allows the The Little Monkey to dress, feed, bathe, and put a virtual baby to bed. As a bonus, the app includes tea parties and gardening duties. Our daughter has used this app consistently for more than a year and a half, and it has helped us as parents to reinforce daily routines, such as bathing, that need to be followed. The makers of this app, TabTale, have a number of other great apps for kids that are easy to use, even for a 2 year old. Old MacDonald’s Farm and The Wheels on the Bus are two great examples, and these apps contain matching games, puzzles, sound association exercises and music that the Little Monkey loves.
Endless Alphabet: Now that our daughter has a very healthy vocabulary (her favourite new word is ‘Properly’), we have been working on getting her to learn to read. Endless Alphabet uses fun animations to sound out the letters from a built in database of over 50 intermediate words such as ‘Celebration’, ‘Musician’, and ‘Powerful’ (no Wifi needed other than to download new words). A friend told us how much her 2-year-old loved this app, and so we decided to check it out and wasn’t disappointed. The $7.99 price tag is higher than most apps, but this is a quality tool that Little Monkey really enjoys.
Elmo ♥ ABCs: Elmo was one of the Little Monkey’s favourites – before the Disney Princesses came along. The kids’ excitement when our 6-foot tall friend wore an Elmo costume to the Little Monkey’s second birthday party was priceless. There are a number of Elmo apps available but this one features videos pulled from past Sesame Street episodes (Wifi is needed for the videos) and traceable letters to help toddlers learn how to create letters (or at least to colour them in). We are even able to add our own words, pictures, videos and recordings, helping Little Monkey learn words and themes that are important to our family.
While we have certainly witnessed the addictive nature of tablets, our family has embraced these devices in moderation. As our kids progress through school, we know that tech tools are going to be widely used as learning tools and so we have focused on getting Little Monkey, and soon Baby Boy, to learn a little bit each day about the digital word that will dominate their future interactions with everything around them.
