NEW!! NEW!! NEW!!
The tale of a kid asking their parent for a trinket is an age-old story, but lately I’ve found myself living the digital version of it — my daughter Emma is two, and she has recently taken to grabbing my iPhone, navigating to the app store and handing it to me with an expectant declaration of “NEW!”
I cringe less when she asks for a new app than when she wants a glass of Coke, a bit of chocolate or some other indulgence. Many of the apps help her learn, challenge her, and occupy her. A new one is much cheaper than a trip to Toys R Us or Target. And as a parent desperate for a moment of sanity, the apps are a godsend for me. They are always around, whether you’re at the doctor’s office, in the car, or at home.
Some of them she loves, some of them bore her quickly, and some are just too demanding for a two year-old. But by and large they are an entertaining and educational part of her rhythm.
As for me, it’s fascinating to watch her shape her concepts about how to interface with a machine and what you can do with one. It’s a computer – wait – it’s a phone – wait – it’s a camera, it’s a stereo, it’s a map – and on it goes… When I was a kid, music came on vinyl, stories happened in books, and code lived inside of my Commodore-64. She has more flexible ideas about where content comes from and how you can play with it.
I do believe that acquiring this digital fluency early will prepare her for the world she will live in, and yet still will admit to the occasional concern regarding the amount of screen time she gets at such a young age.
But my bottom line is that as long as she’s learning, having fun and it’s part of a balanced life, then it’s a good thing.
Check it….
And if you happen to be looking for a new app, you can get the one Emma is playing with here..
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- Top 20 Kids iPhone Apps It’s easy to love the App Store, but I do have one frustration – it lumps in kids learning apps with all educational apps, including those aimed at goals such as teaching Korean to businessmen and logic to prospective lawyers. In my mind, this makes it harder for developers to share their kid-specific content, and [...]...
- Emma’s Favorite Apps So — my wife handed me her phone tonight and wanted to know how to rearrange her home screen icons. Apparently our two-year old daughter had rearranged everything to her liking. Guess she’s got some favorite apps. Check it: You can get Emma’s favorites here: Suzy Dress Up Teach Me Toddler Letters A to Z [...]...
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I love your blog and you have some great information about the applications out there for kids. My kids also like to play on my phone. While I don’t mind them doing that I have two concerns. My phone is used for my business, so if I put a bunch of games on my phone then it takes up space. In addition, when they play on my phone it uses up my battery.
Is there a kids phone allowing kids to call only one maybe two numbers on it? A phone that allows the kids to play the games, but limited calling? I agree it’s good for them in the long run. However, I need it for my business and don’t want a bill for a call made in another country by mistake. Plus, I don’t want to pay hundreds of dollars for my kids to play on yet another video game when we already have Wii and computers in the house. Computers and games are great, but physical activity is needed too.
Do you have some suggestions?
Thank you!!
Thanks for the great feedback. Sounds like you’ve got actually got a few concerns that are probably shared by others:
(1) You are worried kids apps may take up precious space on your phone
(2) You don’t want the kids draining your battery
(3) You don’t want to spend a lot of money, having already invested in other entertainment options
(4) You don’t want your kids making expensive int’l calls
(5) You are interested in a kid-specific device
All of these are reasonable concerns – here are some thoughts:
(1) You are worried that kids apps may take up precious space on your phone
If you’ve got an iPhone (which, in all honestly, is the primary focus of this blog) then space shouldn’t be too big a concern. Most kids apps weigh in at less than 10MB – which, if you’ve got somewhere between 8GB and 32GB (depending upon the phone you have), means that adding an app or two for the kids isn’t going to dent your available space.
[If you don’t have an iPhone, I recommend one. Highly. I’ve tried Blackberries and other smart phones over the years but have been blown away by the iPhone experience. It’s much closer to a small computer than a phone and has completely changed how I used my mobile device. ]
(2) You don’t want the kids draining your battery
I faced a similar challenge – but not just from my kids, simply from using my phone a lot myself. I settled on a Mophie Juice Pack case. Not only does it protect my phone in the event that I drop it – but it also significantly extends the battery life of your phone. You can check out details on it here:
http://www.mophie.com/juice-pack-air-p/1059_jpa-ip3g-blk.htm
(3) You don’t want to spend a lot of money, having already invested in other entertainment options
Completely understand and agree on this one – which is why I’m such a big fan of apps. Many kids apps are free and the vast majority are $0.99 – which compares very well to the cost of a new title for the Wii. As an added bonus – apps are available wherever you go – which can’t be said for the other options you mentioned (video consoles, computers). I guess I think a kids-specific iPod Touch is still a bit much (at least for my toddler…) but installing a few apps on my phone and letting her use it from time to time works out to pretty good bang for my buck.
(4) You don’t want your kids making expensive int’l calls
Again, if you have an iPhone, a simple solution here is just to put the phone on Airplane Mode before letting your little ones play with it. This not only means that they won’t be able to make calls – but it will also mean that they can’t send emails, view YouTube or browse Safari.
(5) You are interested in a kids-specific device.
If you still really don’t like the idea of letting your kids play with your iPhone (or better yet – using it WITH them as a learning tool..), and want a kid-specific phone with parental controls, you may want to check out Kajeet. I don’t have personal experience with this one, but some research leads me to believe that this may be what you’re looking for – it’s got full parental controls and still supports some gaming/app experiences.
You can check it out here:
http://www.kajeet.com/4u/kajeet-for-parents.html
http://www.kajeet.com/4u/kajeet-for-kids.html
Hope that’s helpful.