Tablet or i pad for a grandchild

[Gemini]

I know one of our members is interested in this, so I am giving it it's own thread.

Do your grandchildren have these devices? Do you have any recommendations?

My granddaughter, aged 7, was given a Kindle Fire by her grandfather when she was 6. I know her mother thought she was too young. However it has been most useful. she uses it a lot. They seem to be a mini tablet as far as I can make out. I don't know exactly what they can and cannot do I have to say so hopefully someone else will.
I know they are a far cheaper option than tablet or i pad.

[Oma]

I have a Samsung tablet and S aged 3 uses it when she comes to mine , B has a Apple ipad I'm not sure what the difference is as I can do almost everything on mine that I can do on my laptop,
Little ones can work these devices better than adults I think as they are not afraid of making mistakes , I also have a Kindle but never use it again no idea what Kindle fire can and can't do but would be interested to find out

[Nanto2girls]

No idea about Kindles. We have an Apple ipad as well, but neither of us uses it much. I know hubby likes it for taking photographs.
Rosie uses it more than us.
As you say Oma, little ones tend to use all devices better than us.
Yesterday, hubby needed to use the PC, so i used the laptop, but i much prefer the PC.
I don't think hubby has used the laptop all the time we have had it.

[Daisy]

Our GD2 had a Kindle Fire for her 3rd birthday! As far as I can see, it's a tablet, but I think it's quite a lot cheaper than your average tablet. It's also very robust and it's in a robust case. There are very good parental controls on it, so all GD2 can use it for is the games her mum and dad have chosen - there's a huge range of games suitable for a 3 year old and she learns how to play them very quickly without being able to read the instructions (which are minimal). It's improving her hand/eye co-ordination and she knows its use is a reinforcement for good behaviour and when time is up, that's it. There are also lots of options for older children.

She is immensely proud of it and feels very grown up, and it certainly doesn't stop her playing with other toys.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B018Y22H9C/ref=sd_allcat_k_fordk_new

[Plantaholic]

I have a laptop and an Apple I Pad and an Apple mobile and love my I pad, it is so portable.

[ZIZI]

All of my grandchildren have iPads and Joe and Ben have iPhones. They have had them for ages. I sometimes feel, when they are here, that I am invisible because all they want to do is sit and play on them. JOe and Ben have their own YouTube channel (or something) and I often say when I am at work and the IT is misbehaving or we are told to tether the laptop to the work mobile if the wi fi is that I will get my six year old grand daughter in to sort us out.

When we we go out for family meals or we take the children out on our own I insist that before the meal we all put devices away unless we are taking photos and then there is a limit. After the meal the kids are super anxious to get back to them. I know they are useful and mostly educational for children but I wish they didn't have them quite so young. What I do insist on is that if they are playing a game at ours or when we are out/in the car they either have the sound turned off or use ear buds (of which I have a huge collection, don't know how or why I have quite so many) and certainly if they are watching a film or TV programme they have to use them AND the sound has to be at a level that I cannot hear ANYTHING! I am so fed up with sitting next to people on the tube with ear phones in and hearing the tinny horrible ch ch ch ch ch. I want to rip the flipping things off them and tell them to read a bruddy book because it is quieter! Grumpy old lady here.

I have a basic kindle which is quite old now (prob about nine years old but it does have a lovely pink leather cover) and which husband uses when we go on hols as his work iPad will not allow the kindle app. I also have an old iPad (5 years) which does what it likes most of the time and is very lucky it is still in one piece and hasn't been thrown in the local river however it is good for playback stuff, kindle and games etc. Also I can only get Grans on it and not my new iPad which we got at Christmas. It was a joint present although only I use it but I book all the shopping, holidays, insurance, pay bills, banking etc. So it is a joint one, if you see what I mean. It is good for me work wise if I don't want to lug the work laptop although it has a chip in it and I forgot to turn the chip off yesterday so I might have used the months allowance because I watched catch up last night. I also have a one year old HP "convertible" laptop (purple) which can be a tablet or a laptop but to be honest, although I spent a lot of money on it I rarely use it. Added to that is my work laptop, heap of rubbish, it is a Dell, my personal Samsung Smart phone and my work Samsung smart phone, when I get my new work one it will be identical to my personal one so there will be nail polish on the screen or somewhere to distinguish it from personal. Husband has his iPad mini which is issued by his work and he can do most things on it except kindle which is bizarre because they allow Amazon and Facebook etc. So we are a very technology sort of household.

I got got the impression that the new kindles are tablets under another name like Hudl is for Tesco. I know I could send emails from my ancient kindle but it is too much of a faff to do so I never have, it is so old that it doesn't have a proper keyboard and you have to move the cursor along the alphabet. Prehistoric according to Joe.

[Mimi]

Our two eldest GC have iPads but then they are 13 (almost ) and 15. Our younger GS used to have the Tesco hudl but that broke, he has a kindle now. He is 6 and when he comes to see me he is more than confident to use my iPad.
Whats the best ? I don't know I think I would go along the lines of the price compared to the age of the child, not because an iPad would be harder for younger ones to use, more that younger ones are more likely to gunge it up with sticky fingers and they also tend to put things down on the floor and then walk all over it so I would choose the cheaper option for younger GC.

[Nana]

Thanks for your advice everyone. It's really helped.

[Daisy]

You're welcome Nana. So is there going to be a lucky young Kindle Fire owner in your family now?

[Nana]

I'll have to run it by his mummy as I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable that she can't afford to do it herself.😊

[Daisy]

Nana - you're very tactful - and very wise.

[Plantaholic]

As Daisy said you are very wise and sensitive about your DD's feelings.Could you share the cost or is that too much for her.

[Gemini]

Maybe it could be an Easter present Nana?

[Nana]

Plant she likes to do her own thing for him. An Easter present usually involves eggs or the like. I can't spend so much on him & not the others Gem. I'll work something out 😨

[Daisy]

Nana - you're very tactful - and very wise.

... and I'll add resourceful as well. x