Tablets for kids: Six questions to ask yourself before you buy

We only have one tablet computer for the household because a) Mum’s husband is scared of them and b) we are an Apple household and buying another iPad seems rather extravagant. I would rather deal with the fallout from sharing than forking out another £450 ish pounds. So how DO you work out which tablets for kids are best? We have some thoughts on this….

My daughter’s Christmas list involves an iPad Mini, and whether or not we actually decide that we would like Santa’s little elves to *make* one of these, it got me thinking about what it is about tablets and kids that we need to consider before we go ahead and buy one.

How robust do you want it to be?

I don’t mean durability here – I mean whether or not your child will have outgrown it in a few years. My daughter is eight, and I think getting her a children’s tablet may cause her to regress into tantrum-dom!

If you have younger children, then children’s tablets like either the Leapad (£109.99) or the VTech Innotabs (from £49.99) might be something you would consider. These are durable with those slightly cumbersome special cases that if you do drop them are likely to survive. Drop an iPad and not only will your bank balance take a bit of a denting, but so will your tablet.

Is it going to be something your child will use longer term?

For younger kids, the robust nature of the tablets made for children may be something you want to consider, as we discussed above. However, these needs to be balanced alongside the functionality, flexibility and longevity of the tablet. Is it really going to meet the needs of your child?

What are you using it for?

Depending on the age of your child, you might want the tablet for educational purposes, or to help them become more digitally savvy. Though an Innotab introduces the concept of tablet computers well, it doesn’t provide the array of Apps that an android tablet, such as the Samsung Galaxy Note Tablets (£599.95), or the iPad can.

For example, Maily is an application that runs on the iPad which enables you to introduce email to a young audience, but with parental controls, and security in place. This can give children a good understanding of virtual communications without the associated scariness!

Do you need WiFi?

Many tablets, including the Innotab 2, and iPads come with both WiFi and non WiFi versions. Do you want to be able to download any apps straight to a device, or have to hook up to a PC. Costs are higher for WiFi enabled devices, but are you willing to take the hit for the sake of convenience?

Are you iOS or Android, or don’t you care?

Sometimes you fall into a particular camp and therefore you have no choice. We have had Apple devices for years, and I can’t be bothered to change. We have all the apps, and moving to Android is too much hassle. However, perhaps if you are starting out you can take a more whollistic view of things? Android devices can be multi-user with changing profiles, including different security settings, depending on who is using the tablet. This is ideal for kids as you can lock-down in app purchases, and set YouTube security, etc. specific to the user. This is missing in iOS much to our annoyance…

What is your budget?

You need to bear in mind all the above before decided on your budget. If you only wish to spend £100 or less, then kids’ tablets could be your best bet, but be prepared to upgrade as your child either wants to get a device “like daddy” or needs more functionality. There are Android devices now starting at this price though, including the Argos My Tablet (£99.99). This is a smaller screened device, and has a lesser screen quality, but can still run the apps at half the price of other brands like Samsung. If you are willing to spend a little more, and want apps first, then the iPad or the iPad Mini could be the one for you. However, you have to bear in mind that supervised play for younger children with these is a must otherwise you might end up with a shattered screen and a ruined day ;-)

What other things do you think you need to consider when buying a tablet for your kids. Note: Information for this article was collected at an Argos sponsored event on tablets for kids, thanks to all the other bloggers for the active discussion, and to David McClelland for keeping us all under control.

All opinions are my own. Check out the other bloggers who attended for their opinions on the tablets too as they are published:

• Kip Hakes
• Blogging Mummy
• ET Speaks from Home
• Motherem
• Totz2Teens.

Image above courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Helen

Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine!Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time.KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10.It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania.Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on.Get in touch TODAY!

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