Tablet for 5 year old

i see where your coming from, my son has just turned two and already shows a very keen interest in ANYTHING electrical
cant get many photos of him cos as soon as the camera is out he is looking at the lcd display instead of smiling for the camera lol
he always trys using the laptop when were not looking and our daughter (10) tends to take him to youtube etc for videos of bob the builder or thomas etc

i was only thinking the other day what age would he really be starting to use them......i think that using a tablet is a great idea and would consider one in a few years time for him too!
 
Leaving aside the reluctance I would have in giving a tablet to a 5yo, there's a deal on HotUKDeals today for the Archos 7c G2 with 4Gb memory card.
 
Gilly said:
Leaving aside the reluctance I would have in giving a tablet to a 5yo, there's a deal on HotUKDeals today for the Archos 7c G2 with 4Gb memory card.
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Don't get this. My uncle just bought one of these- It doesn't support the android market and I'm sure theres a few games he/she would want like Wheres My Water.
 
Hyburnate said:
Don't get this. My uncle just bought one of these- It doesn't support the android market and I'm sure theres a few games he/she would want like Wheres My Water.
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Really? I read the blurb on HUKD and it's thus:

The 3G ready Arnova 7c G2 tablet is designed to go where you go. With a brilliant 7” touchscreen for your webpages and movies, plus speedy Wi-Fi and support for 3G internet access, Arnova 7c G2 is great to use at home and on the move.

7” capacitive touchscreen with high 800x480 pixel resolution
3G ready and unlocked – get mobile internet access on the move
Powered by Android™ 2.3 (Gingerbread) with access to apps and games
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I assumed that last line would allow for the marketplace :/ I'm surprised.
 
Most Archos devices get the Market one way or another.....relatively decent mod community etc. @ Archosfans/XDA
 
My 2 year old loves playing games on my touchpad. Didn't try to get her playing it she just picked it up and copied daddy. She can do Angry Birds although normally flings the birds off the wrong way.

We moderate it so she doesn't use it too much and she spends hours playing with the other toys and looking at books.

I think over the years it will be a great learning device and it's so versatile. I plan to learn some programming for the new Windows 8 tabs and try and make some educational stuff for her.

Doesn't really help you with your question but basically i think they are great for this purpose.
 
I also have a two year old who loves playing with tablets and phones. We have educational games and drawing games and it has improved his dexterity a lot. It's great for interaction and you can both play on it together. My son will answer my phone even! Forget all the naysayers and just regulate it like you would any other toy/activity.

Right onto the budget tablets as I've had a few lately:

- Novo 7 Paladin - forget it, it has a MIPS CPU that hardly any apps support. Waste of money for kids as about all you can do on it is browse websites and check email.

- Teclast P76ti - pretty good but not that 'TABTRONICS' one which is a rip off compared to other places, he is charging way too much - you can get it for about £90. The biggest let down is the screen but it's still fine for a 5 year old.

- Novo 7 Elf - this is probably the best budget tablet I've used recently. Similar to the Teclast but a better screen and Ice Cream Sandwich. You should get one for about £120.
 
Em3bbs said:
I also have a two year old who loves playing with tablets and phones. We have educational games and drawing games and it has improved his dexterity a lot. It's great for interaction and you can both play on it together. My son will answer my phone even! Forget all the naysayers and just regulate it like you would any other toy/activity.

Right onto the budget tablets as I've had a few lately:

- Novo 7 Paladin - forget it, it has a MIPS CPU that hardly any apps support. Waste of money for kids as about all you can do on it is browse websites and check email.

- Teclast P76ti - pretty good but not that 'TABTRONICS' one which is a rip off compared to other places, he is charging way too much - you can get it for about £90. The biggest let down is the screen but it's still fine for a 5 year old.

- Novo 7 Elf - this is probably the best budget tablet I've used recently. Similar to the Teclast but a better screen and Ice Cream Sandwich. You should get one for about £120.
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Cheers! That's useful information. I'll have a search for deals on these ones.
 
I used to have an iPad but my 2-year old has taken it off me. If you stick him in front of Baby Jake, he's like a zombie and won't acknowledge anything else that's going on around him. Give him the ipad and he's learning to recognise shapes, sounds and colours and doing dexterity puzzles like a madman. We're having to juggle the two based on when we want him to go to bed or not, but the ipad is making him learn like crazy but with the downside I'll get owned by him in any FPS by the time he's seven.
 
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The__Malteser said:
Am I the only one who thinks that 5 year old kids should still be playing with cars and power rangers and action man?

Yes?

Oh well, maybe I'm stuck in the old ages.
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Way hay another oldie that agrees with me. !!!

Let him use the laptop for a short period of time supervised only. Get him playing with other kids to develop social skills etc.
 
Yeah it does seem a bit weird, it's like some of the people commenting seem to think it's replacing other things like going to the park, feeding ducks, playing with toys etc.

My 2 year old son's day today (typical day three days a week he does this).

- Wake up about 7:30, I get him washed up and dressed and his mum takes him to the Montessori school at her work
- All day, walking around the grounds, playing with other kids, doing all the 'Montessori' kind of things like playing and then tidying up after
- Comes home about 5:30, just a bit after me so I'll have his dinner ready
- Play for about half an hour, with Micro Scalextric that is set up on a train table in our front room (OMG I AM OLD FASHIONED TOO) as that's his favourite toy at the moment, and (shock horror) do some drawing on the tablet and play some games where we learn about numbers, letters, colours or shapes
- 6:30pm - bathtime
- 7pm until bedtime around 8 play with more toys

People seem to think by buying a tablet that parents will use this as the only toy which is a complete fallacy. It's just another toy, a very cool one which has a lot of edumacational benefits if used properly. It's like saying "Don't buy a TV" because you think it means your kid will watch TV all day. If all it takes is the purchase of an item to take control away from you as a parent then I'd suggest the issue isn't with the item itself.

And of course 'old fashioned' toys are needed too, it's about making their world as diverse as possible.

Or, you can even mix old skool with new skool like with my tablet arcade cabinet, far better than any patronising V-Tech tat ;)

Cgf1R.jpg
 
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Em3bbs said:
Yeah it does seem a bit weird, it's like some of the people commenting seem to think it's replacing other things like going to the park, feeding ducks, playing with toys etc.

My 2 year old son's day today (typical day three days a week he does this).

- Wake up about 7:30, I get him washed up and dressed and his mum takes him to the Montessori school at her work
- All day, walking around the grounds, playing with other kids, doing all the 'Montessori' kind of things like playing and then tidying up after
- Comes home about 5:30, just a bit after me so I'll have his dinner ready
- Play for about half an hour, with Micro Scalextric that is set up on a train table in our front room (OMG I AM OLD FASHIONED TOO) as that's his favourite toy at the moment, and (shock horror) do some drawing on the tablet and play some games where we learn about numbers, letters, colours or shapes
- 6:30pm - bathtime
- 7pm until bedtime around 8 play with more toys

People seem to think by buying a tablet that parents will use this as the only toy which is a complete fallacy. It's just another toy, a very cool one which has a lot of edumacational benefits if used properly. It's like saying "Don't buy a TV" because you think it means your kid will watch TV all day. If all it takes is the purchase of an item to take control away from you as a parent then I'd suggest the issue isn't with the item itself.

And of course 'old fashioned' toys are needed too, it's about making their world as diverse as possible.

Or, you can even mix old skool with new skool like with my tablet arcade cabinet, far better than any patronising V-Tech tat ;)

Cgf1R.jpg
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indeed
 
None of them ;)

There are better toys for children of their age to play with.

The 'old fashion' toys serve a good purpose in developing a child's motor skills, Cognitive Development and social development.


You should have one tablet available for very limited use. There are some good stuff for kids but they don't improve motor skills, etc which is crucial at their age.
 
mithrandir said:
None of them ;)

There are better toys for children of their age to play with.

The 'old fashion' toys serve a good purpose in developing a child's motor skills, Cognitive Development and social development.


You should have one tablet available for very limited use. There are some good stuff for kids but they don't improve motor skills, etc which is crucial at their age.
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Why does everything have to be about development? How about sometimes, just sometimes a 5yr old is let free do what they actually enjoy.

I'm old school too, I love doing the more traditional things but that doesn't mean I'm not not going to embrace different things for my daughter to do.

My 4yr old spends the 30 mins before bedtime with me, playing on her Hannspad that we bought specifically for her and you know what.....she enjoys it. I don't care whether its bringing on her 'motor' skills or bringing on her development. Its just me and her doing something she enjoys chilling out.

Too much worry and analysis is goes on today about what children should be doing to aid their development and social skills. My parents had access to none of this rubbish and you know what....all 4 of their children turned out absolutely fine.
 
mithrandir said:
None of them ;)

There are better toys for children of their age to play with.

The 'old fashion' toys serve a good purpose in developing a child's motor skills, Cognitive Development and social development.


You should have one tablet available for very limited use. There are some good stuff for kids but they don't improve motor skills, etc which is crucial at their age.
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Thanks. I was on the verge of binning all of the rest of his toys just as I ordered this tablet, since he'd no longer need them. That was a narrow escape. Without your crass and simplistic intervention it could have been a disaster for my lad's psychosocial development! ;)

One tablet for limited (and situational) use is exactly what I'm asking for recommendations for already! His current computer time replaces television time, not time spent doing more stimulating activities. This is where parental monitoring and responsibility comes in. I mean, isn't this obvious?

Seriously... if it will help keep the thread on the topic of helping with actual tablet recommendations, can we just take as read that my wife and I are qualified enough to make an informed judgement regarding how best to ensure the device in question will be only a part of a varied and appropriate mix of tools, toys and activities for our children's work and play?

Because if your reply contains an implicit assumption that we're not (even after this issue has been raised and rebuffed a couple of times already) then... well, look, it's kind of arrogant, presumptuous and judgemental on your part.
 
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The 7" options seem best, especially with ICS rom becoming available. There seems to be loads out but all I would suggest is ensure it has a capacitive touchscreen.

Ainol Elf 7 looks good 7", ICS & less than £120.

I picked up a touchpad in August and at the time my 9 month old loved the peek-a-boo app. With the ICS roms there are quite a few apps that I've downloaded recently for her amusement/education. Still has MANY proper toys but in my opinion the touchpad fills a gap. Generally the touchpad is only used after her bedtime as she runs to it whenever she sees it.
 
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One other thing to consider is, whilst i'm sure your son is very careful, please make sure you do get one of the tougher capacitive screens with decent glass! They can be so so so easy to scratch! Then again, I'm basing that on my idevices :p
 
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