Which IPad would be ok for a toddler?

JamesUK

JamesUK

JamesUK

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22 Nov 2002
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465
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Liverpool
Hi, we was thinking about getting an ipad for my 3 year old, only to use kids educational games etc and to help with fine movements as she has issues with fine motor movements and thought it may help.

We are looking for one as cheap as possible but that will still be able to play very basic toddler type games and not feel too slow.

After having a little look around myself i thought the Ipad air 2 might be a good buy in terms of still enough power but not overkill.

Would this still be getting updated by apple?

Does anyone think any other model would suit better? I don't want it to be that old that games say they aren't compatible with it because the software it outdated etc, not sure if that would be an issue if anyone can advise please?

Thanks

James
 
Does it need to be an iPad? There are a plethora of Android tablets available, some for that very purpose and they are much more reasonably priced.
If it needs to be an Apple iPad then there’s nothing wrong with the bog standard iPad, the Air models would be a bit over specced if you don’t mind my saying.
 
The cheapest you can find because a three year old will drop it and it’ll break.
 
Get an Amazon Fire Kid’s edition for a 3 year old (probably the 8” instead of the 10”) They’ll fix it no questions asked if it gets broken and it comes with loads of curated software. Wait for them to come on sale if you can as the standard price drops significantly.

Don’t expect hardware miracles, but they should be a good starter device.

Edit - I still have two iPad mini 1 tablets in a drawer which are unbroken despite years of use and which are no longer updated but still run ok-ish. They might be an alternative if you can pick one up for peanuts. Just don’t forget to buy a big padded case from Amazon.
 
Considering they will walk on it, hit it, decide it needs to be washed or any other multitude of imaginable and unimaginable things then that should guide you to something suitable.
 
My daughter has had an iPad since she was 3 (now 5) in one of those big cushion carry cases and had no issues whatsoever.

It’s the best tablet with the best apps and updates for years.
 
GMac11 said:
Does it need to be an iPad? There are a plethora of Android tablets available, some for that very purpose and they are much more reasonably priced.
If it needs to be an Apple iPad then there’s nothing wrong with the bog standard iPad, the Air models would be a bit over specced if you don’t mind my saying.
Click to expand...

ipads are miles ahead of other tablets.

--

Toddlers and kids love ipads, once they get use to it they won't smash it. It seems weird, more stupid to even suggest but they'll pick up how to use it quickly at 3.

1 or 2 then yeah it's getting smashed. My cousin is now 5 similar to BMox81s kid and basically the same. Goes everywhere as well, can load it up with a few cartoon films as well.
 
I got the kids kindle fire for my 3 year old for Christmas on the Amazon sale and its absolutely perfect for a child of that age. I dont see any need to spend all that extra money on the iPad at this stage. Plus it comes in a massive case and they will swap it if she breaks it although to be fair she's been pretty careful with it so far.
 
I have tried both my sons (now 5 & 7) on various Android based tablets over the years and they always struggle with the responsiveness of the tablets and the UX of Android is rubbish, especially for kids. We had more joy with them using the Amazon Kindle Fire with the Kids software as it makes it looks much more like iOS but again the quality of the games is very variable although very durable.

Most days they end up with either me or my wifes iPhone and iPads and they just get it and have no issues and not to mention the quality of the apps and games are in a different league in comparison to Androids offering.

Both my sons have been fully capable of using iOS since they were 2/3 years old, thats just how easy the OS is to use and understand.

We will most likely be getting them iPads for their birthdays as its just a better investment and something we probably should have done in the first place considering how much money we have wasted on Android based devices for them over the past 4/5 years.
 
We have an ipad mini 2 which was the whole families to use and our son was 2-3 when he first used it. We then bought an amazon fire kids and we got about 2 months use out of it. We found it really slow, battery life was poor and the inbulit kids apps and downloads whilst plentiful were all pretty junky.

We sold it on for £30 and he still use the ipad mini 2 which is still powerful enough for his usage
 
tombrr said:
Most days they end up with either me or my wifes iPhone and iPads and they just get it and have no issues and not to mention the quality of the apps and games are in a different league in comparison to Androids offering.

Both my sons have been fully capable of using iOS since they were 2/3 years old, thats just how easy the OS is to use and understand.
Click to expand...

This is easily the biggest factor(s), my mate was the same. It got to the stage where he “had” to go buy an iPad because he kid whose now 4 just wouldn’t use the android tablet and “demanded” his phone.

It’s was pretty funny at the time to see him just be oblivious to the android one, we originally thought it was because he was using it that he wanted it.
 
Our 5 year old uses an old iPad Air 2, really good device. If you're already an iPhone user it's easy to setup a child account and control access/restrictions from your phone.
 
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