To get my 4 yr old a ipad or DS?

[lisaleelu]

My 4 year old loves going on the cbeebies gameson my lap top. But he does struggle a bit with the mouse. I was thinking of getting him and ipad or Nintendo Ds for Christmas.

I dont want any lectures on kids using computers. I have weighed that one up myself. His use will be monitored and limited.

We are going to visit family in Australia at Christmas and I thought an ipad might be worth investing in (obviously the whole family would use it) as I think you can watch DVD on it - so good for the long flight as would games to play.

I am quite an old mum - 44 so out of touch with computer games and stuff - but I have heard people talkign about DS's get the impression they are small hand held games things. Realise much cheaper than ipad but not as only for games- are the games educational - can you get the cbeebies games - dont want him to play games that invovle shooting people if you get what i mean.

Will a 4 year old likely break an ipad - do they break easy? He is not the gentelest of kids.

Any other ideas - the journey to oz and keeping him occupied is a big part of the decision.

My dh think £400ish to spend on a 4 yr old is obscene but I am think we would all use it i think.

What do you think?

Exactly LittleBriard conjecture from Luddites is a terrible thing

I haven't read back so apologise if the thread has gone off onto other things by now!

My 4yo dd2 was given an old DS for Christmas last year. We are getting her a ds lite fir her 5th birthday next month. She loves the Peppa Pig game and she wants nintendogs.

Dh and I both have iPhones with games on that all if the children, including 2yo ds2 play. I wouldn't give either of the younger ones their own itouch/iPad/iPhone yet though. I think because it scares me that they could access stuff I didn't want them too (although my logical non mum head assures me that Internet/iTunes/app stores can be disabled).

Advantage I can see is that the iPad etc are more versatile, eg can play films etc which would be good...

Haven't read the whole thread, but I would go for the DS. They're quite hardy and my son has learnt so much from using his (from when he was 6). You need to choose games carefully though; most film tie-ins are rubbish. Generally, the more expensive games are better and last longer. I have my DD's old DS and have classic books on it, brain training, word games, scrabble etc. DS loves Animal Crossing, Sims games (where you build towns and populate them), Nintendogs etc. I would think the iPad would be less a present for him solely and more for the family as a whole.

I don't have an issue with children using computer games - it's just another medium and you have to select what they play with care, as you would with books or DVDs.

Badroly the internet access can be disabled very simply on an IPAD. One of the things I like about it.

It can also be limited. My DS is allowed watch You tube videos of Thomas the tank engine but nothing else. It just cuts him off if he tries to navigate away from those pages.

It does still need to be monitored and if I'm leaving DS with his IPAD I turn off his internet browser and he has to stick to the apps I've downloaded.

It's very easy to cope with.

Littlebriard - I guessed that it would be possible and probably very easy. But nine if the children are having an iPad until I get mine stamps feet in petulant rage

Oh blinking fat fingers - none of my children not nine if them

DD (3) loves my iPad as I've put some good apps on there for her. She handles it well, but can only sit with it in her lap as it's heavy. In my experience an iTouch or iPhone is the better option as DD can hold and handle those better. We don't have a DSi but DD's Grandma has one and DD could hold it and use it fine though she still prefers the iTouch. The iPad is also fantastic for video. It doesn't have Flash so is hopeless with CBeebies website.

I'd buy an iPad for yourself and an iTouch for your DS, personally.

Have you actually ever USED an IPAD Imogengladhard - honest question. Hve you?

And Imogengladheart - what % of the population do you base your reply on?

Because I can promise you it's done no end of good for my DS, who struggles with child interactions.

I do wish people wouldn't fling around the term attachment disorder with such abandon. It's a very serious disorder with enormous longterm implications and it really shouldn't be used willy nilly.

I guess it depends on the child. I am not about to stop my 3YO using his IpAD.

Are there any documented cases of a child having attachment disorder as a direct result of their parents giving them a handheld computer?

oh fgs, imogengladheart. read the thread.

that is my comment you are wilfully misquoting. I was talking about entertaining my children on a flight, and asking other passengers whether it mattered to them (not to my children) whether the talking came from a human or a machine.

I've stopped conversing with my children completely now they have their gadgets to entertain them. It's wonderful, we no longer have conversations, play games or show affection to each other.

at Soupy.

I find the luddite conversation interesting especially the argument that if at least a child can find their way around a laptop by the age of 18, then they'll be fine.

I remember reading a while back an excellent article about why there were so few women in tech industries (or, more accurately, why the industry was dominated by white males from more affluent families). A lot of it was traced back to the age in which the person owned their first computer - truly owned, not just a shared device that the whole family had, but something they could become really familiar with, know the ins and outs of and had sole use of.

Given the costs of owning a computer back in the early 80s, it was clearly the more affluent households that had them (which also explained the race divide). But most interesting/shocking was the age disparity between when girls and boys first had access to tech of their own. I can't remember the exact figures, but there was a good five or six years gap. This was considered the main factor between feeling that you were good and enjoyed using computers, or just could get by.

Given that, these days, the price of technology proportional to income has dropped drastically, you can do far more with each piece of technology, and it's clear that future careers will depend even more heavily on tech, I find it a little sad when all "gadgets" are automatically lumped into the bad category.

I actually get a lot of pleasure seeing my kids using a computer well and getting a lot of fun out of it. The other weekend, they decided they wanted to create their own animation - set up their (cheap) cameras on iPads, took over 200 photos, imported them into iMovie on the laptop and by the end of the day had a pretty good short film of lego figures moving around. They pretty much figured out what they wanted to do and how they wanted to do it, and got on with it without fear they might do something wrong or that they wouldn't be able to work it out. I have not explicitly taught them how to use iMovie, but it uses similar principles to other Mac programs they have used in the past so it didn't phase them. I was in awe - they are 7 and 10.

Judge away ;)

Doh that should read "set up their (cheap) cameras on tripods". I clearly have iPads on the brain .

Incidentally, although they used the laptop, had we owned a camera connection kit, they could have done the lot on an iPad. Considering how basic my old Acorn Electron was when I was a kid, that just blows my mind :)

That's amazing rubberduck!

I totally agree with you. I've just had to fill in a form for my (almost) 4 year olds pre-school. Under the heading "knowledge of IT" I have had to put "none". Her cousin who's the same age can use a DS, a mouse, a a keypad a bit. I've just given her a v-tech toy laptop that I found kicking about in her older brothers room and have ordered a DS for her birthday.

My 11 year olds are getting laptops for Christmas and I wasn't going to get the youngest one until a similar age, but seeing all these posts from parents of children as young as 2 and 3 who are able to use i-pads has really made me re-think this. My own IT knowledge is sadly lacking and I really want my own children to be better than me with it.

My 4YO DS can navigate his way around the computer (we have EasyBits installed so he can surf successfully), find the games he wants to play and use the arrow keys, touch pad and space bar. He has learned to write letters and numbers on the Ipad and is learning about counting and value with toca boca shopping.

His time on both is strictly limited but he gets bored after a bit anyway and won't spend hours playing even if he were allowed.

I think the issue of people constantly checking their facebook is an entirely separate thing imogen and I agree that it's annoying

iPad camera connection kit is fab. I bought mine with tesco club card vouchers from tesco direct.

I had a fun evening issuing instructions to my DSs via Facebook chat. they thought it hilarious. One was actually sitting on the sofa next to me at the time. I was reading a book on the iPad, he was playing on his laptop whilst slumped on the sofa with his leg in plaster.

Heh, had similar with ds1 since iMessage was launched. Cheeky bugger will ask me what's for dinner via that when he's in the same room I forgave him though as he sent me a most complimentary message about my cooking after the meal (which is more than he'll say in person!)

Hmm, perhaps I should send him an iMessage reminder to tidy his room...

It's amazing how unreliable imessenger can be at times like that though.