Wwyd. Would you buy a kindle fire for a 2 year old?

[UmbongoUnchained]

Just out of interest.

Everything, Agree.

If luchi's child isn't at full time school yet she's in for a shock, also this idea that luchi had no tech herself is likely bollocks, I had handheld digital games like gameboys etc when I was growing up and by the sound of things I'm older than luchi.

What about all those atari/ Nintendo/ sega etc fanatics? I'll tell you my OH's first computer was an atari and he now works solely on computer programmes like solidworks designing things. My cousin started off with the same thing and now is a computer software developer. And a friend of mine is an artist who does graphics on kids TV shows, all three started off playing on ataris and commodores etc.

Luchi not all learning is done by playing the violin or reading books.

I got my 2yo DS one and he never bothers with it, he's just not interested. He much prefers his crayons, his sandpit and basically anything else to do with messy play. I wouldn't ease your money if I were you.

waste even!

everything

No i am listening thanks. And all I'm getting is all the perfect mums assuming that I'm all of a sudden going to stop letting my child play with toys and go outside.

And the tablet is perfectly educational. She reads on it, she draws on it, she matches pictures to words in 3 different languages, she's also learning a forth language on it.

Books aren't the be all and end all. So she's not physically turning a page. So what? She's still reading the words and seeing the pictures. That's the important bit.

Ds's use computers at school sure. But on a limited controlled capacity. They use laptops not tablets, and have proper computer lessons twice a week for 30 mins at a time.
It's even more reason to not use at home as they have already used at school.

Yes, my 3yo has a kindle fire. We bought it for £39 before he turned 3. We bought it because he was using my iPad mini and wrecking it. Maybe some people don't let their toddlers have tablets, but we do. He doesn't spend all day on it, we limit the time he plays with it. We have BBC iPlayer kids, YouTube Kids, learning apps (there are lovely apps out there, very educational), some games for his age, and some interactive books. The tablet doesn't replace time we spend reading real books, or colouring, or going outside... It's just an extra.
Also, we travel regularly and when you're on a 12 h flight it's amazing to just be able to load some BBC series for him to watch.
I really don't see a problem with having a tablet; everything in moderation is fine!

I am not in for a shock. My child goes to school. My child uses an iPad at school. That's fine. My child has learned basic coding using a computer. My child watches films. We are going to have the TV on non stop during the Olympics. What I don't use the iPad for is reading, and art. I do use it for music sometimes. We have watched YouTube videos. My child knows what Google maps is. She Skypes with grandparents on two continents on a weekly basis. I am not some crazy Luddite. I use technology for what it is used for, TECHNOLOGY.

And no I didn't have game boys and whatever. I didn't grow up in a Western country. And didn't see a colour TV till I was 10. I have managed two PhDs from the US/UK both written on...shock/horror...MacBooks. I use a computer all day at work.
As I was saying I am in France for a bit and we had a day at the Louvre and I gave DD the fab multimedia video guide that they have. She used it fine despite and enjoyed it.

The point is that it is POSSIBLE to say seriously limit screen time or have very little screen time. That is actually all I was saying. But all the sarcasm above is fascinating. It shows that behind a screen we are much more vicious than we are face to face (And Twitter and MN are both examples). And this kind of interaction is one of the most pernicious things about the increasing use of technology in our lives.

Gives up.

I'm not sure why you asked fur other people PoV. You will see for yourself if tablets can be an issue or not.
Genuinely wish your dd will only take the best out of tablets (and really wishes my own dcs would do that too forgets about the daily fights)

I asked for other people's opinions because I didn't think I would actually have to explain that my child wouldn't be on it 24 hours a day. I thought that would be fairly obvious.

There are some great educational apps for tablets - we've got a number of those, including the match picture to word type - but one thing I have noticed, is unless the DC are doing the educational matching games with an adult next to them encouraging them to stop and think about the words/numbers, they (including the 4 yr old who knows all his letter sounds) will tend to just randomly jab at the matching things until they're lucky enough to hit the correct combination.

So based on my experience, I'd be wary of assuming that she's actually learning how to read simply because she's playing match word to picture games.

DS turned 2 a couple of weeks ago, and has only just taken an interest in my iPad. I've put some games on for him with pictures of different animals, vehicles, musical instruments etc and sit with him and talk about what they are. He also likes to watch videos of himself with his grandparents and he face times my parents sometimes. He also likes books, drawing, playing outside and making a mess - typical toddler things.

I don't get why a toddler using technology is a problem, provided they get to do a whole variety of things and aren't just left with a tablet and ignored.

I've found it useful to amuse him when it for a meal or when I need to do household tasks, or when I just need to sit down for a few minutes without running after him!

She's getting on with the iPad pretty well. I might keep the kindle as well as a spare haha.
Again thanks for all the helpful comments. Pretty pleased with our decision. Now to try and teach a language that neither of us speak yet, but that's a whole other thread!

No I wouldn't. But you have so shrugs

The ability of a child to delay gratification even at a v young age is supposedly a major predictor for success in life. Personally I believe this can be taught, modelled and encouraged regardless of personality. Touchscreen technology just seems to encourage the very opposite. Everything is done faster and with less effort - jigsaws, drawing, reading all lack the process, the tactility, even simple aspects such as laying out your pieces and tidying up.

What Eiffels said:

science.sciencemag.org/content/244/4907/933

Technology like kindles/ipads is so user friendly and it's really just superficial, it's not really teaching anything.

You start a thread and when the majority of people disagree with your ridiculous decision to buy a TWO year old a tablet you get all defensive. You bought a digital babysitter because your kid hates books. Bizarre parenting at its very best. Or maybe it was a way to show off your wealth. Yay for you. (Waves pompom)

Technology has its place. Not when you are two.

I wasn't asking for permission love.
And who else is going to teach her to read when I'm in the pub?

My 2 1/2 year old borrows mine and DH's kindles and has his own account on them which doesn't let him download or buy anything. We've taught him to sit nicely to play on them and he loves the peppa pig drawing app and cbeebies story app which reads to them while they can interact with the picture. He also has a couple of Mog and Twirlywoo e-books on there. I sent my kindle with him to MIL's and she was most impressed when he set himself up on the settee with it.

My 2 yo has a second hand iPad mini and he loves it. He uses a restricted version of YouTube and a lot of games. It's a life saver in restaurants, hospital visits, etc and good fun at other times. For what it's worth we've never had a problem saying bye-bye to the iPad and he runs around like a possessed dare devil at all other times.

Yeah I'm really pleased with the iPad it was a good buy. I'm keeping the kindle for myself though haha! If I get the time I might start reading again with a bit of luck.

And who else is going to teach her to read when I'm in the pub

Best line ever

I've got to admit like how you bought both 'to test them both out' now you're keeping the kindle for yourself ... Well played op, well played! I wish I had thought of this when I bought my dd her kindle