Best IPAD apps for toddler

[Harmony83]

Looking for some recommendations for educational apps for a 3 year old.
Not very tech savvy so don't want ones that DC can run up a huge bill on, preferably free but don't mind paying a one off if it's a really good one.
I keep downloading apps that seem to be free but then want you to pay to get past the first level.

My daughter loved drawing apps like joy doodle, magic gingers and peppa's paintbox when she was a toddler. She also has a keyboard app and a CBeebies one she likes.

She was using the iPad from reception onwards in school. It's a normal part of education now. I don't believe there is any harm from moderate exposure to technology. And "active" screen time like drawing is very different to being plonked in front of a tv.

@JayDot500 Schools are also increasingly having to deal with children that don't know how to open a book and turn physical pages!
Children learn very quickly how to use an iPad in school, they're not advantaged by being able to use it before they start, certainly not in the way that children that can read books before they start school are at a huge advantage.

@bsc do you have any links for that?

I work in a school and I can point out many issues or bad/neglectful parenting, but kids not knowing how to flip a page was never an issue.

I've also never heard school staff from other schools ever witnessing this.

Just what staff have said in passing, sorry.

I think we have very little idea what ipads are doing to little, growing brains. Children were reading and learning quite well long before they existed. Why risk it?

slate.com/technology/2010/02/a-history-of-media-technology-scares-from-the-printing-press-to-facebook.html

Thank you to everyone with the pointers for good apps! The iPad is now fully loaded!
My DC's Pre school have an app called yellow door which all the children seem to love but is quite expensive.
To those who are bashing the iPad usage...
A typical day in the life of my children looks like this
7am wake, play, chase around the house, eat
9am Fully dressed, in car, sing song with mummy
9:30am arrive at soft play/ country park/ children's centre
9:05am until 12pm play hard toddler style until lunch
12:20-3pm play hard until toddler starts melting down
3:30pm quiet time at home, sticker books, stories, drawing, cupcake making
4pm iPad usage whilst I prepare dinner from scratch for fussy 3YO & weaning 6 MO
4:30 eat
5pm-6pm mental hour of burning off energy with Lego, paw patroller, getting every single toy out before bedtime which involves bath and story book. My toddler loves reading at night time and has never asked for the iPad.
7pm lights out.
Just wondering... those that think iPad usage is bad... do you really, genuinely still think it's that detrimental? Considering in my OP I asked for educational apps. The pre schools are using them I just wanted a cheaper version.
Seriously?
Not that I have to justify myself, but fuck me do we really all have to sit and play with twigs & leaves all day to get mum points?

@bsc you can't blame technology for that, you can perhaps blame a parent for not reading to their child. Or something else entirely, like actual neglect.

My kid can operate a tablet AND open a book, I don't see how he is disadvantaged. I guess any 'damage' is already done. But our facts: he has 50+ books in his room. We borrow a new one from his school library weekly since we have read his own countless times and he's memorised many. We've moved on to large reference books now (like picture dictionaries and national geographic books for kids) because he enjoys pointing things out and asking DH or I to read that page for him and explain (tonight he learned about different types of water transportation, and I learned that he really wants to go in a canoe).

So no, my child who has an iPad will not be one of those children who start school unable to open a book because I don't neglect him and I feed his interests. He also likes to make me dinner using an app, while I make his food, and I think that's adorable. Have faith that parents can actually use their judgement to moderate what their kid gets up to daily.

@Jossina children can read and learn fine with them too, that's my argument here. 'Excessive' usage, yes, it's not great.

@Harmony83 I hope your child enjoys the apps! My son has one where he can make burgers, so it's nice when he offers to 'cook' for me . There's also a panda app (can't recall the name but there's a whole range of apps offered by this brand) where DS goes shopping for items on a list in a supermarket. It's cute.

I'd love to know how many people changed their approach to tablet use during lockdown, I certainly did!

Before I even opened this thread I could see where it was going!

My 2.5 yr old gets limited screen time but really enjoys when he is allowed on a tablet. Personally I prefer it to tv as it isn’t as passive and there are some studies which show it can help with fine motor skills. Sitting for hours at screen is one thing, limited time on carefully chosen games is something else entirely IMO.

Anyway, my DS loves the Bimiboo games. There’s a few versions, some are better than others so I’d suggest trying the free trials first then pay for what you like. Once you’ve purchased the full app (about £2.50) there no upgrades so no risk of accidental purchases. We like the ones that are just 15 toddler games.

The games are primarily based around sorting by shape, colour, size, number and category, and very simply problem solving.

And just to add, my DS has absolutely no problem turning pages in a book 🙄 he’s a total book worm with an excellent vocabulary, can remember many of his favourite stories by heart and ‘read’ them to himself. We must read at least 15-20 stories over the course of a normal day. And that’s not including the books he chooses to read by himself. I actually felt ill this morning from the amount of stories we read together (I am pregnant and have HG, reading allowed makes me feel unwell) and had to stop....and no he still hadn’t been on the tablet today. But if he keeps bombarding me with his “why?!” questions, he’ll probably get some tablet time tomorrow!!

My DS (3) plays Kahn Academy kids, Cbeebies playtime island and ones by RV app studios. They are all easy enough for him to use by himself so he doesn't get frustrated.

I would want until the child is five or six. I think it's not good for them. Doesn't mean you have to make things with twigs.

I'm a physical book lover and do think it's sad that some kids have little access to the wonder of books; however, during lockdown without access to libraries, my children (6 & 3) and I have been reading some e-books too. They may not learn to turn a page but I fail to see how the fact that the book is on a screen lowers the value of reading.

I think we have outdated versions of "screen time" involving being plonked in front of mindless cartoons for hours but it can mean playing memory games, creating art, stories, independent theatre, the natural world and so much more. My children have learnt from screen time in the same way that they learn from a variety of experiences and methods.

The NHS guidelines state over 18 months, her LO is 3 lets not judge!! We’ve been in lockdown, sometimes you just want five mins with a cuppa and if the iPad keeps them busy for a little while then so what!!! The odd 10 mins here and there is fine surely...

Uhm.. all your articles are about screen time and not the content. The vast majority of cognitive developmental research, studies and papers by Neuroscientists, Psychologist, ECD experts and Early Age Educators, numerous of them from leading institutions including Harvard, Standford, Yale, Cambridge, UNICEF, World Economic Forum are finding either positive results or neutral results on both cognitive developmental capabilities such as working memory, pattern recognition, category formation, information processing speed along with school readiness skills in numeracy & literacy.

So, of course if you allow your child to watch mind numbing television all day, it's going to have a negative impact compared to a scientifically developed & tested application or solution.

It's practically the same as giving your toddler McDonald's everyday and then drawing the conclusion that all food has a negative impact on cognitive development.

The brain is still very much uncharted, especially early age development but Neuroscience & Technological advances over the past couple of years has made high quality applications or technological not only equal to existing methods of education but especially in the cognitive space, vastly superior.

Not to be disrespectful & I'm sure youre a great teacher but I think your googling for articles began from a very bias perspective. Ultimately google will give you the answers you want if you specifically ask for them... so not very objective

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