Toddlers love iPads
Having used an iPad for several years, my 2 year old son caught on to the popularity of using tablet devices in the Chi household. He wasn’t interested in the kid apps I downloaded or the story books on Kindle. Of all things, he loved the camera app! A few weeks on, he was helping the wife play Sonic Boom. Now he is fluent in multitasking, starting a session with me on Facetime to then hitting the red hang up button and launching Amazon Video to watch some Timmy Time followed by Thomas & Friends followed by Fireman Sam followed by a quick game of Sonic.
The problem with Toddler iPad use
I don’t have a problem with little Deor playing on my iPad. I’m bothered when he locks me out for 5 minutes at a go for entering the wrong pin 28 times in a row! Even worse is when he disables settings on the iPad and deletes apps! Thankfully he hasn’t found the toggle for in app purchases yet and the iPad is a distraction away from using my Macbook Pro, although he does love the keyboard.
Apple Guided Access
Apple iPad’s have a feature known as guided access. This allows parents to lock the iPad to one app and limit features if required. It’s a pain to activate and often I accidentally activate another iPad feature. It’s very clunky and not very friendly. I have to be very active and present to change apps with Deor. I tried letting Deor loose on an old laptop but that didn’t work either as he just wanted to tap the screen having been used to the touchscreen displays on tablets.
Asus Zenpad is the best tablet for kids
So the solution is simple, a better kid experience meant for kids with some mutlitasking and a keyboard option. The Asus Zenpad 10.1 with keyboard docking station ticks all those boxes thankfully. The kid mode comes pre-loaded as standard and can be turned on simply by tapping the app. It is brilliant turning off things like in app purchases and visiting websites from inside games. It features 12 apps that the parent selects from all currently downloaded apps. The attached keyboard still works if your little one decides to detach it from the tablet as it uses bluetooth and the touchscreen works as it’s a tablet. The screen is a decent size for kids and the weight feels hefty and grown up for small hands. Once the kids have gone to sleep, you can return the tablet back to adult mode with a 4 digit pin which doesn’t time out after 28 incorrect attempts!
Check out my video review of the Asus Zenpad for more information