Kids’ tablets can leave parents feeling a little wary
After all, “How much screen time is okay?” is one of the trickier questions parents face in the 21st century. Most set limits that fall somewhere between an outright ban and a digital free-for-all, a moderate approach generally supported by the research. Which is why it’s important to find the best tablet for kids.
But just as important as the quantity of screen time is the quality: What are kids doing when they’re staring at a screen? The difference between endless rounds of some brightly colored nonsense game and a vocabulary-building educational one, for instance, is vast. Kid-focused tablets are one of the best ways to limit and control screen time, but with myriad options from tech and toy companies alike, it can be difficult to strike the right balance between versatility and restrictiveness.
The best tablets for kids are tough, compact devices that can entertain kids on the go, and, with a bit of setting up, give parents control over how and how much a kid uses their tablet. Our picks are available at a variety of price points, run everything from custom operating systems to stock Android, and are aimed at different kids of all different ages. The best part about them for parents? Once you pick one up, sharing your own tablet on car rides or in line at the grocery store becomes a thing of the past.
Best Kids’ Tablets
All-New Fire HD 10 Kids Edition Tablet
The standout aspect of the new Amazon Fire tablet is its battery life: Kids get up to 12 hours of reading, browsing the web, watching videos, and listening to music on one charge.
Buy Now $199.99
Pros: The new version of the beloved Fire Kids has a larger display, better battery life, and at 1920 x 1200, much better resolution. The Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet gives your kids access to over 20,000 apps, games, books, videos, audio books, and educational content from PBS Kids, Nickelodeon, Disney, and other kid-friendly channels.
Cons: It’s significantly heavier than its predecessor, weighing 27.4 ounces as opposed to 16.7 ounces.
Fire HD 8 Kids Edition Tablet
Amazon's kid-targeted tablet comes with a two-year worry-free guarantee that covers anything that happens to the tablet. In other words, if your kid sets fire to this Fire, Amazon will still cover it.
Buy Now $99.99
Pros: The Fire HD 8 Kids Edition includes a one-year subscription to Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, a treasure trove of family-friendly content like age-specific ebooks, programming, and educational apps from trusted brands like Sesame Street, Nickelodeon, and PBS Kids. FreeTime also has time limits, age filters, a kid-friendly browser, and trackable educational goals.
Cons: If you don’t have a Fire tablet of your own, managing what your kid has access to (and how much, and when) just isn’t as convenient as they’d like it to be.
Samsung Galaxy Tab E Lite Kids
Bring your kids the educational content you trust from DreamWorks Animation, Sesame Street, National Geographic and more Your kids can explore a variety of engaging Samsung Kids content that aligns with STEM andCommon Core curriculum; Processor Speed, Type : 1 , Kid friendly ,Energy star CertifiedGHz Quad Core Set time and select app categories for your kids and monitor their progress on the dashboard
Buy Now $79.75
Pros: You can lay down the screen time law with automated time-outs, app category restrictions, and zero in-app purchases. Never again find a suspicious charge on your credit card statement only to discover that that $500 went to “popularity points” in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.
Cons: The screen has only a 1024 x 600 resolution, a figure that lags behind plenty of competitors even at similar prices.
LeapFrog Epic Academy Edition
This tablet, meant for kids three and up, is Leapfrog's most tricked-out one. The Android-based tablet is packed with content suitable for younger kids.
Buy Now $79.99
Pros: Like other kid tablets, Leapfrog lets parents fully screen the content their kids see. Its LeapSearch functionality provides access only to approved, kid-appropriate content, with parents being able to add or upgrade access. Kids can fully customize their home screen to see nightfall or add stickers. And it grows with your kid, because Leapfrog personalizes select games to challenge kids as they get older.
Cons: Yes, this tablets comes preloaded with $175 worth of learning content. But get ready to shell out cash for other apps and games. You can only install Leapfrog apps, and they cost me.
Dragon Touch X10 Kids Tablet
, and the micro HDMI port makes it simple to connect this thing to your TV.
Buy Now $109.99
Cons: This tablet is good for younger kids, but it doesn’t have the specs or the physical keyboard to be anything more than a content consumption device.
Dragon Touch Y88X Pro
The Kidoz platform comes pre-installed on this bare-bones, 10.1-inch Android tablet. Its interface and content are both designed for kids. An included silicone case protects the tablet, a built-in stand makes it easy for kids to comfortably watch videos
Buy Now $79.99
Pros: The real thing that sets apart this tablet is the included Disney content — 18 storybooks and six audiobooks inspired by titles like Frozen and Beauty and the Beast. It also comes with a silicone case that can save the tablet from a beating, but is easy to take off for periodic washes.
Cons: The specs are a generation of two off of state-of-the-art. The screen is a sub-HD 1024 by 600 for instance. It also uses a non-USB charger, so you can’t use the rest of your charging gear to keep it juiced.
LeapFrog LeapPad Ultimate Ready for School Tablet
As its name suggests, this tablet is aimed at preschoolers and kindergarteners. It comes with apps to help kids practice basic reading and math skills in addition to creativity and problem-solving.
Buy Now $99.95
Pros: The curriculum adapts to kids’ abilities based on right and wrong answers, so kids won’t deal with content that’s too easy (and boring) or too hard (and discouraging).
Cons: The 7-inch touchscreen is “shatter-safe” but not indestructible, though the energy-absorbing bumper helps.
Kano Computer Kit Touch
If your kid is a tinkerer who might be interested in computer science, this tablet from Kano is a great choice. It's up to kids to assemble the 10-inch touchscreen display, battery, USB ports, speaker, and other components into a functioning tablet with keyboard and touchpad. Once it's up and running, the Kano comes loaded with creative apps that let kids design games and make art and music.
Buy Now $189.99
Pros: There’s also a block-based interface that teaches basic computer coding skills, everything from logic to Python and Javascript commands. Kids can also browse the internet, watch YouTube videos, and communicate with WhatsApp and Gmail. Rounding it out, access to Kano World means kids become part of a creative community made up of kids from around the world sharing what they’ve made with their Kano computers.
Cons: If your kid just wants to get online, they might be frustrated with the need to assemble the Kano Touch. It’s also not nearly as powerful as full-size adult tablets, so it works much better as a sort of exploratory device than a workhorse.
Apple iPad mini (Wi-Fi, 64GB)
If your house is already chock full of Apple devices, it's worth it to stay within the ecosystem with this smaller — and easier for kids to hold and operate — but still quite powerful tablet.
Buy Now $399.00
Pros: FaceTime calls were made for grandparents, while parents can take advantage of Apple’s robust parental controls, which allow them to limit everything from screen time to app purchases to privacy settings for their own iOS devices.
Cons: iPads are pricey and, as anyone who’s ever dropped one sans case can attest, fairly fragile. Invest in a tough case if you opt for this model, even if it takes away from the aesthetics of the device itself.
Lenovo Tab 4
This Android-powered tablet has pretty basic specs: two gigs of RAM, 16 or 32 GB of storage, Bluetooth, wifi, and a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera. It's most impressive statistic is its 20-hour battery life, a great thing for kids who might forget to keep their tablet charged.
Buy Now $119.00
Pros: The tablet has multiple accounts built in, and you can use yours to designate your son’s or daughter’s as a kid’s account. Kid’s accounts give young users access to curated content, a browser with pre-approved websites, and scheduling limits that can be set by parents.
Cons: There’s a so-called kid’s pack that is designed to make it a better fit for younger users, with a bumper case protects it from falls, a blue light filter that spares your kid’s circadian rhythms, and fun, scratch-resistant 3M stickers. Sadly, it’ll cost you extra instead of being included in the price.
Microsoft Surface Go (Intel Pentium Gold, 4GB RAM, 64GB)
The Surface Go does the basics well: It weighs just a little more than a pound, has nine hours of battery life, and runs a full version of Windows 10. That means that older kids who might need to work with Microsoft Office or use full versions of creative software like Photoshop will be able to run those programs on this tablet, which comes with a detachable keyboard cover and stylus.
Buy Now $311.77
Pros: Windows 10 also comes with parental controls that allow parents to set limits on internet browsing, downloads from the Windows and Xbox stores, and screen time. It will send parents reports on web browsing and application usage.
Cons: It’s 2019, which means the Microsoft Office suite of apps is less important than it has been in years. Any half-decent Android tablet can handle Google Drive documents, so be careful about overpaying for power your kid won’t need to use.
Every product on Fatherly is independently selected by our editors, writers, and experts. If you click a link on our site and buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Related Articles: 5 Best 'Star Wars' Lightsabers You Can Buy Right Now Wunderlist Is the Best Co-Parenting App Verizon Is Offering a Free Year of Disney+ for Unlimited Data and Fios Customers 8 Ways to Clear Your Mind of Work Stress and Be More Present
The post Best Tablets for Kids appeared first on Fatherly.
#Gear
But just as important as the quantity of screen time is the quality: What are kids doing when they’re staring at a screen? The difference between endless rounds of some brightly colored nonsense game and a vocabulary-building educational one, for instance, is vast. Kid-focused tablets are one of the best ways to limit and control screen time, but with myriad options from tech and toy companies alike, it can be difficult to strike the right balance between versatility and restrictiveness.
The best tablets for kids are tough, compact devices that can entertain kids on the go, and, with a bit of setting up, give parents control over how and how much a kid uses their tablet. Our picks are available at a variety of price points, run everything from custom operating systems to stock Android, and are aimed at different kids of all different ages. The best part about them for parents? Once you pick one up, sharing your own tablet on car rides or in line at the grocery store becomes a thing of the past.
Best Kids’ Tablets
All-New Fire HD 10 Kids Edition Tablet
The standout aspect of the new Amazon Fire tablet is its battery life: Kids get up to 12 hours of reading, browsing the web, watching videos, and listening to music on one charge.
Buy Now $199.99
Pros: The new version of the beloved Fire Kids has a larger display, better battery life, and at 1920 x 1200, much better resolution. The Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet gives your kids access to over 20,000 apps, games, books, videos, audio books, and educational content from PBS Kids, Nickelodeon, Disney, and other kid-friendly channels.
Cons: It’s significantly heavier than its predecessor, weighing 27.4 ounces as opposed to 16.7 ounces.
Fire HD 8 Kids Edition Tablet
Amazon's kid-targeted tablet comes with a two-year worry-free guarantee that covers anything that happens to the tablet. In other words, if your kid sets fire to this Fire, Amazon will still cover it.
Buy Now $99.99
Pros: The Fire HD 8 Kids Edition includes a one-year subscription to Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, a treasure trove of family-friendly content like age-specific ebooks, programming, and educational apps from trusted brands like Sesame Street, Nickelodeon, and PBS Kids. FreeTime also has time limits, age filters, a kid-friendly browser, and trackable educational goals.
Cons: If you don’t have a Fire tablet of your own, managing what your kid has access to (and how much, and when) just isn’t as convenient as they’d like it to be.
Samsung Galaxy Tab E Lite Kids
Bring your kids the educational content you trust from DreamWorks Animation, Sesame Street, National Geographic and more Your kids can explore a variety of engaging Samsung Kids content that aligns with STEM andCommon Core curriculum; Processor Speed, Type : 1 , Kid friendly ,Energy star CertifiedGHz Quad Core Set time and select app categories for your kids and monitor their progress on the dashboard
Buy Now $79.75
Pros: You can lay down the screen time law with automated time-outs, app category restrictions, and zero in-app purchases. Never again find a suspicious charge on your credit card statement only to discover that that $500 went to “popularity points” in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.
Cons: The screen has only a 1024 x 600 resolution, a figure that lags behind plenty of competitors even at similar prices.
LeapFrog Epic Academy Edition
This tablet, meant for kids three and up, is Leapfrog's most tricked-out one. The Android-based tablet is packed with content suitable for younger kids.
Buy Now $79.99
Pros: Like other kid tablets, Leapfrog lets parents fully screen the content their kids see. Its LeapSearch functionality provides access only to approved, kid-appropriate content, with parents being able to add or upgrade access. Kids can fully customize their home screen to see nightfall or add stickers. And it grows with your kid, because Leapfrog personalizes select games to challenge kids as they get older.
Cons: Yes, this tablets comes preloaded with $175 worth of learning content. But get ready to shell out cash for other apps and games. You can only install Leapfrog apps, and they cost me.
Dragon Touch X10 Kids Tablet
, and the micro HDMI port makes it simple to connect this thing to your TV.
Buy Now $109.99
Cons: This tablet is good for younger kids, but it doesn’t have the specs or the physical keyboard to be anything more than a content consumption device.
Dragon Touch Y88X Pro
The Kidoz platform comes pre-installed on this bare-bones, 10.1-inch Android tablet. Its interface and content are both designed for kids. An included silicone case protects the tablet, a built-in stand makes it easy for kids to comfortably watch videos
Buy Now $79.99
Pros: The real thing that sets apart this tablet is the included Disney content — 18 storybooks and six audiobooks inspired by titles like Frozen and Beauty and the Beast. It also comes with a silicone case that can save the tablet from a beating, but is easy to take off for periodic washes.
Cons: The specs are a generation of two off of state-of-the-art. The screen is a sub-HD 1024 by 600 for instance. It also uses a non-USB charger, so you can’t use the rest of your charging gear to keep it juiced.
LeapFrog LeapPad Ultimate Ready for School Tablet
As its name suggests, this tablet is aimed at preschoolers and kindergarteners. It comes with apps to help kids practice basic reading and math skills in addition to creativity and problem-solving.
Buy Now $99.95
Pros: The curriculum adapts to kids’ abilities based on right and wrong answers, so kids won’t deal with content that’s too easy (and boring) or too hard (and discouraging).
Cons: The 7-inch touchscreen is “shatter-safe” but not indestructible, though the energy-absorbing bumper helps.
Kano Computer Kit Touch
If your kid is a tinkerer who might be interested in computer science, this tablet from Kano is a great choice. It's up to kids to assemble the 10-inch touchscreen display, battery, USB ports, speaker, and other components into a functioning tablet with keyboard and touchpad. Once it's up and running, the Kano comes loaded with creative apps that let kids design games and make art and music.
Buy Now $189.99
Pros: There’s also a block-based interface that teaches basic computer coding skills, everything from logic to Python and Javascript commands. Kids can also browse the internet, watch YouTube videos, and communicate with WhatsApp and Gmail. Rounding it out, access to Kano World means kids become part of a creative community made up of kids from around the world sharing what they’ve made with their Kano computers.
Cons: If your kid just wants to get online, they might be frustrated with the need to assemble the Kano Touch. It’s also not nearly as powerful as full-size adult tablets, so it works much better as a sort of exploratory device than a workhorse.
Apple iPad mini (Wi-Fi, 64GB)
If your house is already chock full of Apple devices, it's worth it to stay within the ecosystem with this smaller — and easier for kids to hold and operate — but still quite powerful tablet.
Buy Now $399.00
Pros: FaceTime calls were made for grandparents, while parents can take advantage of Apple’s robust parental controls, which allow them to limit everything from screen time to app purchases to privacy settings for their own iOS devices.
Cons: iPads are pricey and, as anyone who’s ever dropped one sans case can attest, fairly fragile. Invest in a tough case if you opt for this model, even if it takes away from the aesthetics of the device itself.
Lenovo Tab 4
This Android-powered tablet has pretty basic specs: two gigs of RAM, 16 or 32 GB of storage, Bluetooth, wifi, and a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera. It's most impressive statistic is its 20-hour battery life, a great thing for kids who might forget to keep their tablet charged.
Buy Now $119.00
Pros: The tablet has multiple accounts built in, and you can use yours to designate your son’s or daughter’s as a kid’s account. Kid’s accounts give young users access to curated content, a browser with pre-approved websites, and scheduling limits that can be set by parents.
Cons: There’s a so-called kid’s pack that is designed to make it a better fit for younger users, with a bumper case protects it from falls, a blue light filter that spares your kid’s circadian rhythms, and fun, scratch-resistant 3M stickers. Sadly, it’ll cost you extra instead of being included in the price.
Microsoft Surface Go (Intel Pentium Gold, 4GB RAM, 64GB)
The Surface Go does the basics well: It weighs just a little more than a pound, has nine hours of battery life, and runs a full version of Windows 10. That means that older kids who might need to work with Microsoft Office or use full versions of creative software like Photoshop will be able to run those programs on this tablet, which comes with a detachable keyboard cover and stylus.
Buy Now $311.77
Pros: Windows 10 also comes with parental controls that allow parents to set limits on internet browsing, downloads from the Windows and Xbox stores, and screen time. It will send parents reports on web browsing and application usage.
Cons: It’s 2019, which means the Microsoft Office suite of apps is less important than it has been in years. Any half-decent Android tablet can handle Google Drive documents, so be careful about overpaying for power your kid won’t need to use.
Every product on Fatherly is independently selected by our editors, writers, and experts. If you click a link on our site and buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Related Articles: 5 Best 'Star Wars' Lightsabers You Can Buy Right Now Wunderlist Is the Best Co-Parenting App Verizon Is Offering a Free Year of Disney+ for Unlimited Data and Fios Customers 8 Ways to Clear Your Mind of Work Stress and Be More Present
The post Best Tablets for Kids appeared first on Fatherly.
#Gear