how much ipad use is enough for kids...

[mnagaria]

Hey all,

Been browsing through this forum for quite a while now. Just registering the first time to actually get some input from the community here.

I have a 2.5 year old and she spends a lot of time on the ipad. When she was young we used to show her poems etc a lot on the ipad to keep her busy, but now its to a point where she does not play with any toys or anything, all she wants is to play on the ipad. She does use coloring apps and other learning apps as well but my main concern is that should kids from this age be given so much use of an ipad?

Any thoughts and experiences?

 

[Antoinette]

My kids love the iPad too. I have a 6 year old, a 4 year old and a nearly 2 year old and they all play on the iPad. I only have one so they have to share which does tend to limit their time a bit but I actually don't put limits on it. The 6 year old has to do his homework before he uses it in the afternoons (just reading a small book) and the 6 and 4 year olds have to have tidy rooms (not spotless just tidy) I sort of use it as a bargaining chip to get them to do what I want them to.

If they fight over it then it gets taken away and put on the fridge for 30 minutes and then we flip a coin to see who uses it first. Other than that I just let then go for it

 

[Antoinette]

2.5 is probably too young for rules like that though. Maybe just make her do something else for half an hour every now and then to give her a break. It might hurt her eyes looking at a screen for too long without a break

 

[Wickett]

I would encourage her to spend time doing other things, but if the iPad ends up being her toy of choice, then I see nothing wrong about that. This could also be a way to slowly introduce her to some great learning apps, and like you said, the coloring apps are great too. This could be a plus or a negative, just depends on how you handle it. I say some restriction is good, but I wouldn't in any way be afraid of it.

 

[Emily92]

It is a well-known fact that tablet ownership has more than doubled in the past few years - leading to the expected results that children are becoming more and more proficient using them and finding their way around the various apps and games on them. And thus comes a raging debate of whether these devices are harmful to their development or do they actually encourage, as some experts claim, 'technological intelligence'?

On the one hand, doctors have raised a red flag - a warning for parents of tech-savvy children. According to them, children under two should avoid all screen time as too much time spent on touch-screens could cause long-term damage. "If they are always on the iPad and not actually doing those paper pencil activities that they should still be doing, those muscles are going to remain weaker," says occupational therapist Lindsay Marzoli, from the Learning and Therapy Corner.

However, there are some iPad apps, for instance NFL GameDay Heroes which are very popular among the kids, especially those who are big football fans. Personally speaking, I feel that if the kids enjoy playing such games on their iPads or tablets, then provided they don't spend <I>all </I>their time on a particular game/app, it will do them no harm. Moderation is the key here. According to Jordy Kaufman, director of the BabyLab at Swinburn University in Melbourne, the next generation of the burgeoning app market for children may exceed the teaching potential of more traditional toys (such as the Lego), since they will be able to measure growth and give feedback to parents as well.

In a study, he explored the impact of the use of technology on children aged two to five. The study showed that for very young children, there may be benefits in being able to handle the world of the tablet before they have the motor skills to handle their environment. "Being able to manipulate their environment gave these very young children a kickstart to learning. It is possible that tablet exposure might be doing something similar."

So there!