Special iPad time with Grandad
July 25, 2022 8:37 AM Subscribe
My almost-three year old granddaughter has a new baby sister, and needs a little extra attention. As a grandpa, I'm privileged to let her get a little special iPad screen time. I'd like to entertain and maybe educate a little with up-to-date iPad apps, but I'm not plugged into the parental software scene.
Currently, she likes to draw with her fingers as pens in OneNote, and we play simple PopIt games and Peter Rabbit "find the object" games, but this seems a little limiting. She can count to 20 (missing only 12 and 15), and knows several letters.
If you're willing to admit to interactive app usage for kiddies, please hit me with your recs!
Currently, she likes to draw with her fingers as pens in OneNote, and we play simple PopIt games and Peter Rabbit "find the object" games, but this seems a little limiting. She can count to 20 (missing only 12 and 15), and knows several letters.
If you're willing to admit to interactive app usage for kiddies, please hit me with your recs!
PBS Kids Games is a free app from PBS that has a lot of nice content for a wide range of ages (1-10?). There are a ton of options within it, so it will make sense for you to spend a little time picking out good/age appropriate stuff first before giving her free rein.
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:58 AM on July 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:58 AM on July 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
I had a tinny little piano app that my grandson enjoyed poking at.
You can also Facetime and watch sesame Street or other programs together; tv is more enriching with a grownup to share things with.
Buy 2 copies of books and read to her.
Play good dance music, any good dance music, waltzes, marches, modern, Motown, and both of you dance. Music is great for kids' and grownup brains. I still love the Big Band and jazz that my Dad played.
posted by theora55 at 9:12 AM on July 25, 2022
You can also Facetime and watch sesame Street or other programs together; tv is more enriching with a grownup to share things with.
Buy 2 copies of books and read to her.
Play good dance music, any good dance music, waltzes, marches, modern, Motown, and both of you dance. Music is great for kids' and grownup brains. I still love the Big Band and jazz that my Dad played.
posted by theora55 at 9:12 AM on July 25, 2022
i think the apps I list here all cost a few dollars. I prefer to pay a little upfront and have no ads.
Dr. Seuss ABC - will read the book and let child flip pages and also click around in pictures for extra noises
Endless reader - shows a word, letters jump out of word, drag and drop to put letters back in place and the. it reads the word shows it in a sentence and does a fun animation
Metamorphabet - alphabet app where letters morph into animations. Really clever and well done IMO.
Realizing now that I really like letter apps..
Sago Mini Puppy Preschool - pick a puppy to give it a bath, feed it etc. Some simple counting and matching.
Also my almost 2 year old loves to direct my tiktok watching. Most requested are ducks, babies, cats, dogs. email usually just put in the search term and we watch some clips and talk about them.
posted by MadMadam at 9:18 AM on July 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
Dr. Seuss ABC - will read the book and let child flip pages and also click around in pictures for extra noises
Endless reader - shows a word, letters jump out of word, drag and drop to put letters back in place and the. it reads the word shows it in a sentence and does a fun animation
Metamorphabet - alphabet app where letters morph into animations. Really clever and well done IMO.
Realizing now that I really like letter apps..
Sago Mini Puppy Preschool - pick a puppy to give it a bath, feed it etc. Some simple counting and matching.
Also my almost 2 year old loves to direct my tiktok watching. Most requested are ducks, babies, cats, dogs. email usually just put in the search term and we watch some clips and talk about them.
posted by MadMadam at 9:18 AM on July 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
Call her on Facebook and use that thing that turns your faces into cats. My kids do that with their aunt.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 9:19 AM on July 25, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 9:19 AM on July 25, 2022 [3 favorites]
PBS kids has several good apps. Mine also like procreate for drawing and the super why games from pbs.
posted by melodykramer at 9:41 AM on July 25, 2022
posted by melodykramer at 9:41 AM on July 25, 2022
I'm more familiar with the android ecosystem, but my kiddo was a fan of just about anything that was made by Toca Boca. He wasn't introduced to an iPad until he was about 4, but IIRC some of the Toca apps were suitable for younger kids.
posted by toxic at 9:45 AM on July 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by toxic at 9:45 AM on July 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
Seconding the Endless Reader recommendation above, as well as their alphabet and numbers apps. My 2 year old also really enjoys the PBS kids video and games apps, as well as Khan Academy Kids and Moose Math.
posted by abeja bicicleta at 9:48 AM on July 25, 2022
posted by abeja bicicleta at 9:48 AM on July 25, 2022
Its not an app, but my daughter at the age of 4 would read with her grandparents until they lost their voices or the heat death of the universe. Literally hours for a kid who in all other contexts had essentially no attention span at all.
posted by rockindata at 10:29 AM on July 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by rockindata at 10:29 AM on July 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
We loved the Toca Boca apps. They're designed to encourage interaction & are pretty open-ended; my kids liked having Tea Parties together, running a store, or making funny foods for monsters to eat.
posted by belladonna at 10:31 AM on July 25, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by belladonna at 10:31 AM on July 25, 2022 [3 favorites]
Duolingo has a reading app now, it's the only app I've used with my 4 year old so I don't have much comparison, but he likes it!
posted by beyond_pink at 10:51 AM on July 25, 2022
posted by beyond_pink at 10:51 AM on July 25, 2022
Not sure this would work with OneNote, but if you have a drawing app that uses layers, I’ve had fun with kids that age playing a game where they (or you) draw something & then you turn away and add an opaque colored layer over the layer with the drawing. Then you switch the drawing tool to an eraser, and let the kid “uncover” the drawing.
posted by yarrow at 11:05 AM on July 25, 2022
posted by yarrow at 11:05 AM on July 25, 2022
Seconding SagoMini. I believe Puppy Preschool is a game within the larger SagoMini app, but my son really likes that ones and many others--this is one of the few apps I'm willing to pay for as there is a ton you can do within it and I really like the design.
posted by lovableiago at 12:58 PM on July 25, 2022
posted by lovableiago at 12:58 PM on July 25, 2022
Seconding Toca Boca. They are very fun! I might start with Tea Party, Hair Salon, and Toca Kitchen 2. Very intuitive, don't need a lot of dexterity, and there's a lot of humor and playability. Their games are more like playtime than a game with an objective.
posted by LKWorking at 3:19 PM on July 25, 2022
posted by LKWorking at 3:19 PM on July 25, 2022
Response by poster: Thanks for the app advice. As for the other suggestions, please understand this is not the sole activity we engage in. Reading books, active play with Duplo, with dolls, with toys, etc are all special time too and that's fun and enriching. But only Grandad gets to engage her with the iPad, so that's the basis for my question.
posted by cameradv at 4:14 PM on July 25, 2022
posted by cameradv at 4:14 PM on July 25, 2022
I let my now 5 year old daughter start to use an iPad as a special treat starting around 3 / 3.5 - big hits (and things I was happy for her to do) included: Sago Mini School, Sago Mini Kids, PokPok Playroom, Marco Polo World, Khan Academy Kids. Most of those are paid/subscription apps, but they're high quality, no advertising, etc.
posted by modernnomad at 12:08 AM on July 26, 2022
posted by modernnomad at 12:08 AM on July 26, 2022
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But I did just read something about how teaching kids too much reading before age 4 actually reprograms their brain to decode symbols instead of nonverbal communication, and makes them worse at interpersonal skills, so the suggestion was NOT to focus on reading skills until age 4 (too late for me!)
posted by nouvelle-personne at 8:45 AM on July 25, 2022