Best tablets for toddlers

[K5Rakitan]

I know this may not be the best place to ask, but it's the community I enjoy the most, and the parenting groups I'm in would tell me to go ask elsewhere because they are specific to things like breastfeeding, so they wouldn't approve the post. The more general parenting groups I've tried trigger me too much with all the BS I see.

I'm looking for a kids tablet under $100 for my kid. I don't trust the sites that have been paid to give reviews on products, and I know that sometimes people get paid to leave good/bad reviews on products, so I want to ask real people. If you're not a parent, you might have advice to offer from seeing what your younger siblings and cousins have been using.

Features I'm looking for:

• Shockproof case
• Access to Google Play or Apple App store, not exclusively Amazon app store. I want to get the Vooks app for my kid, and that's not available through the Amazon app store.
• Screen time controls
• I don't really give a shit about battery life because I don't want my kid on there more than an hour a day anyway
• I'm also open to app recommendations, if you have any you'd like to suggest.

 

[J_Chemist]

Do you have a price range, madam Mom?

I CANT READ. SORRY. GIVE MOMENT. I WILL RETURN AFTER SEARCH.

• So I know you mentioned it but Kindle has the Fire tablet under 100 and it looks already kid-proof. It comes with the fancy protection and several built in management tools for parents. One of them I see is a timer that you can set. However, it's an amazon product so it is unlike to have the Play/Apple store.
• Lots of people are recommending the iPad, and I do as well. My parents occupy my nephew with it and have set up parental controls to keep him from fumbling through it. The models they have are older, I believe, as I don't think they've bought new ones in a hot minute. iPad/Apple puts out a lot of accessories you can get to make the tablets kid-proof but it might go a bit over budget if you buy a newer model. Older models might be cheaper and you could get them second hand, but Apple does stop pushing updates for older model products to sort of push you into getting a new one.
• Samsung tablets are also a good alternative and are more flexible than Apple, as they're Android based. You can install a wider range of apps from the Play Store and there's likely better parental controls. If not, there's an app for it. You might just need to dig for one a bit, or monitor the youngin'. Your boy sounds like a good one so if you tell him an hour a day or remind him not to download anything, I think he'll listen? But that's just from an external viewpoint based on what you share. He's also a toddler.

The biggest parental control to keep the youngin from downloading anything wild is to simply disable the Wi-Fi. Some may be smart and figure it out, but if you have it set up like that from the get-go, they're unlikely to find it. I highly recommend also "forgetting" the WiFi to your router rather than just disabling the feature and then just never tell the kid the password. So even if they turn the WiFi on, they won't be able to connect.

EDIT #1: After performing some searches, the hardest part of this is all of the knock off tablets for under 100. There isn't really a name brand like Apple, Samsung, or Google. Amazon is pushing it's Kindle Fire's really hard and has made them very competitive and cheap, but the reviews on them reflect the price (I use reddit, as that's where the real people are). The best I can recommend is either to gamble on one of the knock off tablets that I'm seeing (which honestly don't have terrible specs), or raise your ceiling and invest in the more expensive tablet.

 

[melchi]

Some pawn shops might have older tablets for under $100

As for parental controls, they can be done from the router as well. Does the vooks app work offline? You could enable it being on wifi while it is in your hands then ban it from the network while kiddo is messing around with it. That way he couldn't see anything that you didn't put on there yourself.

 

[ACertainPassingUser]

Just get old Used iPad.
Or old Used Galaxy tab.

Most "Tablet for kids", "Tablet for work", "tablet for etc." Are just android tablet with gimmick, custom locked OS and locked features.

Worrykng about data and potential risk ? Clean the tablet with isoprophyl alcohol and other contact cleaners. And reset the data.

And swap the batteries, as its quite old already. New batteries can give the new tablet feeling.

Dont worry about it breaking, tablet arent that fragile. Especially samsung and apple.

As long you find one thats cheap enough, you can always replace it whenever it breaks.

 

[CrimsonGenius]

Amazon Fire tablet

 

[Stealthy_Enigma]

I know this may not be the best place to ask, but it's the community I enjoy the most, and the parenting groups I'm in would tell me to go ask elsewhere because they are specific to things like breastfeeding, so they wouldn't approve the post. The more general parenting groups I've tried trigger me too much with all the BS I see.

I'm looking for a kids tablet under $100 for my kid. I don't trust the sites that have been paid to give reviews on products, and I know that sometimes people get paid to leave good/bad reviews on products, so I want to ask real people. If you're not a parent, you might have advice to offer from seeing what your younger siblings and cousins have been using.

Features I'm looking for:

• Shockproof case
• Access to Google Play or Apple App store, not exclusively Amazon app store. I want to get the Vooks app for my kid, and that's not available through the Amazon app store.
• Screen time controls
• I don't really give a shit about battery life because I don't want my kid on there more than an hour a day anyway
• I'm also open to app recommendations, if you have any you'd like to suggest.

As far as what has worked with my littlest sister, we had an amazon kids fire tablet -with the foam case that came with it- and it surprisingly lasted a very long time despite how often it was dropped (an unlucky fall in some rocks is what finally took it out- it still works, but has a cracked screen). We were lucky that it lasted long enough that we were planning to upgrade to an ipad anyways, which ended up working out~

Just from looking it up real quick, it is possible to get Google play store on the tablet, but you will probably want to research that more before settling on one (just to make sure that it is compatible with that device version, and how to install it).

Other than that, the price of it now seems a little over your budget, so I don't know whether or not that would be the right choice for you though...

 

[K5Rakitan]

Thanky! I'll be sure to discuss these ideas with my husband. I'm liking the idea of finding a used tablet a lot.

 

[Deleted member 133647]

I know this may not be the best place to ask, but it's the community I enjoy the most, and the parenting groups I'm in would tell me to go ask elsewhere because they are specific to things like breastfeeding, so they wouldn't approve the post. The more general parenting groups I've tried trigger me too much with all the BS I see.

How they trigger you??

 

[K5Rakitan]

How they trigger you??

There are a lot of little things, but mostly cry-it-out sleep training. It's cruel and goes against our biological expectations.

 

[Deleted member 133647]

There are a lot of little things, but mostly cry-it-out sleep training. It's cruel and goes against our biological expectations.

pretty sure my mom did that for me. Idk what it did, will update in 15 years