The kids love to play games on our iPhones. Even with a nice protective case, if our iPhone were to drop and crack or become unusable, we would be looking at about $500 to replace the iPhone. While it is pretty cool that our kids are so interested in games and playing with our phones, we cannot afford to replace an iPhone at that price.
We had an old iPod Touch from about 2-3 years ago laying around that we were using as a development iPod for our upcoming app (Gamble Track, coming soon! http://www.gambletrackapp.com). Now that SDK 3.1 is out, we can use our iPhones for testing and so we gave that old iPod Touch to the kids to play their games.
That did not last too long as each one was fighting over who gets to play with the iPod Touch and the result was always the one that did not get the iPod Touch would come over to one of us and beg to use our iPhone. We broke down and decided to purchase a new iPod Touch for Sean (age 5) and load all of his favorite games and his favorite movies on the device. So far he loves his iPod and now that Nick (age 2) gets to use the older iPod Touch, there is no fighting and much peace in the household these days.
However, I have noticed that our kids are becoming a little less loud, boisterous, and all around less crazy since they have become enthralled by these little devices. We are making sure they do not spend too much time on the iPod Touch and maintain a healthy balance of play time outside with play time inside. We have also loaded the iPod’s with educational apps, fun kid-friendly games, and plenty of Disney movies.
The question is, is an iPod Touch too much for a 2-year old and a 5-year old? My answer, no. I think that they are developing some pretty interesting cognizant skills as well as the ability to problem solve with minimal frustration. Some say games at a young age are bad, others say they help with “hand-eye coordination”, I just think that they are fun and hopefully will expand your knowledge and make life a little more interesting. Maybe they will have a “leg-up” in school when it comes time for computer lab?
Now we just have to teach them that these devices are expensive and cannot be thrown around, flushed into the toilet, dropped in the bath-tub, or used as a weapon!
