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Software (and Appropriate Input Device) For a Toddler?
An anonymous reader writes "I have an 18-month-old who loves bright screens (TV and computer), loves loud noises, and loves to mash buttons. He targets my laptop with the button-mashing, and I sort of hate having to tell him 'no' when he wants to explore a computer. I was wondering if anyone knows of some fun (and maybe educational) age-specific PC software that also comes with an age-appropriate input device. I've seen those big-button devices in retail stores that seem to just hook up to the TV, and I've also seen some PC software that requires keyboard/mouse input, which does not seem like the right input device for a toddler."
Just buy, beg or borrow an old electronic keyboard. Much more fun for an 18 month old. (Was for mine)
The best toy for a kid that age is a good sized cardboard box. Nothing else comes close when it comes to stimulating their imagination, curiosity and social development. If you for some reason are opposed to cardboard boxes: How about some real world open ended interactive toys like blocks, teddybears, a tricycle, a pail and a shovel, some toy cars or a ... gasp... big red ball?
18 months is waaaaaaaaaay to early to introduce stuff like that.
Let the toddler be a toddler. All that baby Einstein-esque crap has been proven to be nothing but trouble for your child's NORMAL development.
If only there was some middle ground between letting him play with it all the time and completely prohibiting him...
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> I'm sure computers are the same.
No, because computers are interactive.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
Better yet, give him a Big Wheel and box full of Legos. Maybe spend time with him outside with a ball and mitt.
I know you mean well, but the kid's going to have plenty of time to develop a sedentary lifestyle and sit in front of a screen and keyboard. Let him at least have a chance to be healthy and active for a little while. Maybe he'll develop some good physical habits before becoming a computer geek like Dad.
I'm joking about "being a computer geek like Dad" but not about letting the kid run around and play and get some exercise and wait until he has a use for a computer before you plant him in front of one. How about this? When he comes to you and says, "I need a computer so I can..." THEN, you can set him up with a nice Ubuntu box, but only if he wants to do something worthwhile with it.
Take good care of that kid. The habits he forms now will most likely stay with him forever. Don't assume that because you love sitting and working at a computer that it's the best thing for him.
You are welcome on my lawn.
18 months? Are you serious?
Why my daughter was that age, I gave her an old PC keyboard that wasn't connected to anything else. She loved banging on it and pretending to work with Dad.
Give your kids something simple that will make them use their imagination. You don't want to kill off appreciation of simple toys by the time they're 4.
The best devices I've found have been both input and output. To wit:
Sure, it's great until the kid spontaneously decides to pick it up and throw it across the room. 18 month olds do not have good impulse control and are just barely starting to perceive that actions have consequences. I guess if you have lots of money to throw around you could give your 18 month old a fragile $600 device, but I think the smarter move would be to go with something designed to survive the kind of abuse kids that age tend to dish out to their toys.
Totally.
"I sort of hate having to tell him 'no' when he wants to explore a computer."
This set off a red flag in my head. Learning how to say no is important. Otherwise they'll walk all over you.
Nah, just get a cheap USB keyboard and small mouse. For a while, you won't even have to plug them in ;).
Your kids want to imitate you, let them.
09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
It's called supervised play :) My son has been using my various iDevices since he was 18 months old. He started out on my old iPod touch and now at 3 I trust him to navigate the iPad by himself. I'm all ways in view distance when he decides he wants to use a computer (desktop included).
I would not buy an iPad specifically for my son but he's getting my iPod touch if I decide to upgrade. Nickjr shows, games, learning software all in a portable package that fits in my pocket. In the mean time he's more than free to use mine anytime he wants.
You have to remember that no computer will replace hands on play but there is a ton of software for young kids out there on the iDevices. And this software should be used to reinforce what your kids have learned not be a replacement for real learning.
Or you could try to do some parenting and learn to tell the child "No" and then enforce it (punishment) if they ignore you (similar goes with rewards, don't promise a reward and then look for a way out with cheap excuses like "I'm tired, next time ok?"). I have never been able to understand when I watch people that always look for the easy way out of parenting and refuse to act like a parent turn around and complain that their children won't listen. Thing is with children is that good behavior is a process, not an action, and does take time. Yes, it is hard to be a parent but when all you do is just say a hollow/repeated answers that has no punishment if refused or ignored then your child won't stop yelling because they quickly learn that "Screaming = Mommy/Daddy gives me what I want, regardless of what they say". And yes, I've been through this, and children will learn real fast that if you keep all promises (punishments and rewards) that listening and behaving tend to be the best option for both of you.
Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
Just make sure you lock down any wireless networks around by the time he's 8-10, or he'll get a head start on that whole 'the internet is for porn' thing. :P
.gifs back when I was in year 8, and I turned out fine. :P
Then again I remember my friends and I swapping 3.5" discs with half-a-dozen topless
Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
My understanding was, that it's not so much that tv is bad for children's development, but that it's not good, so that if they spend 2 hours a day watching tv, that's two hours that aren't spent playing, talking or doing something beneficial. An 18 month old banging on a computer keyboard is practicing physical skills just as if they were playing with blocks.
I don't think it's worth setting up something elaborate for an 18 month old, all they really need is something that looks like a computer so they can feel that they're doing the same thing as mummy and daddy do. An old laptop works well, or one of the cheap toy computers. My son is three at the moment and sufficiently self-controlled to be allowed to play with my laptop. I set him up with a text editor and let him "type".
The real issue here is whose device the kid wants to play with. He doesn't want to play with *his* fisher-price (or other) Toy, he wants to play with *your* laptop, because he sees *you* using your laptop. The kid wants attention, not the toy. Put the laptop (or whatever) away, and get him involved with something you can both do together.
Having two boys, ages 2 and 4, I know that they do not want their daddy to pay attention to his toys, rather, they want daddy to pay attention to *them*.
Learn to say no right now. It will be better for both you and you son.
In spite of the superficial similarities of having a display and being 'something electronic', TV is vastly different to a computer from a mental stimulation and interaction perspective. TV is basically mindless zone-out hypnosis for entertainment. Computers *can* be, but can also be complex, stimulating challenging forms of mental puzzle-solving and skills development.
Life is not about mindlessly following little "rules" about what is "supposed to be" age-appropriate or not, it's about thinking about it for yourself. I'm afraid you will pass on your tendency for following "rules" rather than thinking to your kids.