Ask Slashdot: Android Apps For Kids Under 12 Months?

6 months? by cashman73 · 2012-12-25 04:22 · Score: 4, Insightful

I wouldn't worry about finding specific apps that are "safe" for a 6-month old. At that age, no parent should even consider letting their child use an Internet-connected device unsupervised. So, if yo show the child something on the web browser, or another app, you should know specifically what you're looking at and should be 100% comfortable with the material.

Re:6 months? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · 2012-12-25 04:39 · Score: 5, Insightful

Insane.
Put the phone away. Talk to the child. You know: teach human interaction? This is a child, not your personal experiment.
A review of the evidence in the Archives Of Disease in Childhood says children's obsession with TV, computers and screen games is causing developmental damage as well as long-term physical harm. Doctors at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, which co-owns the journal with the British Medical Journal group, say they are concerned. Guidelines in the US, Canada and Australia already urge limits on children's screen time, but there are none yet in Britain.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/oct/09/ban-under-threes-watching-television
Why would you substitute the acquisition of developmental language skills and the attendant ability to relate and empathise - with a fixation on shiny lights and noises?
I understand that this is Slashdot - but value of the concept cannot be completely alien...

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Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:40 · Score: 0, Insightful

A child that young (let's face it, under 12 months isn't even a child, it's a baby) should not be doing anything with a tablet or any electronics for that matter. I know the article submitter is proud that they have a child and thinks that their special little baby is the smartest and cutest thing in the world, but objectively speaking, that child is no different than any other. Getting him/her started on a tablet at this time isn't going to do anything but harm them.

Basically stop worrying about getting your infant baby on a tablet and spend time with them. Take them out to the park or something. The tablet can wait until they are 6 years or older.
Re:6 months? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · 2012-12-25 04:44 · Score: 0

Training America's future drone operators, in infancy.

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"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:52 · Score: 4, Insightful

This is a child, not your personal experiment.
Isn't every kid a (personal) experiment of the parents? You screw some up so you try again, until you just say "screw it, all of them are messed up, I think I'll just quit now"
Captcha is very apt: condom
Re:6 months? by maeglin · 2012-12-25 05:09 · Score: 0

I know the article submitter is proud that they have a child and thinks that their special little baby is the smartest and cutest thing in the world, but objectively speaking, that child is no different than any other. Getting him/her started on a tablet at this time isn't going to do anything but harm them.
Just like every other poster on /. thinks that they are better parents than everyone else.

Basically stop worrying about getting your infant baby on a tablet and spend time with them. Take them out to the park or something. The tablet can wait until they are 6 years or older.
See, the thing is, you can't just power off a baby when the park closes or it's raining or snowing outside. Yes, you shouldn't have your child fixate on blinky things for hours on end. You know what else you don't do? Plop a six month old child in snow bank for 8 hours.
You allow them to explore, see what they want to see, play with what they want to play with (with the exception of knives and guns) and stick with them to make sure they're safe and have someone to turn to when *they* want social time. After a little time with activity X you encourage them to move on to something else.
Of course, you would be aware of all this if you were an actual parent instead of a self-appointed child development expert.
As to the original post: It doesn't matter. Leave it on the lock screen and let her play with the unlock widget.. and make sure it's clean because it'll end up in her mouth anyway (and tablets are pretty nasty). Take it away after a few minutes and don't give it back until the next day. There'll be crying involved but it's okay: you're the boss.
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:09 · Score: 0

Your child should learn how to understand and manipulate people before doing the same on devices. It's a much more important skill. ;)

Parents of course are typically more easily susceptible - sleep deprivation is part of common brain washing techniques.
Re:6 months? by Rhalin · 2012-12-25 05:13 · Score: 2

Insane.
Put the phone away. Talk to the child. You know: teach human interaction? This is a child, not your personal experiment.
A review of the evidence in the Archives Of Disease in Childhood says children's obsession with TV, computers and screen games is causing developmental damage as well as long-term physical harm. Doctors at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, which co-owns the journal with the British Medical Journal group, say they are concerned. Guidelines in the US, Canada and Australia already urge limits on children's screen time, but there are none yet in Britain.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/oct/09/ban-under-threes-watching-television
Why would you substitute the acquisition of developmental language skills and the attendant ability to relate and empathise - with a fixation on shiny lights and noises?
I understand that this is Slashdot - but value of the concept cannot be completely alien...
This. A thousand times this. It doesn't matter that they like it, it is still a bad idea to encourage it at that age. Too lazy to cite other sources, but they exist.
Re:6 months? by icebraining · 2012-12-25 05:16 · Score: 4, Insightful

As soon as I ready the title, I knew that some condescending prick would post something like this.
Who the fuck said anything about substituting normal communication with this? Are you somehow incapable of doing more than one thing per day, let alone per week?
Your study proposes imposing limits on screen time, not banning them as if a couple of hours of TV per week is going to mush the kids brains. Stop assuming everyone but you is incapable of having common sense.

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Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:22 · Score: 0

Totally agree. If you give this baby a tablet, you'll be growing a moron. Talk to your child, let it run upon grass, give him a bike... anything but a hideous tablet.
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:24 · Score: 0

See, the thing is, you can't just power off a baby when the park closes or it's raining or snowing outside. Yes, you shouldn't have your child fixate on blinky things for hours on end. You know what else you don't do? Plop a six month old child in snow bank for 8 hours.
Use your imagination. Taking your child to the park is an example of ONE thing out of many that you could be doing that is better than handing them a tablet and forgetting about them. Read with them, do arts and crafts with them or any of dozens of other things that promotes health and well-being.

You allow them to explore, see what they want to see, play with what they want to play with
The definition of a bad parent is one who does this. The child does not decide what they want to do when they are that young, that is for the parents to decide.

Of course, you would be aware of all this if you were an actual parent instead of a self-appointed child development expert.
And you're another irresponsible moron who should never have had children because you obviously cannot or will not care for them.
Re:6 months? by kheldan · 2012-12-25 05:35 · Score: 5, Insightful

This. This, times 1,000,000.
The world doesn't need children who connect better with machines than they do other human beings.

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Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:40 · Score: 0

Who the fuck said anything about substituting normal communication with this?
There's a huge precedent with parenting and TV from the 20th century that clearly shows that yes, these devices WILL be used to substitute normal communication for a really big number of people.
Re:6 months? by icebraining · 2012-12-25 05:42 · Score: 2

And I'm sure that if people here act like condescending pricks, all those lazy parents will see the errors of their ways and turn off the TVs.

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Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:46 · Score: 0

How about that? A condescending prick complaining about condescending prick.
Re:6 months? by maeglin · 2012-12-25 05:48 · Score: 1

See, the thing is, you can't just power off a baby when the park closes or it's raining or snowing outside. Yes, you shouldn't have your child fixate on blinky things for hours on end. You know what else you don't do? Plop a six month old child in snow bank for 8 hours.
Use your imagination. Taking your child to the park is an example of ONE thing out of many that you could be doing that is better than handing them a tablet and forgetting about them. Read with them, do arts and crafts with them or any of dozens of other things that promotes health and well-being.
At what point did I advocate forgetting about them for hours on end?
Was it here:

stick with them to make sure they're safe and have someone to turn to when *they* want social time. After a little time with activity X you encourage them to move on to something else.
Holy crap! It looks like I said the exact opposite.

You allow them to explore, see what they want to see, play with what they want to play with
The definition of a bad parent is one who does this. The child does not decide what they want to do when they are that young, that is for the parents to decide.

Of course, you would be aware of all this if you were an actual parent instead of a self-appointed child development expert.
And you're another irresponsible moron who should never have had children because you obviously cannot or will not care for them.
Again with the context:

You allow them to explore, see what they want to see, play with what they want to play with (with the exception of knives and guns) and stick with them to make sure they're safe and have someone to turn to when *they* want social time. After a little time with activity X you encourage them to move on to something else.
Strange, it's almost as if you keep taking things out of context on purpose. Either that or you're saying only a bad parent stays with their child, keeps them safe and encourages them to try many activities? Hmm... Strange either way.
Some day I hope you become aware of the fact that children are, at all ages, actually human beings who need to learn both through exploration as well as guidance and not be placed in a cage with "approved content." But, hey, worst case, you'll only be messing up your own kids so it's not really a problem for me if you don't.
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:52 · Score: 0

And my 2 year old has been playing Angry Birds for over a year. Its not a game I would have taught her, but she learned it from my older kids and now my wife uses it to entertain her (like when we are at Cub Scout banquets or during the weekly basketball awards). She's plenty socialized; she's extroverted and typically loves watching and talking to people; she's very caring of others. She can also count to 14; since my wife and I have been concentrating on letters and sounds she must have learned the from TV or a game somewhere. Of course the WII U they got this morning is still sitting unopened (I think my wife and I want to play it more than the kids) the Kindles have only been played with for about an hour (they wanted them initially, but quickly moved on to playing with dolls or building). Long term, I'm sure the Kindles will get plenty of use; my four year old really enjoys having it read to him and the unlimited kids books includes Curious George, one of his favorites. Doesn't replace real books and sitting them in your lap to play, but I'm always amazed at what they can learn on their own and how much they enjoy showing me what they learned that day when I get home.
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:54 · Score: 0

You are fucking liar.
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:55 · Score: 0

And I'm sure that if people here act like condescending pricks, all those lazy parents will see the errors of their ways and turn off the TVs.
People like us TRIED civil discourse in the past to get them to see the errors of their ways. It failed. Plus, we were accused of being condescending elitist pricks because we dared to tell stupid people with massive entitlement issues that they were wrong. Imagine! Being accused of that without even get to have fun actually BEING condescending pricks!
So now, we're just directly going to be condescending pricks. We know it won't work, but at the very least we can have SOME sort of fun with it.
Re:6 months? by PolygamousRanchKid+ · 2012-12-25 05:59 · Score: 3, Insightful

Talk to the child.
Is there an app for that . . . ?

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Re:6 months? by hb253 · 2012-12-25 06:22 · Score: 5, Insightful

It may sound condescending, but really - 6-months old and you're asking about apps? All the kid wants to do at this age is pound things on the floor and slobber on them.
How about just giving the kid a colorful cardboard square and be done with it.

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Re:6 months? by AlephNaut · 2012-12-25 06:28 · Score: 0

Typical reactionary FU. My kid will be 3 levels ahead of yours because he's been doing math, physics and biology since he was two. And more importantly having fun while doing it.
At this point I think tablets are mainly ideal for kids. I never use mine except when playing with my son (ultrabook is much more functional).
Lighten up. The kids love them, they'reunbelievably educational and they provide a great way to bond as you play together. Download zoodles and only let your kid play the educational stuff.
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 06:36 · Score: 0

Wishy-washy. You argue against one point and go on to support that very point. Make up your mind.
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 06:40 · Score: 0

lol 3 levels ahead? So he got +int and +wis huh? Fucking dork, your kid is going to be shoved into a locker and abused and he has his fuckup of a dad to thank for that!
Re:6 months? by davester666 · 2012-12-25 06:41 · Score: 1

Yes, buy the child...another child to play with.

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Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 06:41 · Score: 0

There are applications for Android that can keep the user inside the application. There's an application called "Kid mode" (I think that's the name) which locks the user in the application unless a code is entered.
So yes, if you have an Android device, you can leave them "unsupervised" without having to worry too much about them getting their sticky fingers into stuff they shouldn't.
Re:6 months? by anagama · 2012-12-25 06:52 · Score: 2

Aside from that, an app could well be totally interractive with the kid. I suggest "cat games". Set kid on lap, fire it up, and help the kid touch the bugs. Interactive and teaches skills:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.catgamesfree&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImFpci5jYXRnYW1lc2ZyZWUiXQ..
Or if squishing bugs is too violent, how about Pew Pew Laser. Just makes a pretty light and "pew" sound:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jcoco.actual.pewpewlasers&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5qY29jby5hY3R1YWwucGV3cGV3bGFzZXJzIl0.

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Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 06:55 · Score: 0

The poster doth protest too much.
Re:6 months? by war4peace · 2012-12-25 06:57 · Score: 1

You're really pushing assumptions to absurdity.
The article you mention places a huge emphasis on TVs. Incidentally, I don't own a TV.
I use this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.idle.babytoy on my smartphone because my boy (now 1 year old) is very interested in my phone when I'm talking or checking my e-mail. I only pull out the phone 3-4 times a day, and this app lets him mash the screen with very slim chances of accidentally exiting the app. Touching the Home button does nothing and he gets bored pretty fast. When he was smaller, he would play on this for 10-15 minutes, now he throws the phone away after maybe 2 minutes. The app is now there just because he needs to hold that thing that daddy uses, and this app helps me keep my phone stuff away from being accidentally messed up.
My child develops normally, he has an equal interest in cats, dogs, toys, people, other kids, mashing laptop and desktop keyboards (doesn't matter if the screen is on). He learned how to turn lights on and off, how to push/pull doors, he likes throwing balls more than anything though. 10 minutes per day of mashing a phone screen doesn't do any harm.

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Re:6 months? by maeglin · 2012-12-25 06:57 · Score: 1

Wishy-washy. You argue against one point and go on to support that very point. Make up your mind.
False dichotomy: Allowing a child to play with a gadget does not require parental abandonment any more than allowing them to play with a stuffed animal does. Any inconsistency or deviation between my two posts was only possible with the application of creative editing which is why I re-quoted the full context. I'm sorry if the real world doesn't match up with your sound-bite sized, pseudo-elite notions of "good" parental practices.
Of course, unless you're just a troll, then shame on me for biting.
Re:6 months? by icebraining · 2012-12-25 07:04 · Score: 0

Yes, I'm sure you know what a kid you know nothing about wants better than his or her parents.

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Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 07:19 · Score: 0

The article posed a question. If you can't handle the answers, then you shouldn't be reading this.
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 07:23 · Score: 0

Because the father is obviously spending too much time on the tablet itself, even when with the kid. That's why the kid is curious about it.
Poor kid.
Re:6 months? by Kozz · 2012-12-25 07:52 · Score: 4, Insightful

Being a responsible parent and allowing a child some brief app time don't have to be mutually exclusive, does it? What if you want a simple tool to help you keep your child entertained for a brief amount of time?
Real-world example: the other day I had my 2yr old with me while we went Christmas shopping. I found myself in an unavoidably long line, with him in the cart. I pulled out my phone which had installed on it a simple drawing/painting app. Each new "touch" would choose a random color from a preset palette, and he could drag his finger on the screen to draw lines, circles, or whatever. I then took a photo of him, and he could draw on that as well. We played together on it for maybe 5 minutes, which was really all I needed so we both didn't drive each other a bit crazy while waiting in line.
I don't really see anything wrong with this, and I suspect you wouldn't either -- but I could be wrong. And maybe that's not what the original question was about, but just my $0.02USD.

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Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 08:41 · Score: 0

I hope you don't raise your kids based on their wants, instead of what is right.
Re:6 months? by deroby · 2012-12-25 08:41 · Score: 3, Insightful

Kids at 6 months are VERY alike. Off course the kid loves the tablet, it's got bright, moving, pictures; it's shiny and it makes funny sounds.
I also think it's the stupidest thing to hook a young child on. At that age (s)he's supposed to start looking around, learn how to move and build up a sense of the world and probably even more important : build some social skills, people-interaction. The latter quickly turns into finding ways to get your attention in the most diverse ways which you'll have to 'direct' into some positive way. But heck, you're supposed to play peek-a-boo with him/her, not Angry Birds !
That said, I don't think of it as being "bad" to have the child watch you play on the tablet; can't be worse than e.g. watching TV. But the posters question seems to imply that he wants to let a toddler "play safely" on it without supervision and I can see some kind of time-line evolving like this :
* watch zombo.com for a while, get bored
* play some tap-the-clown and he starts-laughing games, get bored
* play some simple puzzles, get bored ...
* play some of those never-ending games where time == success and get your reality-view completely screwed up.
(OK, maybe I'm exaggerating here; but I surely am not taking the risk with my kids, and yes I have 2. Have you Icebraining ?)

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If there is one thing to be learned on slashdot, it has to be sarcasm.
Re:6 months? by SteveFoerster · 2012-12-25 08:46 · Score: 3, Informative

Are the people at the American Academy of Pediatrics condescending pricks as well? Because their advice is to allow no screen time at all for infants and toddlers.

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Re:6 months? by SteveFoerster · 2012-12-25 08:48 · Score: 1

Well, unless he takes a few levels of Fighter.

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Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 09:40 · Score: 0

Getting him/her started on a tablet at this time isn't going to do anything but harm them.
I'm going to have to go with what my wife has found on research about things like this, and it pretty much all agrees that having a child younger than 12 months staring at a screen will not make them smarter, it will actually make them more stupid. Things like Sesame Street are fine... for 3-year olds, which is their target audience, not for babies. I haven't asked her if she found any research specifically about screen-based devices you can interact with (computers, tablets, ...), but I'm not willing to bet my daughter's future on it being any better. (She is also about 6 months old.)
Of course, with the amount of screens in the house it's hard to avoid her looking at any of them, but we do try to be careful and not intentionally use it to get her attention.
Re:6 months? by greenfruitsalad · 2012-12-25 10:11 · Score: 2, Interesting

I love naive reponses from people with no kids. There are 2 reasons for using electronic devices like a tablet with a baby:
1. When I watch my wife entertaining/stimulating/educating/feeding/exercising and walking with our baby for 12 hours a day, I cannot but feel sorry for her. Being able to put the baby in front of a screen for half an hour a day gives her a way to avoid going insane.
2. A tablet/TV/computer screen/phone is not a way to avoid responsible parenting. It's simply yet another stimulant in the endless search for things to do with a baby that gets fed up with an activity after 15 minutes. (That's 30-40 different activities a day, every day (some activities like eating, singing, etc. can be repeated)
So my baby's recommendation is "my baby piano" on android.
Re:6 months? by spune · 2012-12-25 10:22 · Score: 1

How about taking care of your kid by *yourself* some in order to give Your Wife a break? The tv/smartphone is your first consideration?!
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 11:03 · Score: 0

As soon as I ready the title, I knew that some condescending prick would post something like this.
Who the fuck said anything about substituting normal communication with this? Are you somehow incapable of doing more than one thing per day, let alone per week?
Your study proposes imposing limits on screen time, not banning them as if a couple of hours of TV per week is going to mush the kids brains. Stop assuming everyone but you is incapable of having common sense.
Someone sounds defensive
Re:6 months? by greenfruitsalad · 2012-12-25 11:03 · Score: 2

Obviously, your first choice is to assume I am an insensitive clod. You Sir, have spent far too much time on Slashdot.
Re:6 months? by rtb61 · 2012-12-25 11:29 · Score: 1

Hmm, so I gather by that, you mean an Android app that at regular and random intervals annoys the crap out of the user until they put down the device and interact with their children. Failure to interact with children would result in annoyance remaining in place upon all user associated android devices. A parental responsibility reinforcement application ;).

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Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Re:6 months? by robot5x · 2012-12-25 11:45 · Score: 2

I normally avoid any threads here asking about kids and tech.

I generally take the 'live and let live' approach - but I have to agree here. This guy is a fucking retard. If you're worrying about which APP is suitable for a kid at 6 months old you're really doing something wrong. That is all.

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Hej! Nasi tu byli!
Re:6 months? by mingle · 2012-12-25 11:52 · Score: 4, Insightful

You have no idea... I have three kids under 6 years old (two of whom are twins). The last thing I'd ever do with a 6 month old is stick a screen or mind-numbing electronic gadget in front of them. As many posted have said; direct human interaction is what you should be striving for. Or if you're both too knackered (I know, I've been there!), physical object that they can hold and touch are the best alternative.
Re:6 months? by zippthorne · 2012-12-25 12:01 · Score: 2

* play some of those never-ending games where time == success and get your reality-view completely screwed up.
Training the kid for a career in "public service" or a union job might not be too bad for the kid, assuming that not too many parents do it that there aren't enough of the rest of us left to pay for things....

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Re:6 months? by iocat · 2012-12-25 12:02 · Score: 4, Insightful

You're not supposed to entertain infants. You're supposed to keep them from dying. Anything you do or that they see should be intrinsically motivating for them. This is why they love super boring shit like seeing car keys or business reply cards. If they're bored give them a wooden spoon. All a tablet is going to do is frustrate them.
Am I saying you're a bad parent if you use devices to entertain your less-than-12-month-old infant? Yes, I am. I am straight up judging you and finding you lacking if, after hundreds of thousands of years of non-screen-based infant development, you suddenly are too weak and useless to raise a child without a tiny TV next to them. You're a disgrace to our species.
Source: raised kid without showing them TV until they were after 1 year old. I don't mean they never saw a TV, I'm just saying we never used it as a babysitter or were like "now's the time when you watch tv"

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Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 12:06 · Score: 0

At 6 months a child is learning certain basic reasoning skills and the phone/tablet can be another in the list of things to build those skills. I added an app called "Baby Toy" to my phone for situations where I needed to distract him while dealing with other things.
It is a simple application where you press a button and it plays a sound. It has three separate screens of different grouped objects with smallish buttons on the bottom to shift between them. What fascinated me was that after a little play time my son quickly realized that flipping the phone would move between the screens. At first I didn't understand why he kept flipping the phone around in his hands. And I do think it awesome that the authors of the app thought to include something that would be intuitively grasped by babies.
And no, no pounding (it got taken away if he got tired of it and tried to drop it), no slobbering (same, taken away if chewed upon), and seemed to teach some basic skills (flipping the phone helps with dexterity, connecting an object with its sound). Also useful in a toolkit of things to help keep him occupied in some settings. Not to knock the colorful cardboard square... colorful plastic ones certainly hold his attention at times too. :)
Re:6 months? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · 2012-12-25 12:12 · Score: 4, Insightful

I look forward to the "Ask Slashdot" six years from now, asking how to cope with a tech-obsessed and uncommunicative autistic child.

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Never been known to fail..."
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 12:41 · Score: 0

I put 120k miles on my car (a small 2 door coupe) with 2 kids in the back starting at 0 until they were 4 in the mid 90's. MANY long haul trips with the four of us or just my wife and the two kids. No family bus or minivan, no portable dvd players, no ipads etc. They had small kids toys appropriate for their age and that was it. They were perfectly happy in their seats. I will say having two kids one year apart made it easier in some ways. They entertained each other.
I know have a grand kid living at home that is 4 months old which brings me right back to the old days. They are excited by anything moving. It does not have to be an iPad app.
Re:6 months? by garaged · 2012-12-25 13:25 · Score: 1

With all due respect, attitude like that about kids is what is wrong with this world, please take a look at kids of friends of you that agree on your caring methods, I bet you can find good evidene of your current mistake.
I am a parent, not the best one, but I can see what you are doing wrong here, my girls use tablets and computers, but they are already on elementary school, and that is just one of the tons of activities we need to push them to, and we get really tired, and that is what it's meant to be, please rethink the way you are planning your parenting.

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Re:6 months? by Myopic · 2012-12-25 14:21 · Score: 1

Why would you substitute the acquisition of developmental language skills and the attendant ability to relate and empathise - with a fixation on shiny lights and noises?
False dichotomy and straw man. Thanks, I'm looking for an option you didn't list: acquisition of all sorts of skills, not just the subset you want to restrict your children to.
Re:6 months? by Myopic · 2012-12-25 14:24 · Score: 4, Interesting

Why would you choose to give them a mind-numbing electronic gadget instead of a mind-engaging electronic gadget? Do you give your children mind-numbing wooden toys? How about reading them mind-numbing books? Golly I don't give my children mind-numbing anything. Any electronic gadget used in my household engages the mind, like everything else in my house.
Re:6 months? by Myopic · 2012-12-25 14:29 · Score: 0

I'm not following your path to that judgement. We also had hundreds of thousands of years without clothing, cooking, or sanitation. Are your children crawling around naked all the time? Is their diet restricted to grubs, raw vegetables and pond water? Do you refuse to wipe your child's ass with anything but a pinecone or the back of your left hand? Why would you insist on caveman standards? Is it somehow difficult for you to believe that a responsible parent could use pretty much everything in his modern environment in appropriate ways during child rearing?
Re:6 months? by Myopic · 2012-12-25 14:32 · Score: 2

You're not a jackass because you judged some parents who use televisions as babysitters, you're a jackass because you used black-white thinking to put into a single group anybody who uses any electronics around babies. It's shallow thinking. It's prejudice premised on ignorance.
Re:6 months? by Myopic · 2012-12-25 14:34 · Score: 2

Why are you purposely retarding your children's development? It seems like a mean thing to do just to preserve some kind of parenting philosophy.
Re:6 months? by Myopic · 2012-12-25 14:35 · Score: 1

You're an ass for defining "right" as "whatever I just said". It's a transparent rhetorical failure.
Re:6 months? by Myopic · 2012-12-25 14:41 · Score: 1

Actually, it does, so if that is really how you would make the decision then I guess you'd better change your mind. I suspect that's not really how you decided, though.
Re:6 months? by martin-boundary · 2012-12-25 15:29 · Score: 1

It may sound condescending, but really - 6-months old and you're asking about apps? All the kid wants to do at this age is pound things on the floor and slobber on them.

Uh, don't take this the wrong way, but I think your 6-month-old *may* have been surfing one too many porn sites late at night, after you're asleep. Better check the browser cache...
Re:6 months? by Myopic · 2012-12-25 15:53 · Score: 1

better than handing them a tablet and forgetting about them
Hmmm, it seems like the problem is the forgetting, not the tablet. If you try a little harder you might develop the ability to think nuanced thoughts so that you can divide those things. Give it a shot, it might be fun for you.
Re:6 months? by Myopic · 2012-12-25 15:58 · Score: 0

Was a random trial or a retrospective? Let's a have a link to your wife's publications so we can see if her research really says what you say it does.
Wait I just re-read your comment and realized all you mean is my overbearing wife googled some shit on the internet and got worried. You can still provide the studies, though, so that we can tell you why they don't mean what your wife thinks they do.
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 17:02 · Score: 0

With all due respect, you were sort of asking for that reply when you said:
"When I watch my wife entertaining/stimulating/educating/feeding/exercising and walking with our baby for 12 hours a day, I cannot but feel sorry for her"
You make it sound like you sit there staring at her saying "gee, I really with there was some way I could help" without actually helping. I suspect you don't mean you actually watch her, but more that you are aware she does that while you are at work and such. But you said what you said, and you sort of asked for the response you got :-)
Re:6 months? by NFN_NLN · 2012-12-25 18:02 · Score: 4, Interesting

How about taking care of your kid by *yourself* some in order to give Your Wife a break? The tv/smartphone is your first consideration?!
It was once socially acceptable to dope up children with opiates. Anyone with any common sense should have been able to see this was not healthy.
History repeats.
"Youngsters were introduced to the pleasures of opiates at their mothers' breast. Harassed baby-minders - and overworked parents - found opium-based preparations were a dependable way to keep their kids happy and docile; this was an era before Ritalin. Sales of Godfrey's Cordial, a soothing syrup of opium tincture effective against colic, were prodigious. But Godfrey's Cordial had its competitors: Street's Infants' Quietness, Atkinson's Infants' Preservative, and Mrs Winslow's Soothing Syrup.
Opium was viewed as a medicine, not a drug of abuse. Contemporary medical theory didn't allow that one could become addicted to a cure. However, the chemists and physicians most actively investigating the properties of opium were also its dedicated consumers; and this may conceivably have coloured their judgement."
Re:6 months? by pitchpipe · 2012-12-25 18:59 · Score: 1

You're not supposed to entertain people. You're supposed to keep them from dying. Anything you do or that they see should be intrinsically motivating for them. This is why they love super boring shit like seeing violence and having sex. If they're bored give them a dildo. All a tablet is going to do is frustrate them.
Am I saying you're a bad person if you use devices to entertain yourself? Yes, I am. I am straight up judging you and finding you lacking if, after hundreds of thousands of years of non-screen-based entertainment, you suddenly are too weak and useless to exist without a tiny TV. You're a disgrace to our species.
Source: Never watched TV. I don't mean I never saw a TV, I'm just saying I never used it as mind numbing entertainment or were like "now's the time when you watch tv"

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Look where all this talking got us, baby.
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 19:52 · Score: 0

While I may agree; I would add that most people are not worth connecting to.
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 20:56 · Score: 0

Yet, with phones and tablets, they really don't. My 3 yr olds have no clue how to work a mouse. They have no idea how to interact with a computer in the same way we do. They just know that of they press a pictogram, video of barney or Elmo starts to play.
Seriously, unless your kid is spending hours and hours per day on your iPad, a little youtubing or kids apps are no more harmful than sticking them in front of a tv for the same duration.
Use it when convenient, but don't make it a nanny.
Re:6 months? by Johnny+Mnemonic · 2012-12-25 21:09 · Score: 1

Fuck the kids, I would drink that stuff by the pint the next time I have to get on a plane.

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$tar -xvf .sig.tar
Re:6 months? by caywen · 2012-12-25 21:14 · Score: 1

Actually, at that age they have absolutely no idea what they are looking at. If something unsavory happens to appear, I wouldn't panic. That said, there really isn't a difference between fun, colorful shapes in a browser and fun colorful shapes dangling above their crib. Yes, I would limit it, if only to play it safe. But people overly freaking out about a little screen time.
My twins absolutely loved watching electric sheep screen savers. Today, they are wonderful little kids. It didn't make them crzy,smarter, weirder, or creative. It was just fun.
Re:6 months? by icebraining · 2012-12-25 21:45 · Score: 1

No, now that you properly abased OP with your post, I'm sure s/he has seen the light and will relinquish all the media devices from the house until the kid is 33 and married.

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Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 23:30 · Score: 0

" At that age, no parent should even consider letting their child use an Internet-connected device unsupervised. "
Oh bullshit. What is the child going to do? Surf to pr0n? Even if it did, it wouldn't understand what it was seeing.
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-26 03:05 · Score: 0

Agreed. Give your kid physical objects to play with like blocks, or other things with different textures, Give then stuff they can put in their mouths safely. Let them go outside and play in the dirt and mud (but keep the cat poop out-you don't want schizophrenia from parasites). Let them be active, so they don't get obese.
Keep the electronics shut off--including TV--until they are at least two maybe three.
Re:6 months? by hb253 · 2012-12-26 03:32 · Score: 1

LOL
Thank you for injecting humor into the conversation

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Self awareness - try it!
Re:6 months? by hb253 · 2012-12-26 03:34 · Score: 1

Heh, I'm thankfully long past the 6-month stage. My kids are 21 and 16.

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Self awareness - try it!
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-26 04:45 · Score: 0

A 6-12 month-old needs to develop their language skills and their motor skills, this is best done with real conversation directed to your kid, and toys they can shake/bend/twist/stack/topple. It really isn't something that can be provided, at least not provided well, by apps running on a tablet. Giving a child simple toys really does help their development in ways I really doubt a tablet would.
Re:6 months? by Lawrence_Bird · 2012-12-26 04:55 · Score: 1

Yeah.. just like all those mommas for the the past.. 50,000 years? (more?) have gonna crazy because they didn't have a phone/tablet for the baby to play with. Get a grip.
Re:6 months? by Myopic · 2012-12-26 05:50 · Score: 1

There is no reason that developing language and motor skills is at odds with tablet apps. Think harder about that.
Re:6 months? by morethanapapercert · 2012-12-26 07:28 · Score: 1

"value of the concept cannot be completely alien..."
by Jeremiah Cornelius (137) on Tuesday December 25, @11:39AM
Says the man spending Christmas morning with his computer, reading Slashdot instead of hanging out with fellow humans in the real world...

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Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-26 08:27 · Score: 0

Insane.
Put the phone away. Talk to the child. You know: teach human interaction? This is a child, not your personal experiment
Agreed one hundred percent with keeping the child away from devices and spending time with the child. The relationship or lack thereof you have with your child will affect them throughout their entire life. Not having access to an Apple iPad will not even figure into their emotional, psychological, physiological, nor cognitive development. If you want a toy get yourself a programmable robot with built-in rudimentary artificial intelligence.
Re:6 months? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · 2012-12-26 16:52 · Score: 1

Who says we celebrate the pagan, tree decoration?

--
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Re:6 months? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · 2012-12-26 16:54 · Score: 1

And... You're not GMT. ;-)

--
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Re:6 months? by Phoghat · 2012-12-26 22:52 · Score: 1

I guess the kid got tired of "Poop My Pants II"

--
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-26 23:10 · Score: 0

Insane.
Put the phone away. Talk to the child. You know: teach human interaction? This is a child, not your personal experiment.
A review of the evidence in the Archives Of Disease in Childhood says children's obsession with TV, computers and screen games is causing developmental damage as well as long-term physical harm. Doctors at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, which co-owns the journal with the British Medical Journal group, say they are concerned. Guidelines in the US, Canada and Australia already urge limits on children's screen time, but there are none yet in Britain.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/oct/09/ban-under-threes-watching-television
Why would you substitute the acquisition of developmental language skills and the attendant ability to relate and empathise - with a fixation on shiny lights and noises?
I understand that this is Slashdot - but value of the concept cannot be completely alien...
We have several generations that have grown up with the TV as babysitter from age 0, and in the last 3 decades years we have increased the load with computers and other gizmos. The consequences are evident for any experienced teacher. Now we even have research that backs what they have been saying for years. So put away the gizmos until the kid is at least 3.
Re:6 months? by greenfruitsalad · 2012-12-27 05:11 · Score: 1

You simply assumed the worst (you insensitive clod). I don't feel like writing irrelevant background information with every relevant response. But since you're 'sort of asking', we use sip video calls (h263 on asterisk) so that I can watch my baby play when I'm at work.
Re:6 months? by GigsVT · 2012-12-28 03:27 · Score: 1

For 49,950 of those years, women weren't expected to work. Then came the feminists, who fucked it up for everyone.

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Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-28 19:44 · Score: 0

You're an ass for defining "right" as "whatever I just said". It's a transparent rhetorical failure.
Ad hominems are a transparent rhetorical failure too, so please do join the club.
Re:6 months? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-28 23:36 · Score: 0

Uh, don't take this the wrong way, but I think your 6-month-old *may* have been surfing one too many porn sites late at night, after you're asleep. Better check the browser cache...

Not only that, I seen a study that shows that 99% of idiots frequently watched breasts at age 3-9 months
Re:6 months? by fustakrakich · 2012-12-29 07:20 · Score: 1

You need to give the kid chewable tablets!

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“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Re:6 months? by Myopic · 2012-12-30 03:29 · Score: 1

He's not wrong because he's an ass, he's wrong for the reason I pointed out. His being an ass is an extra characteristic. If I said he was wrong because he was an ass, that would be an ad hominem, but that's not what I did. If you are going to try to use pedantry, you need to learn the rules. Right now you're just a bad troll.
See what I did there? I called you a bad troll, which is a personal attack but it's not an ad hominem fallacy because I explained why you were wrong separate from the personal insult.

want funny noises? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:23 · Score: 0

pull my finger! Especially after I eat at taco bell!!!!

Couting Robot by Jah-Wren+Ryel · 2012-12-25 04:24 · Score: 3, Informative

Counting Robot

Basically it is a sort of whack-a-mole with different numbers of moles each time.

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When information is power, privacy is freedom.

Zoodles by detain · 2012-12-25 04:25 · Score: 2

http://www.zoodles.com/home/marketing/android Pretty good kid-mode for android. Disables most apps / buttons and provides its own kid interface to just what you enable.

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Re:Zoodles by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-26 00:46 · Score: 0

I second that. My daughter (3 yrs) loves it and uses it for all kinds of nurseryrhymes, puzzles etc.
She started using Zoodles at about 1.5 years and plays it perhaps 3-5 times / week. She's learnt *a lot* from it (besides having fun).
However, we noticed that her verbal skills declined temporarily when starting to attend nursery; She started pronouncing some words incorrectly, words that she was using correctly prior to starting.
This was due to the other children in her age group not being able to speak properly (and she copied it).
Perhaps all kids should get a good dose of Zoodles prior to nursery..

Give the best app by Computer_kid · 2012-12-25 04:25 · Score: 5, Insightful

Love and affection. At that age it is nothing more then a glowing rectangle that makes noise. Go outside and show your children the world around them.

Re:Give the best app by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:39 · Score: 1

I agree with this 100%. Plus, very soon, your kid is going to start putting everything in his/her mouth, like my 9 month old. Electronic devices with small plastic parts that might break off aren't the best thing to give them. Better to get some colorful squishy blocks or the ubiquitous donut stacker toy. These toys you can give without much worry, and they still have some educational value.
Re:Give the best app by icebraining · 2012-12-25 05:19 · Score: 1

Yes, doing various activities? Unpossible! If the parent wants to let the kid play with something, that obviously means that's all the kid will do all day!

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Re:Give the best app by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:48 · Score: 0

How do you think children learn.. through PLAY.
Re:Give the best app by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:57 · Score: 0

"Go outside and show your children the world around them"
I tried that yesterday. Then she fell off the sled. We lasted 10 minutes.
Re:Give the best app by nbauman · 2012-12-25 06:44 · Score: 1

Is there an app for parents that suggests things to do with kids and then turns the phone off?
Re:Give the best app by Pulzar · 2012-12-25 08:26 · Score: 1

What an obnoxious comment. You'd think that at least here on Slashdot people would be intelligent enough to understand that when somebody asks for an advice on an activity, it doesn't mean that that's the only thing they will do for the rest of their lives.

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Never underestimate the bandwidth of a 747 filled with CD-ROMs.
Re:Give the best app by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 10:24 · Score: 0

If you're coming to slashdot for parenting advice, you've already failed
Re:Give the best app by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 11:38 · Score: 0

yeah-- let them learn about bees and fire ants!
Re:Give the best app by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 12:20 · Score: 0

Do you have a baby?
As someone with a seven month old baby, who gets lots and lots of love and attention, I have found having a baby piano application really useful for those moments when nothing else will do - often when you are out (yeah, going outside - babies get grumpy outside you know) and have a limited selection of toys. A phone or tablet can be dozens of different baby toys.

At that age it is nothing more then a glowing rectangle that makes noise.
Yeah, it's just another toy. Babies have toys. Playing is a really really important aspect of child development.
I seriously think that some people think that babies are tended for every minute of their waking life, and it should be 100% hugs, attention, expressed parental love, etc. It's not like that at all - but you have to go through it to actually know it. You'd never get anything done, so leaving the child in a chair for a bit (strapped in safely), or on their front, or sitting with toys, or in a walker/bouncer whilst you do things you just have to do - eat, prepare food, cleaning, washing, etc, is actually a very common things. And maybe the child will learn a little patience - and if they're unhappy YOU WILL KNOW.
I guess nobody here wrote anything about babies loving to bash things, and thus giving them access to a crackable display on an expensive device is probably not a bright idea unless you are actually using the device in a 100% monitored, cuddled environment.
Re:Give the best app by Myopic · 2012-12-25 16:02 · Score: 1

What was it about the question asked that make you assume that the child would be deprived of the other needful infantile stimulation? Why would some tablet playtime prevent a child from going outside or seeing the world around them?
Re:Give the best app by Myopic · 2012-12-25 16:03 · Score: 1, Interesting

Also note that the comment was from user "Computer_kid". Perhaps he's a self-hating nerd.
Re:Give the best app by aicrules · 2012-12-26 06:34 · Score: 1

The problem is people come to slashdot for tech advice that happens to connect to their children and INSTEAD they get 99% "parenting" advice as responses that almost entirely are telling you how stupid a parent you are to even ask the question. Slashdot is a great haven for an amazing number of expert parents. Alas, asking if there are any Android apps that make a tablet more than just a plastic brick for a toddler to chew on and throw around is treated as felony child abuse here.
Re:Give the best app by aicrules · 2012-12-26 06:37 · Score: 1

But every parent on slashdot carries their child around 100% of the time, especially during such activities as cooking with boiling oil, fighting fires, weeding, installing new drywall in the ceiling, replacing an engine in a 68 vette...etc... oh and lighting fireworks on 4th of july...gotta have the kid on your hip then too.
Re:Give the best app by aicrules · 2012-12-26 06:38 · Score: 1

Because those who responded in that way (high percentage of respondents that I've browsed through) don't have any experience with the subject, so they default to berating the question asker as a way to participate in the discussion. Advanced karma whoring for dummies.

No TV or Electronics for the 1st Two years. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:25 · Score: 0

No TV or Electronics for the 1st Two years.

Re:No TV or Electronics for the 1st Two years. by collet · 2012-12-25 14:16 · Score: 1

Fuck that, no TV for the first nineteen years, and your child will be a fucking genius. TV is just a massive brain drain.
Re:No TV or Electronics for the 1st Two years. by collet · 2012-12-25 14:17 · Score: 1

Well, some TV is kinda okay but the majority of it is utter shit, so don't even have one in your house.

Toddler Lock by throup · 2012-12-25 04:25 · Score: 5, Informative

Toddler Lock works nicely. Cool colours and sounds as they touch the screen. It temporarily replaces the home screen so it locks out phone/internet/other app access until an adult follows the onscreen unlock instructions.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=marcone.toddlerlock

Re:Toddler Lock by j-cloth · 2012-12-25 04:44 · Score: 2

Seconded. Both kids have loved this. It's perfect when you need a few seconds of distraction (like changing the diaper of a mad kid) Similarly, I use bam bam on my laptop. Same idea-puts all keys in a safe mode.
Re:Toddler Lock by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:09 · Score: 0

Highly recommend.
Re:Toddler Lock by Frosty+Piss · 2012-12-25 06:45 · Score: 2

My kid seems incredibly interested in my Android tablet, but I'm not too comfortable with letting her play with my browser.

On the other hand, your kid already knows what a boob looks like...

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If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
Re:Toddler Lock by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 21:19 · Score: 0

thirded toddler lock works like a charm
Re:Toddler Lock by Agent0013 · 2012-12-26 02:21 · Score: 1

I was coming here to say Toddler Lock also. I found it to be perfect for letting my daughter play with my phone when she was little. It makes nice chime sounds and bright lines or shapes with any touch of the screen. All the buttons get interrupted also so they can't leave the app and do anything else on your phone or tablet. It does enough to keep little ones interested without being complicated or overstimulating. So great I bought the donate version!

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Re:Toddler Lock by stlthVector · 2012-12-26 08:02 · Score: 1

Yes, Toddler Lock is great since it blocks access to other functions. It's better then Zoodles at 6 months for sure. I don't love Zoodles because of the extra fee content that kids try to use but they can't until you pay.
Re:Toddler Lock by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-26 09:33 · Score: 0

Yes, Toddler Lock is awesome.
I also wrote my daughter a game for my laptop using XNA and C#. She didn't really like it.

Not really my place but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:27 · Score: 1

The current research is indicating that children under 2 years old should not have any screen time (tv included). And after 2 years they are saying that it should be limited to under 2 hours. I know it is a popular thing to do to have your kids zone out in front of a screen but it may significantly hinder their development. That said it is ultimately your call.

Re:Not really my place but... by dolmen.fr · 2012-12-25 07:03 · Score: 1

Don't mistake "The current research" with "One research paper posted on Slashdot a few months ago ". You're over-generalizing. Or maybe you are an expert on the subject, but in that case I would be happy to see the other sources you know.
Re:Not really my place but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 12:20 · Score: 1

Or maybe he or she can fucking read: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/health/19babies.html?_r=0. But who the fuck is the American association of pediatrics anyway and why should we trust them?
Now, let me show you the next two replies to this thread:
-*Derp Derp* TV and a phone aren't the same thing so you can't apply this research to phones *derp derp*
-Watching a screen which has moving colors and sounds and entertains are the same thing and the research applies
You're welcome.
Re:Not really my place but... by Myopic · 2012-12-25 16:38 · Score: 1

You fail because you unsuccessfully attempted to equate "any screen time" with "zone out in front of a screen". Sorry, those of us with the ability to reason saw thought your weak rhetoric.

Real play and physical interaction are better by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:27 · Score: 2, Insightful

My understanding is that physical play with 3D objects (e.g. blocks) for motor skills and physical interaction with a parent for language skills are much more important to young children than learning apps. Anecdotally, I've heard that kids learn language much better from real interaction with an adult than from language aps.

Although this might be heresy for a tech web site, put away the screens, big and small, for the very young!

Re:Real play and physical interaction are better by icebraining · 2012-12-25 05:21 · Score: 1, Insightful

And sleeping is more important than reading Slashdot, therefore we should be always sleeping and never read slashdot, not even for 5mins.

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Re:Real play and physical interaction are better by Myopic · 2012-12-25 16:45 · Score: 0

Seriously. I think the Slashdot regulars really over-interpreted this question, don't you think? I think they read way too much into it. For instance, the GP jumped to "learning apps" and "language apps", but the question specifically asks about silly noises and sounds. The question has nothing to do with replacing outdoors and human interaction with cold machines and software. That's nonsense. Everyone keeps saying "you shouldn't put your kid in front of a TV and let them watch mindless crap every waking minute for their entire infancy". Yes, thank you Slashdot geniuses, you have really demonstrated your wisdom with a nugget like that. Way to think through the question all the way.

Simple answer by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:27 · Score: 3, Insightful

This idiotic question is easy to answer. Any app calling shutdown() right at the beginning will do just fine.

Really, just stop fucking up your kids.

Parenting by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:27 · Score: 0, Insightful

Parenting is the best app. It involves spending time with your children. Don't let them play too much with your tablet (or any screen/computer), as at that age staying at a screen that is a fixed distance away will highly impair their ocular development. Seriously, save games like that until they are older, get then some squeaky toys, rattles and building blocks.

Cat app by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:28 · Score: 0

There is some app where cats can hunt mices.. Not saying your kid has 20 claws.. But it is movement and precision. Look for it

Bubbles by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:29 · Score: 0

My kids really enjoy a bubble game. You touch the screen to make and pop bubbles its one of the first results on a search.

vi and cc by kthreadd · 2012-12-25 04:29 · Score: 4, Funny

If you want to make them into responsible open source contributors you better start as early as possible.

Re:vi and cc by rst123 · 2012-12-25 04:32 · Score: 2

suggesting vi without giving equal time to emacs? you trying to start a flame war?
Re:vi and cc by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:12 · Score: 0

suggesting vi without giving equal time to emacs? you trying to start a flame war?
Keep in mind that little hands have trouble pressing Escape Meta Alt Control Shift all at once.
Re:vi and cc by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:26 · Score: 0

Children should wait until they are at least 2 years old before trying (and failing) to use emacs, everyone knows that!
Re:vi and cc by anagama · 2012-12-25 07:00 · Score: 1

Well, kids should probably just stick to nano.

--
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
Re:vi and cc by aliquis · 2012-12-25 09:23 · Score: 1

suggesting vi without giving equal time to emacs? you trying to start a flame war?
No, precisely as you suggested he never mentioned emacs. So there's no chance for a flame war. Well. Until your comment was posted that was =P
Re:vi and cc by zippthorne · 2012-12-25 12:09 · Score: 0

Vi is a powerful text editor that will make you more efficient at writing tasks term papers to code. It includes a procedural scripting language for advanced editing and text processing.
Emacs is a powerful text editor that will let you play chess or watch it solve puzzles instead of writing your term papers or code. It includes a lisp dialect scripting language to give you another thing to do instead of writing or coding your real project.

--
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
Re:vi and cc by WhatAreYouDoingHere · 2012-12-25 12:20 · Score: 1

Hmm.. I thought vi is a text editor and emacs is an operating system... oh well.

--
"What are you doing here, Elijah?"
Re:vi and cc by Myopic · 2012-12-25 16:50 · Score: 0

vi and emacs are both for people stuck in the 1980s. By the early 1990s the good lord gave us BBEdit.
vi/emacs : BBEdit :: paper airplane : space shuttle
Re:vi and cc by hodet · 2012-12-26 07:05 · Score: 1

Yes but only if they learn to type in nano directly. Don't let them near the pico alias to nano. It's for their own good.

All tablets are for babies by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:31 · Score: 0

Any tablet will do. Today's tablet designated for maximum age of 5 years.

Fresh air from the real world? by LABarr · 2012-12-25 04:34 · Score: 0

You could also consider that the child will likely have an entire lifetime of interaction with electronic devices. Instead of fostering an early development for something that will likely be inevitable anyway, why not take the kid outdoors out into the real world and foster a love at an early age for the non-cyber world as well?

Re:Fresh air from the real world? by Myopic · 2012-12-25 16:54 · Score: 1

You are reading too much into it. Electronics and the outdoors aren't mutually exclusive and they don't detract from one another. People can have both, children can have both. This question has nothing to do with giving up nature or spending all your time in front of computers. None of that was implied by the question.
Re:Fresh air from the real world? by s0nicfreak · 2012-12-26 03:46 · Score: 1

Most android devices are portable and can be used outside.

You're a lazy excuse for a parent by stemarcoh · 2012-12-25 04:34 · Score: 1, Insightful

You've GOT to be kidding me! Are you serious? What the hell is wrong with you? Children that young need to experience THE WORLD not steer wide-eyed, slack jawed at a screen. You might as well put the poor thing up for adoption because you've already proven yourself to be a completely incompetent parent. This is so sad, so very very sad. I'll pray for your poor little child. (And I'm a devout atheist.) Let them play with blocks, with stuffed animals. Or, hey, has a novel concept - how about you, you lazy disinterested excuse for a real parent. Read them a freakin book. Bring them outside. Get a g*d d*mn puppy or kitten. The REAL WORLD people. The REAL WORLD is just on the other side of that plastic light emitting panel that your eyeballs are so hopelessly stuck to! GET A LIFE!! 6 months old. Oh my g*d!

Re:You're a lazy excuse for a parent by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:45 · Score: 0

You've GOT to be kidding me! Are you serious? What the hell is wrong with you? Children that young need to experience THE WORLD not steer wide-eyed, slack jawed at a screen. You might as well put the poor thing up for adoption because you've already proven yourself to be a completely incompetent parent. This is so sad, so very very sad. I'll pray for your poor little child. (And I'm a devout atheist.) Let them play with blocks, with stuffed animals. Or, hey, has a novel concept - how about you, you lazy disinterested excuse for a real parent. Read them a freakin book. Bring them outside. Get a g*d d*mn puppy or kitten. The REAL WORLD people. The REAL WORLD is just on the other side of that plastic light emitting panel that your eyeballs are so hopelessly stuck to! GET A LIFE!! 6 months old. Oh my g*d!
This. Tots don't need a tablet a stick or a rock is just as much fun. Also.. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12806594/ns/health-childrens_health/t/good-news-bad-news-tube-watching-tots/#.UNnX4qzIuSo
Re:You're a lazy excuse for a parent by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:01 · Score: 0

Come on now, TV and computers are going to destroy his attention span and ability to think clearly eventually. Might as well get it out of the way early so he won't miss them.
Re:You're a lazy excuse for a parent by l-ascorbic · 2012-12-25 05:09 · Score: 2

Self-righteous enough? You're obviously never had a screaming toddler on your lap while you're on the phone, when a minute of Talking Ginger on the Nexus is the difference between screaming and giggling contentedly. This isn't mutually exclusive with playing with blocks or stuffed toys.
Re:You're a lazy excuse for a parent by houghi · 2012-12-25 05:39 · Score: 2

So giving in to a toddler is the answer?
If you do not neglected your kid, it will sometimes cry to try out boundaries. If you give in at the young age, you will give in later as well.
You are not the kids best friend. They do not have to think you are great because you give in and do what they want.
You are the parent. You are there for the kid. Giving in is for yourself. This is not about you. This is not about the kid crying. This is about you giving the kid what it needs to grow up and know boundaries.
If you are lucky, your kids will get kids of their own and only then will they understand what you were trying to do. Till then, they probably hate you at some level.
And yes, I have had a crying toddler on the phone, craving attention that it wasn't getting. Tough shit. I will hang up, because I do not want the other person to be deaf. I then will call back as soon as the toddler s safe and out of noise range (probably still crying).
Obviously I do not take calls all of the day. However the kid has got to learn that sometimes I am not around, so it should learn that I take my 10 minute phone call or a 5 minute toilet break.

--
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
Re:You're a lazy excuse for a parent by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 06:28 · Score: 0

Yes because tablets and computers are not part of the real world? So books are ok, but ebooks are not?
Re:You're a lazy excuse for a parent by dolmen.fr · 2012-12-25 07:18 · Score: 1

Clickable link
Re:You're a lazy excuse for a parent by l-ascorbic · 2012-12-25 07:44 · Score: 2

Giving a baby something bright and shiny to play with to distract them from teething pain for five minutes isn't "giving in". Your argument seems to be that any attempt to stop a child from crying is spoiling them. I wonder how long your attitude would last if you were sat behind a 1 year old on a ten hour flight. Would you prefer their parents tried "In The Night Garden" on the iPad, or a lesson in boundaries?
Re:You're a lazy excuse for a parent by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 12:47 · Score: 0

Your poor poor children.
No parent should leave their baby/toddler crying (hint: they're telling you something, that's why they cry) than actually dealing with it. Maybe when they're four or so and playing up, then they can cry it out, but that's different from neglecting a baby. If you are talking about a four year old, then ignore some of the following - but the topic is about 12 month old babies, so I'll continue.
Bored babies will cry too, because they're bored. They don't want another cuddle, they don't want to play with stacking ring, or cuddly toy #9. They want something new, and a tablet app can provide that immediately. This isn't about spoiling them, it is about meeting their basic needs at that age. Obviously you shouldn't leave your baby with an expensive glass-toting tablet if you're not right their to supervise them, so maybe sticking them in a bouncer to watch a TV programme (In The Night Garden is particularly effective, as is The Simpsons oddly enough - must be the yellow) whilst you talk on the phone or take a dump is a better option.
In addition, the sound of a crying baby is meant to make the parents stressed so that they see to the baby's needs. NEEDS. For a parent the sound of their own baby crying is far far worse than the sound of another baby crying (so if you get stressed by another baby crying, think of the parents!). Maybe you're not the child's natural parent, if it works that way.
Your comment makes you out to be a real cunt of a father. Try being loving and understanding for once, rather than strict and authoritarian. You don't need to schedule in cuddles and love. You don't need to be a "hard dad". You really need a few visits from the social services IMO, they can give advice, or if that doesn't work (aka: "fuck them, what do these trained people know, I'm the daddy, I know best, FUCK OFF CRYING BASTARD BABY I'M ON THE PHONE") they can relocate the abused child somewhere where they will be loved. And you can go back to giving more consideration to the person on the phone than the helpless baby besides you.
Re:You're a lazy excuse for a parent by stemarcoh · 2012-12-25 14:47 · Score: 0

Just for the record, I've had two screaming toddlers on my lap, now super 12 and 8 year olds. Smart, well-adjusted, good in school, polite. And believe it or not, they don't have TVs in their rooms, we limit their screen time and they, wait for it.... READ! They have conversations. Yes, now that they're older, they play video games, have mobile devices. But I never would have given a toddler something that would soak up their attention from the real world. Call my post flamebait if you will, but I stand by my old-school ways (I'm not that old in fact) and believe human interactions and real-world experiences will always prove better than immitation alternatives.
Re:You're a lazy excuse for a parent by Myopic · 2012-12-25 16:55 · Score: 1

So you're saying a tablet is just as good as a rock, and a rock is perfectly fine? So you're saying there is no problem with the tablet? Also why do people keep jumping to "needs". Babies don't "need" wooden blocks, either.
Re:You're a lazy excuse for a parent by Myopic · 2012-12-25 17:00 · Score: 1

Did you just get all high and mighty about distracting a kid with trifles for a couple minutes, and defend yourself by saying you lock your child away crying to itself, bored with nothing to do, somewhere out of earshot?
I'm a brand new father. Giving a bored child a toy to play with quietly while adults are doing something important seems quite reasonable to me. Am I way out of line here?
Re:You're a lazy excuse for a parent by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 18:30 · Score: 0

Some fuckers need to be told the truth, and the GP did it.
Re:You're a lazy excuse for a parent by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 19:23 · Score: 0

No you're not.
I spend all *kinds* of time playing in the physical world with my kid.
(More than many on here, since I work from home.)
One time I let him play for about 2 minutes with "BeBot" on iOS.
You touch the screen, it makes cool musical noises.
He got a giggle out of it.
I promise you his neural development has not been delayed by this.
Yet, according to many of the comments on this thread I'm a poor excuse for a human, let alone a parent. ?!?
I'm truly re-evaluating the average intelligence of Slashdot...
Re:You're a lazy excuse for a parent by msim · 2012-12-26 01:24 · Score: 1

I'm getting that feeling as well. Playing with my tablet/phone is merely a fun thing for the child to do. Bright colours, some cool noises as reward for a certain action. Done with supervision and in moderation ( i am talking 5 minutes at a time,every few days at most) it can't destroy or delay development.
Parking the kid in front of the tv for 5 hours a day on the other hand, cannot be good for it's health/development.

--

Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know when your gonna get food poisoning.
Re:You're a lazy excuse for a parent by s0nicfreak · 2012-12-26 03:49 · Score: 1

Someone once said the same thing about books and stuffed animals.

".. Children that young need to experience THE WORLD not steer wide-eyed, slack jawed at a piece of paper. Let them play with sticks, or a chipmunk..."

Pocket God by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:36 · Score: 0

Pocket God.

No, seriously. I pull that out whenever there are young kids, as young as 11 months to as old as 4-5. Have had multiple ones around 1 year of age who, after you drag a few people and show them fairly quickly what to do, the next thing you know they are owning the world. Makes noises, flashy sounds, etc. Probably not so good for the 6-9 month old age (in which case I'd suggest putting a copy of "Baby Einstein" on there and letting them watch) but the interactivity is pretty good, and if they have even halfway decent motor skills they will be flinging villagers to and fro in no time. Plus, can help develop said motor skills. I've had an 18 month old show ME how to do stuff in that game after leaving her alone for 10 minutes.

what about a system where free apps don't need a p by Joe_Dragon · 2012-12-25 04:38 · Score: 1

what about a system where free apps don't need a pin / CC card to buy / install but one where you need a pin to buy / install a paid app / buy stuff in app?

heres one you can have by LodCrappo · 2012-12-25 04:38 · Score: 1

http://aaronwolfe.com/a

its pretty much as dumb as they get, just hit the ufo cats and they make noise and fly around. done as a learning experiment.
kids do seem to love it though.

--
-Lod

Related question by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:39 · Score: 5, Funny

My toddler is very interested in my car keys, but I'm reluctant to let him drive my BMW. The iDrive system is somewhat complicated, and I think a RWD performance car might not be appropriate for a first-time driver - especially since here's snow on the ground and he can't reach the pedals. Can anyone recommend a FWD or AWD car with a simpler interface and adjustble pedals which would be appropriate for a sub-2 year old child?

Re:Related question by AmiMoJo · 2012-12-25 08:44 · Score: 1

Have a look at all the videos on YouTube of cats playing with tablets. In fact, the OP might do well to take a look at some of those apps, since they are simple and colourful.

--
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Re:Related question by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 12:36 · Score: 0

Brilliant.
Re:Related question by martin-boundary · 2012-12-25 15:37 · Score: 1

Can anyone recommend a FWD or AWD car with a simpler interface and adjustble pedals which would be appropriate for a sub-2 year old child?

There's the Google car. It drives you wherever you want to go. There's no steering wheel or pedals, just a single button marked "I'm feeling lucky". Perfect for toddlers.
Re:Related question by Myopic · 2012-12-25 17:05 · Score: 1

Yeah, I can. It would be something like this. Thanks for asking. Similarly, there are lots of apps appropriate for all ages of human, and even non-humans like cats and dogs. Imagine that!

Peekaboo barn by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:40 · Score: 0

Very simple app, hit screen, animal appears, makes noise, says what it is. Hit screen again, new animal
Time. We used it when my son was less than a year old. He operated it on his own now for awhile. As always, be a parent and limit screen time.

Just stop by p0p0 · 2012-12-25 04:40 · Score: 4, Insightful

A child shouldn't be handling technology until about 3 years old, as many Slashdot stories have reported. It's also just common sense that so much stimulation so early on is bad for a developing brain.

You mistake interest for curiosity. It is in the child's nature to explore and learn about their environment, but introducing them to your tablet is just going to impede their progress as all their attention is consumed by the device.

Re:Just stop by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 10:47 · Score: 0

Nope, despite what the luddites would have you think, computers and kids go great together. My son, at age 1, kept stealing his older sisters Nintendo DSi and playing Crayola Treasures. At 2.5 he bogarted his sister's Linux box. (I had to buy her a laptop replacement.) At 3, he was fascinated by Plants vs Zombies. At 4, he now loves tablets. He's teaching himself to read just so he can play more interesting games.
That doesn't mean he likes trains, cars, playsets, balls, crayons, glue, lego, especially lego, or anything else any less. Computers are just one more toy to play with. Not necessarily played with any more or less than any other. Though DSi's and tablets are a lot easier on us parents in waiting rooms or cars or while traveling...
Still, I see a lot of older folks who feel they can't play games or do anything on a computer 'cause they don't know how. The only difference between them and my son is that he doesn't know that he can't do it.
"Remember son, no rootkitting from home!"
p.s. At 6 months, just try a few web-games (pbskids.org) while she sits on your lap. Cheap keyboards and mice are like $10 apiece at walmart. She'll move onto harder things and independence when she is a little older, and can sit up by herself.
Re:Just stop by Shag · 2012-12-25 10:49 · Score: 1

Curiosity is great. My daughter was 10 months old when she got hold of her mom's phone and "checked in" on Facebook "from" a restaurant near our house. Her message of "Tvab un vcchhccbgvb. B. By yhd7(7," was a little out of the ordinary for my wife's wall, but it still drew a few likes and several comments. ;)

--
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
Re:Just stop by Myopic · 2012-12-25 17:12 · Score: 1

A child shouldn't be handling technology until about 3 years old, as many Slashdot stories have reported. It's also just common sense that so much stimulation so early on is bad for a developing brain.
Really? Are you saying that limiting the inputs to a plastic brain is a good way to improve its development? That's not my common sense. I was just having a conversation with my wife about music: I asked why do we play childish music for children instead of complex adult music? Their developing brains are surely more capable of processing it than our aged brains. Same for language: I would hardly talk less hoping my child would learn more language. So why would I expect that he would develop the ability to interact with a wide variety of tools, by limiting the kinds of tools I put into his hand?
I mean, what I'm saying is maybe that's true, but I don't think that's common sense.
My response here assumes your rhetorical equivalence between "handling technology" and "so much stimulation", since that is the leap you yourself made.

Homebrew by jones_supa · 2012-12-25 04:41 · Score: 1

If you are not an Android developer yet and would be interested in trying it out, here could be your chance to develop something simple to the platform and possibly even share your work to fill the gap in the app store.

Our son is 9 months old by ctrl-alt-canc · 2012-12-25 04:43 · Score: 3, Insightful

and we decided he will not look at a TV/PC/phone screen before he is two years old as a minimum. We instead try to spend as much as time possible with him doing activities appropriate for a 9 months old baby. Maybe this is the reason why he is so active and curious about what happens around him.... And no, I am not a tech luddite (I am a physicist).

Re:Our son is 9 months old by iggymanz · 2012-12-25 04:53 · Score: 1

"and no, I am not a tech luddite (I am a physicist)". hmm, for my physics degree I mostly used a pencil and paper, while other majors got to use the University mainframe and micros. then at Fermilab we had to take designs in that same pencil and paper format and put them into FEA for the requests for funding, because "they" wanted to see calculations that came out of a computer....
Re:Our son is 9 months old by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:57 · Score: 0

Well my son is 6 and he didn't have a tablet at 6 months, but he sure as hell was looking at televisions and computers. He wasn't just confined to the "real world". Since televisions and computers are a part of this world we chose to include them into his world so he could use them to learn. We filled those televisions and computers with letters and numbers and weather or not he was even sitting down watching we had those shows playing in the back ground so he would at least have them running through his mind. DVD's like preschool prep. He might not be smarter, cuter, or any better than any other child, but he started to learn to read at the age of 4 because he wanted to, and he had the tools and the knowledge to do so. Its technology and its important. Whats the difference of listening to animal sounds on a tablet or on one of those old The Farmer Says toys (where you pull a lever and it lands on a sound to make)?
Re:Our son is 9 months old by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:07 · Score: 0, Insightful

You have no idea what you're doing. Overstimulation of the mind is a bad thing. I know it sounds all cool and shit to think that you're going to pump stuff at the kid and something will stick but that's really not how it works and you're undermining whatever development you supposedly think he's gaining. Maybe your kid will be different but it's a known fact that most kids who are overstimulated also have problems later in life with paying attention, concentrating and socially interacting.
Re:Our son is 9 months old by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:08 · Score: 0

I hear that constantly reading to a children is a good thing. I'm not sure technology is a good replacement for human interaction. I'm glad someone else thinks so too. (I am neither married nor have children.)
Re:Our son is 9 months old by PNutts · 2012-12-25 05:34 · Score: 1

(I am neither married nor have children.)
This is /. That's assumed.
Re:Our son is 9 months old by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 08:16 · Score: 1

The sun shines so brightly out of my son's arse that I am afraid to let him play with magnifying glasses. As I type this he is just finishing his translation of the king James bible back into the Greek, and he is only six months old. I am convinced this is because I don't let him play with my iPhone, but only with toys made from sustainably sourced hardwoods.
Re:Our son is 9 months old by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 08:27 · Score: 0

" hmm, for my physics degree I mostly used a pencil and paper, while other majors got to use the University mainframe and micros. "
Who did let Iggy out of the retirement home again?
Re:Our son is 9 months old by iggymanz · 2012-12-31 11:22 · Score: 1

I wish. 18 fucking years to go......*sigh*

Android app ?!? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:45 · Score: 0

Android tablets are boring.

dr. Gregory House

wheres mommy by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:45 · Score: 0

My kids love this app, jou can add jour own voice and pictures.

Tablets by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:46 · Score: 0

all tablets are designed for 5 year olds. You'll be fine

Go buy them real toys by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:47 · Score: 0, Redundant

There's a slew of research that suggests that TV is nothing but bad for kids under 2 years. It will lead to attention and behaviour problems and offer no actual benefit to development. This is why Disney recalled those Baby Einstein videos that were supposed to make your kid a genius, and why there are laws in several countries about making programing targeting kids under 2. Smart phones and tablets are new enough that not much research has been done yet, but I think it's safe to assume that anything involving a screen and/or constantly changing pictures or sounds will carry a lot of the pitfalls for young kids, if not even more.

Just keep them away from it as long as possible. Kids will be fascinated by a lot of things, give them real physical objects and physical interactions for now. At least wait til they're a couple years old before encouraging them to become technojunkies with tiny attention spans like the rest of us.

Re:Go buy them real toys by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 10:02 · Score: 0

I like how this got modded Redundant, despite all the posts saying the same thing being posted after it. Such is the life of an Anonymous Coward.
Re:Go buy them real toys by Myopic · 2012-12-25 17:23 · Score: 1

GP was posted at 4:47 PM.
4:25 PM
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3339315&cid=42387833
4:27
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3339315&cid=42387851
Redundant is a tough mod because who reads every comment before posting? Still, it's a fair mod. He not only repeated exactly what those other posts said, but he also parroted the sanctimonious tone of the entire thread.

No Tech to Kids by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:47 · Score: 0, Redundant

Hello,
concerning not only this article, but other situations we should debate the use of technologie by small children.
As other comments say, and I agree, you should show the real world to the kids, play with them, give care and attention.

And look into monitors hurts the eyes. When you were young, how many kids in your class used glasses ? One or two !
And now ? More than five ! This is due to the use of computers in the class room or at home!
Teach them how to write and draw ! Offer them a notebook and color pencils, not a laptop !

In the weekends take your kids to visit some diferent places, nature or museums.
And buy some books! Have a mini library at home!

As Benjamin Franklin said: "The investment in education pays the best interest".

find a case first by acroyear · 2012-12-25 04:50 · Score: 1

Little ones tend to toss phones aside when they get them, so be sure that you can fit the phone in some kind of protective case. The better ones out there, at least for iPad and iPhone (and iPod Touch) even have a blocker to prevent pressing the home button. However, they are all standardized for ipods, so be sure to try one on your android device first to be sure it fits and is secured and stable.

I can't speak for pre-toddler apps on android, as for my little one we opted for an iPod touch instead, since we knew it would 1) fit in those kinds of cases, and 2) be easier to secure vis-a-vie the home button, shopping sites, the settings panel. Fisher Price's apps have been good for our little one in the IOS. Some of those might have been ported.

The other important thing to watch for is the free preview apps - those are *entirely* for adults to try. When they reach their time or step limit, they may take you to the app store to purchase the full version. Make sure it doesn't do that before you hand it over to the kid to try.

--
"But remember, most lynch mobs aren't this nice." (H.Simpson)
-- Joe

Let me tell you how to raise your kid! by HycoWhit · 2012-12-25 04:50 · Score: 1

Don't tell me how to raise my kid--I won't tell you how to raise yours. Hate to break it to the fucktards wanting to tell others how to raise your kid--electronics are a large portion of the world for many. Kids will get outside, but why can't they learn and get a fascination with everything?
Anyone actually read the AAP article? The study found children can't cognitively comprehend anything before two--basically there is no educational TV before two. something along the lines that watching SpongeBob makes your kid dumber... Shocker!! My own theory-stimulate that young brain any way you can. The notion kids don't comprehend before two is hogwash--give them the right stimulus and they will do amazing things. Some kids can count, know their letters and shapes by two--others can eat.... A lot depends on the parents.

Simple games do wonders: Here is a simple ABC game as well as one that helps with counting and has the advantage of doing it in several languages.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=russh.toddler.game

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kidgames.connect.dot.dinosaur

Re:Let me tell you how to raise your kid! by nbauman · 2012-12-25 06:36 · Score: 1

Counting? Languages? At 6 months?
He'll be doing OK to say "mamma" and "papa" at 6 months.
http://www.babycenter.com/0_developmental-milestone-talking_6573.bc
An Android could be an OK toy for a 6-month-olds. But anything beyond flashing lights, shapes and sound is wasted.
Of course a colored block of wood is also a great toy for a 6-month-old.
(Actually, the most important thing about a toy is that it keeps the parent's attention so that they'll play with it together with the kid. If an Android does that, fine.)
Re:Let me tell you how to raise your kid! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 17:24 · Score: 0

Consider the interplay between parallax, shadows, focus and stereo vision. At that age the brain is in the process of calibrating those relationships. Do you really want to screw that up? A tablet game might be OK, but real-world 2D video of scenes with movement, depth and shadows ( but missing the other aspects of the real world ) is definitely not.
Re:Let me tell you how to raise your kid! by Myopic · 2012-12-25 17:28 · Score: 4, Funny

Your kid is slow. When my son surfed out of my wife's vagina I handed the little guy a piece of chalk and he proved Fermat's Last Theorem. I scolded him and told him that was proven 17 years ago! Get working on P != NP, son!
Re:Let me tell you how to raise your kid! by HycoWhit · 2012-12-26 06:19 · Score: 1

6 months--you are right. At 6 months the kid is lucky to be sitting up. If the toddler isn't old enough to unlock the device and navigate--I don't think they would absorb anything. That won't happen until 18 months and probably closer to two years. At six month--the block of wood is the way to go!

Owlieboo by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 04:51 · Score: 0

http://www.owlieboo.com/

My daughter (3) went from that to wandering around the tablet better than her mother in a couple days.

More specifically... by NEDHead · 2012-12-25 04:51 · Score: 3, Insightful

"My 3 week old is fascinated by certain shapes. Is there an app that looks like big tits dripping milk that would be something he could play with?"

Dumb ass posting; never should have seen the light of day.

Re:More specifically... by pla · 2012-12-25 05:31 · Score: 2

My 3 week old is fascinated by certain shapes. Is there an app that looks like big tits dripping milk that would be something he could play with?

Oh, you have come to the right place for that, my friend! Welcome to the Internet! You can find breasts doing just about anything you can imagine here, including quite a few things you can't imagine, and some you can't even comprehend.

Enjoy your stay! ;)
Re:More specifically... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 10:14 · Score: 0

You chose breastfeeding, good choice!
I don't know if that would work so well without smell-o-vision though; the smell of breast milk is pretty important at that age. My wife breastfeeds in church, even during service. Hardly anyone can see (breastfeeding bra and t-shirt make it very unobtrusive), but invariably the other babies in the room start to cry for food a few minutes after our baby starts drinking.

I have several... by Lumpy · 2012-12-25 04:58 · Score: 2

Look for the following....

A rattle, a ball, and any of the other toys that work on dexterity and focus. Apps? really?

--
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.

Re:I have several... by nbauman · 2012-12-25 06:38 · Score: 1

I hear they have some rattles today with digital chips.

Backlights may disturb melatonin production by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:05 · Score: 3, Informative

The research is still early on this. I would be very careful, and I'd limit exposure to flat screen TVs as well.

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/28/news/la-jc-sleep-book-backlit-melatonin-20120828

“Our study shows that a two-hour exposure to light from self-luminous electronic displays can suppress melatonin by about 22 percent," said Mariana Figueiro, the lead researcher. “Stimulating the human circadian system to this level may affect sleep in those using the devices prior to bedtime.”

Re:Backlights may disturb melatonin production by PNutts · 2012-12-25 05:44 · Score: 1

The research is still early on this. I would be very careful, and I'd limit exposure to flat screen TVs as well.
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/28/news/la-jc-sleep-book-backlit-melatonin-20120828
“Our study shows that a two-hour exposure to light from self-luminous electronic displays can suppress melatonin by about 22 percent," said Mariana Figueiro, the lead researcher. “Stimulating the human circadian system to this level may affect sleep in those using the devices prior to bedtime.”
Interesting you bring that up. I've started looking at the effects of light on mood and there is some hard science behind it, e.g., light therapy for Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD). I didn't read the linked article, but I assume it discusses certain light wavelengths that stimulate (or repress) responses in the body.

6 months? Give it a rest. by cvtan · 2012-12-25 05:22 · Score: 1

Buy blocks or big Lego bricks. Puzzles with big pieces are good. Is the app-for-the-kid really for her or for you? Things with glass are not for small children (unless it's the Bag O' Glass from Saturday Night Live: http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/irwin-mainway/1185611/).

--
Sorry, but gray text on gray background is making my eyes bleed.

Learning by gmuslera · 2012-12-25 05:23 · Score: 1

Change the question for "What a baby should be learning at that age?". A learning device with no texture, fake 3d, no smell, taste, heat, or any other input for senses other than sight and hearing maybe could be harmful for his development. Human and nature contact, toys that estimulate his senses (if possible, several, something with more texture than just plastic), a pet, music. A tablet (i.e. very simple games like ant smasher) could be a complement, but not a substitute.

Re:Learning by Ryan101 · 2012-12-25 07:03 · Score: 1

I agree with your sentiment that a tablet is a reasonable complement to the things to a child should interact with, but I'd like to point out that a "A learning device with no texture, fake 3d, no smell, taste, heat, or any other input for senses other than sight and hearing" could be used to describe a picture book (expect for the hearing part). Yet, no one is claiming that pictures books could be harmful for development.
Re:Learning by gmuslera · 2012-12-25 10:40 · Score: 1

Picture books should be a complement too. For me (as someone that don't know a bit about child education, or psychology) the greater impact should come when integrating information from different senses, specially if that information is rich and consistent. Anyway, matters the question of educating for what. For books? for computers? for interacting with real life objects? That could give weight to one option over the others.

Boob Tube App for Kids under 12 months by pubwvj · 2012-12-25 05:23 · Score: 1

It just so happens there is exactly the application you need. It's called the original all natural boob tube. Round, soft to the touch, a simple circular universal interface with a single button that also dispenses nutritious drink. They come in matching pairs with virtually every mother.

Can you afford real toys? by wer32r · 2012-12-25 05:28 · Score: 0

Can you afford real toys? Do you have time for your child? If the answer to any of those questions is 'yes', then ditch that Android, and do something real with your child.

Slow down there... by jdharm · 2012-12-25 05:31 · Score: 0

Plenty of time for exposure to tech. At 6 months that kid's brain has only just now figured out the difference between sounds and colors. She's so interested in that tablet because every time that a notification dings and causes a popup she hears butterfly pudding and tastes blue sandpaper. She's been in a perpetual state of synesthesia while her brain tries to figure out what the heck is going on and that tablet is a source of all kinds of weirdness. She's not "interested" in tablets, she's trippin' balls.

And she still needs to figure out how the world works. Experiments show that children that young can have an intuitive grasp of physical laws, like how gravity works. That kid needs training in the real, 3D world, not the fantastic, inconsistent, 2D world in a tablet. Not to mention the emotional training that can only come from other ugly bags of mostly water.

my 7mo old son loves this app by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:32 · Score: 1

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobileaddicts.rattle&hl=en&referrer=utm_source%3Dgoogle%26utm_medium%3Dorganic%26utm_term%3Dbaby+rattle+app

Kid Mode and Baby Toy by Nuitari+The+Wiz · 2012-12-25 05:34 · Score: 1

Baby Toy is a small app that just has some pictures of animals, musical instruments or robots and it makes sound / vibrates when one of them is touched. It has an option to lock into the app until some specific combination is pushed so it's very hard to get out of it.

Kid Mode is a shell that provides some apps that are age appropriate. We got a cheap white label tablet (7") and put it on it. It's pretty good and can wrap around other kid apps so that they can't get out of the kid mode / app easily.

We've mainly used both on planes and places where it gets hard to bring lots of toys. I do agree with the comments about sleep and melatonin production, whenever she used our phones / tablets near her sleep time it was harder to get her to sleep. We're now more careful about that.

Virtual Cat Toys by BenJeremy · 2012-12-25 05:35 · Score: 1, Informative

Heh.... I just released this for Android tablets.... now I get to flog it here on Slashdot, LOL.

Seriously, though, it was designed for cats, but the reviews for the webOS version have stated that small children loved it, too. This was more or less confirmed when my 2 year old niece played the new enhanced Android version at a family Christmas party and she was delighted.. there's even an Easter egg in the game to put up a "Scary dog" which jut made her giggle (not my cats, though). She was also much better at it than the adults that tried it.

At any rate, here is the link.

Re:Virtual Cat Toys by BenJeremy · 2012-12-25 14:23 · Score: 1

Here's a video demo of the app in action, for anybody interested.

Really? by thetoadwarrior · 2012-12-25 05:38 · Score: 1

If this isn't a troll then I would say tablets aren't really made for babies so why not stick with human interactions rather sitting her in the corner with a tablet?

Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 07:54 · Score: 0

Are books okay?

Developmentally inappropriate by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:44 · Score: 1

Infants and toddlers should not be watching TV before 2, and should definitely not be on phones before then as well. They need to be looking around, trying to make sense of the world, and not be preoccupied with "entertainment". Every moment they spend teaches a lesson about this world. Having a constant distraction in front of them is not a wise thing, as focus and concentration will come harder in life.

Akin to our grown up habits: Nowadays, we have enough distractions. Every time we get a spare second, we are looking at our phones, playing a game, checking our status... We don't get nearly as much time to ponder and imagine. A child is the same: whenever they get the chance to see something new, they will try to feel it, weigh it, taste it, smell it, and basically, in their way, to understand it. Providing an infant or toddler distractions which, through their senses, does not teach them about how the natural world works, is inappropriate. i.e. staring at a screen will mean slower eye coordination (focusing on near/far objects). Having a lack of texture, or taste, or smell... things that infants/toddlers need.

And please don't plop your child on your lap while you play COD or HALO IV. Play with THEM. Children without these social interactions are, not accounting for genetic inheritances/mutations, more likely to become psychopaths.

Got Radiation? by assertation · 2012-12-25 05:53 · Score: 1

We all pretend not to see the occasional article about cell phone radiation. That is us. Do you really want an infant having one of those devices close to their head all of the time?

is there? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 05:55 · Score: 0

an android or ifone app to help teach you how to control your anal sphincter muscle?

Spend time with your kid, bonehead! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 06:04 · Score: 0

Sheesh....

Munch-o-tron by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 06:15 · Score: 0

I know a good one.
It's free. It's called "Munch-o-tron". It's this game where you give the tabled to your kid. And he munches on it.
Are you serious with this stuff?

baby app by icknay · 2012-12-25 06:20 · Score: 2

Try "baby picture fun" ... Super simple, free, no ads. Will entertain for a couple minutes.

Re:baby app by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-26 03:07 · Score: 0

We used "baby rattle" on our android phones and tablet for a while, we only used it for 5-20 mintues at a time, it's got child lockout so they can't accidently call someone or get to other areas of your phone. Basically, it made noise and vibrated when you shook it, and the animations on the screen made different noises when touched. An example of effective use of the app was when we would meet friends for dinner, and he would start to get tired and cranky, letting him play with it was a great way to get an additional 5-15 minutes to get the check, finish up conversation and get kiddo packed up and ready to go.
While I understand the concern everyone has regarding not letting kids do ANY screen time. The reality is that cutting out ALL TV/$Device time 100% effectively is near impossible. They will be exposed to it no matter what you try to do, why not expose them to it in a supervised but limited way. There's not that much of a difference between a phone/tablet/tv and some of the "approved childrens learning toys" these days anyways. Long term, unsupervised use of both will likely shorten your kids attention span anyways.
Back to the point, my son usually got bored with it after 5-15 minutes, and went on to blocks/balls/cat food/sleep.
Re:baby app by IMightB · 2012-12-26 03:48 · Score: 1

replying to my own anonymous post,
I also recommend the "They Might Be Giants" Childrens CD/DVD's "Here Comes Science", "Here Come the ABC's" and "Here Comes Numbers". They also have a number of audio only cd's such as "No". While he's still too young to pick up the content, he like to dance with Mommy and Daddy to them. I also recommend things like books, blocks and balls.
At 15 months, my sons favorite activity is mastering how to walk and the runner up is throwing balls/playing catch. (Based on current trends, I'm judging that he'll be a MLB pitcher by the time he's 5.) With blocks (Mega Blocks) he still like to "deconstruct" what daddy builds and either throw them or see if they will fit in his mouth.
As for books, he is particularly fond of "Goodnight Moon" and books with big pictures of stuff that he can point at and ask "Dis?" (this?)
Other "fav" items/activities: Cat Food, Daddys TV Remote, Where's Mommy/Daddy? and playing with toilet bowl water (when left accessible).

zoodles is boss by AlephNaut · 2012-12-25 06:21 · Score: 1

Zoodles is excellent. You can even lock the kid in zoodles "kid mode". I got it when my son turned 2 and still use it. Liked it so much I pay for it but it's fully functional for free.

They have hundreds of apps arranged by age. And you can add links to other apps (e.g. angry birds). They send you a weekly report card with more graphs and stats than anyone needs.

Zoodles is awesome.

soundtouch, itsy bitsy spider by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 06:23 · Score: 0

Duck Duck Moose makes a couple, including "Itsy Bitsy Spider".

Our kids loved SoundTouch.

Vim by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 06:30 · Score: 0

Teach him Vim, he will learn at a very early age how hard life can be.

you're crazy to do that to an infant! by girlinatrainingbra · 2012-12-25 06:35 · Score: 3, Interesting

Seriously, it's crazy to do that to an infant. An infant is still developing their visual system and learning (by pruning their brain synapses) about the reality of the world around them and how they (the infant) interact with it physically. Providing examples of useless GUI interfaces and ongoing stimuli with poor interaction is a crazy thing to do to an infant.
.
They need physical toys like rattles and pacifiers and blocks that they can touch and move around and make noise with and learn the "intuitive" laws of physics from them. Give them a few years before you throw Emacs at them. The only Gnu they need to interact with at that tender age is a stuffed Gnu plush toy. And I say this as a fervent believer in children playing with computers: do NOT make infants and toddlers play with computers and tablets.
.
The American Academy of Pediatrics itself recommends limiting access to screen time for children under the age of 2 years .

Re:you're crazy to do that to an infant! by Lluc · 2012-12-25 10:30 · Score: 1

Absolutely as stated above -- do not use the tablet as a toddler toy! I would even try to avoid exposing children under 2 to the (mesmerizing) television, meaning I would not watch TV while a young child is in the room.
Re:you're crazy to do that to an infant! by aicrules · 2012-12-26 06:40 · Score: 1

Did a TRS-80 touch you when you were young?
Re:you're crazy to do that to an infant! by Lluc · 2012-12-26 07:26 · Score: 1

Did a TRS-80 touch you when you were young?
No, it was actually a Timex-Sinclair 2068.

You should be ashamed of yourself by manoweb · 2012-12-25 06:47 · Score: 1

My kid will be two next week and it will be quite some more time until he will be allowed to use a tablet or similar. I find it deeply wrong to let a small kid use those devices. On top of that the use of such devices seems to have an impact on children's vision and eyesight.

Touch and Born Move by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 06:49 · Score: 0

Well, it seems like everyone is saying to put away the damn screen. And while I mostly agree with that, there are times (e.g. on a plane) when it can be irresistably helpful. Touch and Born Move is very close to what you describe.

play with your kids app by johnrpenner · 2012-12-25 06:51 · Score: 4, Insightful

how about the 'play with your kids app'??
like peek-a-boo, and pass the ball, and ride the horsey?

expecting a 10 month yr old to play w an android tablet instead of playing w a real human is ridiculous..
you can do better as a parent

2cents
j

Re:play with your kids app by hattig · 2012-12-25 12:31 · Score: 1

What about when playing with a real human isn't actually fun, and they starting to wail, and you're out and about, or in a restaurant, on a train, etc?
You can sit them on your lap, get the tablet out, and calm them down with an interesting sound/image/touch application in moments.
This is actually good parenting, but the know-it-alls here would seem to think that it's not, because babies need something that's not a tablet app, they don't know what apart from what they've read, but they know they'll get +5 Insightful from other childless users who think things are black (using tablet, no humans) or white (humans, no technology) and nothing between. Clue: Have a baby and see how long it is before you're asking about tablet apps as a baby entertainment/development aid (to go with all the other ones you have bought) on a website, only to get sarcastic know-it-all comments about how SHIT YOU ARE AS A PARENT YOU FUCKING SHOULD DIE YOU SCUMMITY FUCK just because you consider toddler centred apps and ask about them.
A tablet can be a dozen different toys and distractions to a baby, and you'll use them in a monitored environment, often when you're out (oh, the two toys I have with me aren't working, but the baby piano app saves the day).
Or maybe you have had a baby - maybe you had lots of support from family living close by to keep baby occupied for the ~12 hours they're awake a day from ~6 months old.
Re:play with your kids app by aicrules · 2012-12-26 06:54 · Score: 1

So are there any android apps that are fun to play with parent involved? Even those simple piano apps are a lot of fun for very young children and parent to play together. I sure as heck wouldn't have left a tablet in the 100% are of my infant, but playing simple games with them with me in control? Absolutely. Tablet provides audio and visual stimulation that is an important part of a child's development and assimilation into the society they will become part of later in life. Tablet doesn't provide a good tactile stimulation, so those crinkly sounding stuffed animals/toys with high contrast coloring and different surface types to chew are still very much a good thing. Think about it that way, which you KNOW was what the person was asking about anyway but you and all these other outspoken "defenders of the children" here pretend not to have understood. So think about times where you interacted with your child using a stuffed animal. Similar use case for android tablet app question. A tablet by itself is a horrible toy to play with an infant, but as a slick way to have a POTENTIAL multitude of visual and audio interactions to augment parent-child interaction it is a great toy. Now if only there were a group of tech minded people that could be asked to discuss what android apps are available that may qualify....

Recommendations by Innovative1 · 2012-12-25 06:53 · Score: 1

Peek-A-Boo Barn, Peek-A-Boo Jungle, Kids Song Machine. These are a huge hit with the little guys!

Bad parenting! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 06:59 · Score: 0

Jesus christ, be a real parent and interact with your child.

I'm the OP by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 07:16 · Score: 0

We live in a rural area and the favorite pastime of my daughter is to watch horses being fed. The world is not black and white as some people here seems to think. I'm not thinking about having my daughter play with her tablet 24 hours a day. She has toys that she loves, but she also loves flashy colors and sounds. We don't let her watch videos, since there's no interaction and I don't think there's anything for a child to learn just watching and not interacting. However, I don't see how touching a screen and causing a noise is much different from building tower of bricks and tossing it over.

Re:I'm the OP by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 10:08 · Score: 0

I don't see how touching a screen and causing a noise is much different from building tower of bricks and tossing it over.
Really, you don't see the difference between real, physical objects being interacted with in 3D space and flashy shapes on a small, flat screen are much different? Really?

It's bad for his eyes... by Kergan · 2012-12-25 07:21 · Score: 2

As a forewarning, your child's eye sight isn't fully developed yet at this age, and should probably not use the device before age 2-3 any more than a 3d game consol.

Now, if you still let him or her look at the screen at arm's range, he or she will see bright lights with vague shapes. You'll be able to tell because he or she will have a hard time distinguishing and interacting with precise UI features. Thus, at least do your kid a service by dimming the screen's brightness to the lowest possible setting.

If my own nephew is any indicator, btw, tasting the device will your infant's primary interest, alongside an occasional crash test when it slips. You've little need for fancy apps for that, the device itself and some simple music or drawing app will suffice.

Lastly, as many other posters have suggested already, you should be playing with and talking (very important) to your child, instead of delegating babysitting to a screen.

Tablets for Kids are GREAT by Keith+Gabryelski · 2012-12-25 07:26 · Score: 1

My kid is now two years old and has been using an iPhone or iPad since a little earlier than one.

There are plenty of things they learn by using these devices -- fine motor control, color and shape recognition.

This is definitely a good thing and these people that are alarmists about these new devices are being ridiculous.

Yeah -- limit access to the device, don't let them sleep with it and play with it all day -- but they are fine for ten minutes at a time.

I think the first app that was useful to my son was a drum app. a flash card app that showed a picture and spoke its name were
favorites for a long time (there were various a year ago, Food, Vehicles, Everyday Objects). Then a drawing apps and now number and
letter apps

Books have been popular -- Sandra Boynton books and Dr. Suess mostly

Re:Tablets for Kids are GREAT by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 11:15 · Score: 0

I agree. My kid has puzzles and they bore her to death once she has made them a few times. We can't fill the house with puzzles for her. The tablet gives her non repeat puzzles that are fun and not as much hassle to put away after. The different games train her in all sorts of different ways.
There are plenty of activities on a tablet that you can do with your kid. Its not a substitute for interacting with your kid and I think this thread is ridiculous in how many posters say the same off topic, ill informed BS and get up voted.
Re:Tablets for Kids are GREAT by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 14:41 · Score: 0

My kid also uses apps on my phone and tablet. And he has since he was about 6 months old. He is well behaved, friendly, and is WAY ahead of the curve. He is 2.5 and he can count to 30, knows his upper and lower case letters (and phonics) and can speak in complete sentences. Not a single person who meets my child thinks I am unfit to be his parent.
Allow your child to play with age-appropriate toys. The tablet isn't the toy; the app is. This is a totally legitimate question. Folks who disagree are probably poor parents themselves and shouldn't get a vote.
To answer the question: Toddler lock. My son has played with it for like 2 years. The same app teaches different things to different ages. It is especially useful during car trips and races greater than 5k. I also recommend a white noise app. We use Sleepy Time.

skip the tech, be there in person instead by wkearney99 · 2012-12-25 07:46 · Score: 0

No doubt the reason the child is interested is because you're spending too much time on it while in the child's company. Put it away and do real-world things with your child. There will be PLENTY of time later in life to be chained to a screen, don't waste their precious developmental time on pixels.

Go ahead and use the tablet! by Hulfs · 2012-12-25 07:50 · Score: 1

My son, who is 27 months now, has been using a tablet since about 8 months old. We started mostly with apps that consist of pressing a button to hear animal or machine sounds, he also liked the bubble pop games - especially ones with lots of colors. He caught on really quickly and was able to navigate around my parent's kindle better than them shortly after he turned one. He liked the kneebouncers apps when he was little too, which are just a series of simple cartoon characters that do repetitive things every time you press any button. I also think the book apps on the tablet really helped him to appreciate actual books more, we had problems getting him to listen to a book until we got him some book apps. After watching them with us for awhile he really started liking real books too. The Netflix app is also nice. Lets face it, there's times where having 15 minutes to make dinner, take care of bills, etc are needed and I'm glad my son can watch something to keep him entertained that doesn't have any commercials in it.

I realize that everyone thinks their child is above average, but my son has a great vocabulary, counts to 15 by himself, knows all his colors and shapes, and has an extremely active imagination. I definitely think the time he spends on the iPad helps contribute to that.

Don't listen to the self-righteous assholes telling you your a bad parent because you want to spend time doing something other than peekaboo with you child. Anything that creates a form of bond between you and your child and stimulates their motor and cognitive skills is a valuable tool. It's obvious that a tablet should be just one form of stimulation you provide for your kids, but since there's several hours in the day for play there's plenty of time to include games/tablet use amongst books, puzzles, play-dough, blocks, etc

Re:Go ahead and use the tablet! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 15:29 · Score: 0

I realize that everyone thinks their child is above average, but my son has a great vocabulary, counts to 15 by himself, knows all his colors and shapes, and has an extremely active imagination. I definitely think the time he spends on the iPad helps contribute to that.
SHILL

Human Interaction by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 08:08 · Score: 0

There will be loads of time after he learns to disregard what your parental advice is to worrry about getting him hooked on electronic screens.

What should 6 month old babies do? by jotaeleemeese · 2012-12-25 08:16 · Score: 1

Playing games on a phone? Unlikely.

--
IANAL but write like a drunk one.

Re:What should 6 month old babies do? by SternisheFan · 2012-12-25 09:17 · Score: 2

Playing games on a phone? Unlikely.
I once saw a young mom hand her expensive looking clamshell phone to her one year old daughter. Then I watched as the girl snapped it backwards and handed the 2 pieces back to the stunned mom.

Talk to your kid by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 08:18 · Score: 0

Take her to the parc, show her trees, the sun and the stars.

Tablets show pictures of the world. Show her the world first.

*shakes head*

I'm glad Slashdot is here! by DJCouchyCouch · 2012-12-25 08:55 · Score: 5, Funny

If there's one thing I can rely on Slashdot about, especially when no one here has ever met a woman, it's reliable parenting advice.

Dr. Panda's Hospital by azcoyote · 2012-12-25 10:01 · Score: 1

Even though I agree with the others that kids that young really don't need apps, the best I have found is Dr. Panda's Hospital. It's not really for 6 mos. old--more like 2 years--but it's about as close as you can get. It's a cute game with no real point, but just a bunch of cute animals and sounds, and things that happen when you touch the screen. I let my 18 mo. old play with it once in a great while. The only catch is that you can't stop them from minimizing the app, which happens fairly often in random touching. I got the app free from Amazon a little while ago. Seriously, though, it's funny that we even spent so much money on Christmas presents. My girl often spends her whole day crinkling paper ads we get in the mail. And her developmental needs are often met by sorting her mom's old business cards into plastic containers.

--
Incipiamus, fratres, servire Domino Deo, quia hucusque vix vel parum in nullo profecimus.

Best toy by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 10:15 · Score: 0

His mom's titties and no g'damn Android piece'a'crap!

rm -rf / by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 10:17 · Score: 0

Reinstall in 2 years...

So many condescending 'parents' by Theoden · 2012-12-25 10:52 · Score: 1

OP asked a legitimate question. Don't think he was looking for advice on how half of /. feels like they're better parents by limiting their children's use of technology (any many of the opinions here seem a little hard nosed.)

My two year old uses my tablet and smartphone regularly.
Do I limit how often he uses it? Absolutely. But there is some great interactive content that does benefit him as well. He's by far developmentally advanced (both physically and cognitively). I do expose him to the real world most of the time. However, I also expose him to technology that his world will undoubtedly be enveloped with as he gets older. He can navigate and use an iPad better than his grandparents, and he has a health outdoor routine, social activities...

Obviously anything is bad in excess. I don't see interactive apps being anything but beneficial in moderation.

But I suppose - this is the Internet. Someone asking a legitimate question is clearly asking for people's opinion and stories about how they're better.

Get the "CPS Child-Friendly" App... by DontScotty · 2012-12-25 11:03 · Score: 1

Get the "CPS Child-Friendly" App...

You have to let it have Geo-location rights and rights to either dial out or e-mail out.

It contains a human body-gingerbread outline, and prompts the child to put marks "where daddy or mommy touches me".

It also monitors the child and time left alone with the device. This is tracked to the threshold of Child Abandonment.

Also, it can post to your Facebook page - "I've left my infant child alone for xx hours now!" with a picture of the child from the device camera.

And, the app is COMPLETELY free. It is sponsored in part by Child Protective Services (CPS), Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS), and Department of Social Services" (DSS).

Of course, the App MIGHT potentially have some privacy holes, but hey - the app is targeted for the age group you requested, and it's FREE, so go for it.

Thanks - great question by SplatMan_DK · 2012-12-25 11:55 · Score: 1

I have no good app-suggestions for you. But I am eager to pick up the few good suggestion that may emerge here.

And don't mind all the ignorant trolls flaming you about letting your kid play with the tablet. They're either ignorant or not parents themselves (and hence not in a very good position to lecture you on parenting).

They just don't understand that letting your child play with a phone/tablet is not in any way an indication of you spending too little time with the kid.

Letting kids play with technology is no different than letting them play with their normal toys
(and I am sure some of your "normal" toys use batteries and makes sounds/lights already). They will learn just as much from that as they will pressing physical buttons on a chunk of plastic labeled "Fisher Price".

And off course the kid is interested in the tablet. Not only because it makes sounds and shows images but because the grownups use it. Observing you doing things, and wanting to the exact same things, is an important part of a childs natural evolution. Don't let the single-geeks with no children lecture you.

Our oldest boy is now just over 3 years old. He has operated iPhones and an iPad since he was five months old. He hasn't turned into a green monster yet nor is he showing any signs of problematic behaviour. We limit hos time with the devices off course and we make sure he accepts breaks lasting several days. But the time he has spent with these things has tought him a lot of good stuff. In spite if his young age (3) he recites the entire alphabet in two languages (or own 100% and English about 80% correct). He knows shapes, colors and objects better than most of his peers in kindergarten.

It's a great toy. Just limit the time with the device and make sure it is a supplement to the normal quality time you would have spent with him/her anyway.

Letting your kid interact with a modern toy makes you a better parent. Not a worse one. Take it from someone with many years of first-hand experience. :-)

- Jesper

--
My security clearance is so high I have to kill myself if I remember I have it...

Re:Thanks - great question by hattig · 2012-12-25 12:54 · Score: 1

Reading some of the responses here has been very dispiriting, to say the least.
A lot of "holier than thou" attitudes, to the worst - houghi's post on how neglecting a baby is good.
Maybe these topics allow some geeks to feel they can meet their annual "speaking against technology" quotient or something!
The sane comments here point out quite correctly - it's just another toy that should be used in moderation, under strict supervision (like many toys - bouncers and walkers spring to mind). However this toy is actually loads of toys, each a download away, and it's always with you.
So yeah, +1 to your post of sanity and reason.
Re:Thanks - great question by IMightB · 2012-12-26 04:41 · Score: 1

I agree completely, it's not really about the toys (tools) it's about the parenting. Any toy can be overused/abused/misused, leading to issues. A good parent interacts/guides/limits their childs toy use and doesn't depend on the toy itself to raise their kids.
I would guess that the vast majority of people who are critical and linking to studies, either don't have children or don't realize that they are recommendations and guidelines to be applied by parents as they judge fit.
I'm also sure that the same Associations and Societies recommend 30-60 minutes a day of tablet use, many of these same people would criticize parents for not letting their kids have 20 hours of use time. Which, because its *more*, would somehow make them Super-Awesome Baby Einsteins.

get rid of your tablet by cthlptlk · 2012-12-25 12:13 · Score: 1

I am going to interpret the question as the cry for help that it seems to be. It's not that tabs are bad for kids per se, but I'd you are so fucking addicted to your tablet that you can't turn it off when you pick up a baby, you need to get rid of it. Now. If it is your dev platform, leave it at work. Otherwise, open the nearest window and toss it out.

my kid likes by zortness · 2012-12-25 13:39 · Score: 1

SoundTouch and Paperland.

Ignorant Trolls, Great Question by bigdogpete · 2012-12-25 14:50 · Score: 1

TROLLS: The person did not ask you for help raising their child. Get out of their life. It is not your job to raise their kid. They asked what would be a good app on android. This is what is wrong with the world today. Look after your family and yourself first. They are the parents and it is their choice to make when to le their child use whatever. If you do not have something to contribute then may I suggest you move along to the next subject.
Question asker: My child is two years six months has excellent eye hand coordination and great deductive skills. She already knows how to use the mouse on the computer and very often when it is bad weather outside we will let her go play on seasame street or nick. She is also great at interacting with other kids and is constantly running around. I let her play music and music videos on Ipod and Android. I own both Android and IPod. I do not see the app "Moster at the end of this book" on Play but that is what she started out with at 6-8 MONTHS on IPod touch. At first it is just the noise and sounds, her just pointing and touching the screen, mommy or myself had to help her. It is a great activity to do with the little one. Rest assured this is a great question to find some child friendly apps on Android. Thank you to the people that have contributed. I thank you and I am sure these parents do too.

No Electronic Gadgets for below 3 by billyswong · 2012-12-25 15:53 · Score: 1

There should be nothing, nothing with screen given to children below 3 years old. They are harmful to one's attention span and concentration ability. If you let any baby/toddlers access them, you've just brain damaged the children.

The best app for your pre-1 year old? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 16:05 · Score: 0

Nature.

Doctors recommend "just say no" by RiddleyWalker · 2012-12-25 16:09 · Score: 0

Take a look at the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics: "Television and other entertainment media should be avoided for infants and children under age 2. A child's brain develops rapidly during these first years, and young children learn best by interacting with people, not screens." http://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/Pages/Media-and-Children.aspx?nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR%3A+No+local+token

my recommendations by poo9 · 2012-12-25 16:33 · Score: 1

First recommendation: let the OP parent however s/he sees fit. This isn't your kid and you don't necessarily know best.

Second, I do have a couple of apps to recommend. Disclaimer, these are my apps. I wrote them for my son when he was little. The voice you'll hear in Baby Animal Balloons is his.

Baby Animal Balloons supports a wide range of devices and is available across the board. This was the first app I wrote and I released it on iOS and Android (in google market, amazon app store and Barnes and Noble). It's super-simple, touching the screen causes a cute little animal to appear and start floating away. Touching that animal causes a cute child's voice to say its name and allows flinging it around.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.littlelaptime.games
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/baby-animal-balloons-little-lap-time/1107081455
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Lap-Time-Animal-Balloons/dp/B005D7BKLI

Interestingly, I never got almost any sales on the Google or Amazon stores. I steadily get 1-3 sales a day on iOS. On B&N I was getting as many as 900 sales a month, though it's slowed down over the last year. For that reason, my next app targeted the nook family of devices. I released it on Amazon as well, simply because it didn't really take any more effort to do so.

Night Night Baby MusicBox is just meant to soothe your baby and get him/her to go to sleep. It plays 5 songs and has some minor (but cute) interactive elements.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/night-night-baby-musicbox-little-lap-time/1108563370
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Lap-Time-Night-MusicBox/dp/B00711YP3O

Re:You by Myopic · 2012-12-25 16:46 · Score: 1

"as opposed to 2d pictures of 3d things"

How sad for your children, a childhood without picture books.

Your high horse, please step down from it.

Moron.. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 16:58 · Score: 0

Please do humankind a favour and do not reproduce ever again. Your parenting rights are hereby canceled. Who let you out of your pajamas and momma's basement anyway?

screw up your child for life by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 17:11 · Score: 0

Counting Robot seem innocuous enough but realize that no child under 2 years old should be staring at a screen be it a TV or a computer. Dis ney sued anyone who said this up until it was actually proven that children watching their Einstein series had a lesser vocabulary when they got older ( ie dumber ) than those who didn't use the product.

Now consider this:
At that age the brain is still learning how to piece together what the eyes see. The brain discovers the correlation between shadows, stereo vision, parallax and other hints of depth etc which are accurately represented on a 2D TV or computer screen. Seeing real-world representations on a TV screen will impede the development of your child's ability to perceive the real world.

Imagine the 3D headache some people get watching 3D movies with the glasses on.. now consider if the brain develops watching a TV screen... the real world slightly confuses the brain. Now consider that it might not infest itself as a headache but instead as a learning disability which leads to the next learning disability...

Think twice about kids under 2 staring at a TV or even a tablet/computer....

ps. yes, there are many holes in the above... but much (most? ALL?) of the current research mention not to let children under 2 watch TV.

Re:screw up your child for life by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 17:14 · Score: 0

correction: ...which are NOT accurately represented on a 2D TV ...
Or better yet: ...which are not combined accurately on a 2D TV...

Re:6 Month Old? by Myopic · 2012-12-25 17:17 · Score: 1

The question doesn't say anything about ignoring kids. That all came out of your imagination. Are you projecting? Tell me about your own childhood.

Do research. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 17:39 · Score: 0

Parenting Lesson 1:

Asking strangers on the Internet or anywhere else for that matter is a bad idea.

Suggestion:

Find out for yourself if there are applications designed for your little tike. If you have enough money to buy your tike a tablet, than certainly you could invest some time in researching apps for the purpose. A few folks have linked some interesting child themed apps. Usually toys and videos themed for that age group are labeled "0 - 12 months". That might help you find what you are looking for.

I'd also consult the child's pediatrician and find out what they suggest in regards to how long the tike should have access to the tablet. They may even have a suggestion to narrow your search.

Best of luck to you.

Too young for electronics by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 17:46 · Score: 0

Man I would suggest to give time to your infant baby instead of playing with the tablet while he is in your lap. But wait aren't you trolling around right?

Re:Too young for electronics by kokoko1 · 2012-12-25 17:49 · Score: 1

Forget to login /. while posting the above comments :s

--
http://askaralikhan.blogspot.com/

Very simple... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 19:28 · Score: 0

If your infant is interested in your tablet, then you're spending to much time on the tablet, not enough time actually stimulating him or her

Not to judge, but as long as you tell the age of your child in months or weeks to strangers, your child should not watch TV or the equivalent in lazy parenting replacements!
You're baby should strengthen is muscles and equilibrium, discover his(her) body and engage in human interactions.

My oldest is 5 and she's limited a maximum of 3 hours of computer/tablet time per week!

Re:6 Month Old? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 19:47 · Score: 0

What the question says about ignoring kids is:
- kids is interested in my tablet

How come the kid is interested in his tablet if he is not using it while his kids is actually trying to interact with him? I forgot the tablet is somewhere the kid can reach for at 6 month old other than the hands of his(her) parent...

And also, yes this comment is redundant, and yes other slashdotters probably said it better, more nicely or with nice source quoted... But expecting every person that post comment to have read every comment reply threads is fetching far...

Benoit (not completely annonymous)

Re:6 Month Old? by benlg · 2012-12-25 20:15 · Score: 1

The question doesn't say anything about ignoring kids.

He said the kid was interested, so how can a 6 month old be interested in a tablet if the parent is not holding it or leaving it on the floor? Secondly: in how many ways can you say nicely that this is not a good idea hence no market for it , therefore no good apps... without being redundant?

Don't you think you're asking the wrong forum? by caywen · 2012-12-25 21:32 · Score: 1

Apps with fun colors, shapes, animals, funny sounds. All good things.

2 girls and a cup videos, snuff films, Al-Queda training videos, Halloween scare apps, not so good.

What a bunch of jerks... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 22:15 · Score: 0

Seriously. This isn't the kind of question that warrants the knee-jerk response of, "DO MORE MEAT-BASED THINGS WITH YOUR PILE OF MEAT AND SLOBBER, YOU HORRIBLE PARENT!" It's a person asking what, if any, apps are out there that would be entertaining for a baby - as entertaining as anything else that a normal baby would play with (and not find a way to Darwin themselves on.)

So, to answer the question, Ethereal dialpad (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=as.adamsmith.etherealdialpad) is amazing. I use it with my 6 month old from time to time (tangent: Has anyone calling the op's parenting into question actually ever raised a kid? They get bored. When they get bored, you move on to a different toy/dance/funny face, with the hopes that you'll get a break at some point.)

The problem is that the app doesn't hide the notification bar (probably would be an issue with almost any app suggested), and that kids that young have zero concept of what the home/back buttons do.

Basically, it's great to use when the kid is sitting in your lap, and you're done checking your phone/tablet.

subject by Legion303 · 2012-12-25 22:40 · Score: 1

Is it just my imagination, or has "Ask Slashdot" become "I can't figure out how to search for things on the internets"?

Fart Applications. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-25 22:44 · Score: 0

There are a 1000 different fart applications. People of all ages find them incredibly funny. How funny people find them is directly related to the inverse of their age. As your daughter is only 6 months old, she will find them to be very funny. Get a fart app for her.

Don't Fry Junior's Brain by lewko · 2012-12-25 23:34 · Score: 1

Turn off the wireless (engage airport mode).

Yes, I know the jury is still out, but if you're kid's playing with your phone you ain't receiving emails or calls anyway.

--
Do you or your partner snore? - Visit www.snoring.com.au

Re:Don't Fry Junior's Brain by HycoWhit · 2012-12-26 06:41 · Score: 1

Good advice--added a quick airplane mode toggle widget to the home screen on the wife and my phones for those times when you pass the phone off to the kid for a quick distraction.

At best it saves them from a little radiation exposure--at the worst--keeps them from answering that incoming call from your boss.

baby fireworks & doing it in moderation. by msim · 2012-12-26 00:46 · Score: 1

Our kid is 4 months old and an app which I have sometimes brought out for him to play with on my phone is "baby fireworks". Now I don't bring it out all the time or rely on it for him to be distracted/use as a plaything. It is just something that gets brought out that he is allowed to play with periodically

His lamaze toys, Sophie the Giraffe teether and various rattles and bright baby books do a sufficiently good job of amusing & distracting him. It is brought out as an occasional toy (think once every few days for a maximum of five minutes or so at a time), and is a toy that he is actually surprisingly effective at demonstrating hand-eye coordination on.

As to the drool factor, I've got a water/drool resistant case on my SGS2, as I do on my Dell Streak 7 (which is too big for him to interact on/with effectively anyway).

I figure that in moderation it's not doing him any harm, and the fact that it does appear to be helping with his hand-eye coordination is somethign that I am not going to ignore.

--

Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know when your gonna get food poisoning.

You should be denied access to your kids. by Foske · 2012-12-26 00:49 · Score: 1

There is absolutely no reason why a kid under the age of 14 YEARS has access to a smartphone.

Some tip by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-26 01:12 · Score: 0

My daugher didn't get her own tab until she was around 18month (last year) but she plays alot with it from time to time. And most of all, when we go somewhere and don't really have time for her (work, doctor, meeting, cartrip) it's a blessing.
So don't feel bad about giving it to her, she will play with things she think is fun and it's quite optimized for where she is in her development.

The first things my dauther liked was painting programs and programs that make sounds.

But the best tip is to install alot of toddler program and try to learn her to navigate and start the diffrent program by herself. My (swedish) daughter all of a sudden counted to Ten this summer, took us a little while to figure out where she learned it but there was a app that said the number out loud when pressing them..

Another thing is to look at children tv shows in other laungage. Is perfect for you kid as it will give a edge in the future when she start to learn them for real.

Please keep doing it!!! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-26 02:29 · Score: 0

My kid will be better off if the competition is a mass of drooling screen-addicts that never developed social skills or how to properly interact with the world. The more zombies out there, the easier will be for my kid to master all of them. MWUAHAHAHAHAHAH

Forget the App give the kid some blocks by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-26 02:44 · Score: 0

Really the kid isn't going to gain anything from using an app. As people said there is better thing to be doing with your child at this age. Just buy the kid some blocks and play with them. They'll learn language from you when you talk to them while playing while also working on hand eye and fine motor controls. Technology is a great thing but sometimes you just can't get better than some blocks.

App that tastes bad? by schallee · 2012-12-26 03:50 · Score: 1

I can forget keeping it from my baby. He's already too good at grabbing it when I least expect it. What's really needed is an app to keep my 10 month old from teething on it. There's also that disturbing trend of throwing things that doesn't boad well for electronic's in general.

Re:App that tastes bad? by aicrules · 2012-12-26 07:01 · Score: 1

You could try that stuff they have for nail biters. horribly bitter taste. Not sure if it would be safe for the plastic of a tablet though.

Kid's Place! by chrispitude · 2012-12-26 04:40 · Score: 1

Toddler Lock is good when the child doesn't yet understand the meaning of the home or back buttons:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=marcone.toddlerlock

At around 18 months, our toddler figured out an exploit in Ice Cream Sandwich that got him back to the main desktop. Amazingly, on his own, he figured out how to swipe desktops and run his favorite kid apps! (Fortunately, he didn't go shopping for any new ones.) At this point, we switched over to Kid's Place:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kiddoware.kidsplace

This is a fully sandboxed kid-friendly desktop environment that offers your child all the apps you deem fit to allow. It enables airplane mode, disables the Google Play market, and so on. Our (now) 23-month-old knows how to navigate in and out of all his favorite apps with no trouble. There's also a separate Kid's Place Video Player app (accessed from inside Kid's Place) that they can use to play their favorite videos.

Disclaimer: I haven't evaluated other toddler desktop environments; this one worked well for us so we stuck with it.

As for all the tablet haters in here, it has been simply incredible how quickly our toddler is improving is cognitive capabilities. There are things that app can teach in a very intuitive way (memory match games, connect the dots, letter/number and counting games with fun rewards, shape puzzles with several dozen variants) that are difficult, impractical, or impossible to teach with physical toys.

And guess what? When he gets bored of his tablet, he puts it down and goes and plays with his other toys. Imagine that.

Re:Kid's Place! by aicrules · 2012-12-26 06:57 · Score: 1

This is a very helpful and applicable response to the asker's question. If I had mod points, I'd be modding you up.

Re:6 Month Old? by Myopic · 2012-12-26 05:47 · Score: 1

You equated "holding a tablet" with "ignoring kids". That is nonsense. Check yourself. You don't have to stake out a black/white position and defend it with bad reasoning. You can use subtle distinctions and complex thinking to come up with nuanced arguments.

If you are saying there are no good apps for some reason then you are apparently mistaken according to commenters who aren't ignorant of what is available.

Windows 8 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-26 07:21 · Score: 0

Have you tried Windows 8?

Slashdot population ....Sad sad sad by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-26 09:31 · Score: 0

I m a parent too, i have a 17 month old son,
Before you start to judge, i want to immediately point out my son hasn't even got a total of 1 hour of television watching time in his life, we simply don't open the set while he is around. I have a computer, which he is welcome to play, but only when its closed.. he simply likes the keyboard, the way the it feels to press on those curious squares. As for my tablet, he had some time with the baby piano on android, maybe a couple of times, 5 minute each. we simply prefer to chase each other in our house or play with legos.
So i hope i meet your criteria of responsible parenting.

Many of the critics and would be ideal parents i see here; certainly don't meet my criteria for basic human courtesy, that guy might simply search for an app he can use to divert his kids attention for a few minutes in some special cases, or he might simply be looking if there is something to mix in the usual playtime for a change,

There are a lot of reasons a good app might be useful, if used infrequently and for short time periods, you cant just assume he is someone who wants his kid to zoom on a screen for the whole day because he is lazy, there is nothing in his post to make that assumption

these post on the other hand..

" stop fucking up your kids"
"This guy is a fucking retard"
"Dumb ass posting; never should have seen the light of day."

well, if having social connections as a kid results in this little tolerance and this much judgmental attitude then i might just prefer screen time for my kid ...

just my 2 little pointers;

- A bit respect and trying to understand each others points (heard of empthatic understanding?) before replying is the way of communication
- Judgmental attitudes have never been shown to lead to behavioural change, only self satisfaction and an end to communication

What ear buds would you recommend? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-26 10:51 · Score: 0

Soon the infant app sounds will be disturbing this Mom of the year. What ear buds will fit a six month old?

Balony by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-26 13:05 · Score: 0

I know from the 1 yr old nephew, all they want to do is stick things in their mouth, they also need everything you use and can't be tricked with lets say an old remote control, they want the one you use that is all, same with your tablet,laptop etc Appstore? let him/her explore a cupboard full of tupaware/teach them words, should have about 20 words by 18 months not tablet use

Hexiano by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-28 20:20 · Score: 0

In F-Droid (a repository for FOSS Android apps), there's this program called Hexiano, which is a keyboard-like musical instrument in which the notes are arranged in hexagons, such that any interval has the same relative physical position on the keyboard no matter what key you're in. My

Posting anon, since apparently it's totally wrong if your kid ever sees a tablet, ever, even if it's only when you're around.

Re:Hexiano by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-28 20:23 · Score: 0

I somehow screwed up the last part of that post. I meant to say that my 1 year old doesn't understand that, but loves it anyway because it makes lots of random, vaguely musical noise.

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