tablet/computer/reading device for very absentminded child

[mistysue]

DD is going to spend a lot of the summer in my office with me so I want to get something for her to maybe play some games on. I also want her to practice her reading and put some apps or programs on it that she can practice multiplication and division on.

I need suggestions. She is very irresponsible, so I expect that the object is going to be dropped and have food smeared on it. I generally don't like apple because I like formats that are open to little people being able to develop apps and their own technology, otherwise I had considered getting her a mini-Ipad (which would be our first in-house apple product in years)

I had the first kindle fire until a few months ago. I think that is pretty near perfect. Does anybody have any suggestions or further comments on what might be the best item? Have you purchased a cheap tablet and been surprised at how well it worked? Anything you want to warn somebody was terrible?

 

[My3Princez]

I just got 2 Kindle Fires (non-HD) for my boys. Bought at Staples because I can get a 5% rebate there with my rewards card. Then bought a 2 year warranty from Square Trade online using a coupon code I Googled. Ended up being about $20 each. Covers damage from dropping or from spills.
If you already know you like Kindle Fires, that may be an option.

 

[pigletto]

We got my ds9 the Google Nexus 7. We LOVE that thing. He is very careful with his electronics but we invested in a very sturdy case as well. A good case to me is as good as a warranty. We also have very strict rules about it being around food or liquids. If it's just never allowed to be near her when she's eating or drinking from day one, then it will be easier.

What I love about the Nexus is how many of the apps are free. We have hundreds on there. If he's doing a unit of *anything* we can find an app to go with it that's fun and reinforces what he's already learning. We have movies and games on there for plane rides or long car rides too.

Oh.. and the only time it's ever been dropped? Yeah.. that would be mom who did that. It actually bounced with the case we have on it and didn't get a scratch

 

[mistysue]

I'm glad to hear about the Nexus 7 working well, I've wondered about that. The free apps were one of the things that made me so happy about the kindle too - we have amazon prime so I've been "buying" the free app of the day every day for years now. At this point I have a library of apps.

With the Nexus 7 I would get the play store and could get the amazon ones too!

We are definitely re-writing a lot of our house rules recently because of DD's general messiness and clumsiness. One of our biggest problems has actually been that she will get up in the middle of the night and sneak food/drinks into her room and get on her computer. (obviously none of these things is actually allowed) She got mad that I took her laptop away when she spilled food on it so when I gave it back she pulled all the keys off. It is NOT like the keyboards where they reattach, there is no keyboard now.
This new object is actually going to be my toy that I let her use while she is at work with me. While it sounds more fitting, I can't afford to take the technology away from her with how much she struggles to catch up as it is.