Tablet tips for kids please!

[laceyinwonderland]

Hi guys! A little off topic I know, but I am sure you guys will have just the answers I need! My daughters are getting tablets for christmas.

I am looking for ideas on how to get the most use from them! I know they can download games from the google store. Does anyone have any apps that their kids (paticularly young daughters) love?

Also, we do not have netflix, but we have charter cable? Can they stream tv shows or movies from that as long as we are somewhere with wifi?

And I know a few of the DVDs that we have recently purchased have digital copies.... can these be put on the tablets?

Any other tips or info would be greatly appreciated!

 

[wishing4PA]

You should be able to download the Disney Movies Anywhere app from the app store (clarification, I meant "play store" or Amazon app store, since you mentioned google). I know because only 10 minutes ago I tried to put it on my phone only to discover my phone has no room due to too many other apps (plus it's an older low-end phone with not much storage.)
They can view the digital movies with that app.

My daughter enjoys Cut the Rope and the various Temple Run games, though I am not sure how easy Temple Run would be for preschoolers. My only advice for apps would be that a lot of people like free apps, but I prefer to pay up the few dollars for the paid versions, especially for kids, just to avoid or at least minimize the number of ads they see. I get all my paid apps from Amazon's store, since I shop there anyhow, rather than put cards on Google's store. But that's just personal preference. If I didn't already shop Amazon, I'd probably just use Google's.

Looking at my apps now to see which of "my" apps are kept only for my 10 y.o. ... Kids Doodle was good when she was younger and she still has fun with it .... Glow Puzzle (hmm, maybe there's some overlap and I can delete one of those lol), Donut Yum, ICEE Maker, Kids Animal Piano Pro, and of course Angry Birds Space. We used to have 3 of the bird games on, but I made her remove 2.

PS: I'm sure you are already planning to do this, but make sure the girls can't make in game purchases or download new games themselves. Also, I can't speak for Charter but we have TWC. We used to be able to watch shows on my phone, until they updated their app and it stopped working for me. So maybe???

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

It would help if you specified the tablet type.

 

[laceyinwonderland]

Wow, those are great suggestions!! Thanks so much for that!

And they are getting little cheapie RCA tablets since it will be their first. Andriod OS!

 

[wenrob]

Yes, redeem your movies in Google Play, if they are Disney Movies you can redeem them in the Disney Movies Anywhere app that you also can get on Google Play. (BTW, you can't get Disney Movies Anywhere app on Amazon). Make sure to link your Google Play and Disney Movies Anywhere accounts together and any Disney movie you have in either will port over to the other. Also, if you have iTunes and Vudu accounts, link those to the Disney Movies Anywhere App as well. Any Disney movies in those will again port over to the others. This is nice because if you decide to change platforms later your Disney Movies will still be accessible.

You would have to contact your cable company to find out if you can stream from them. We have Cox and can stream channels we have in our package. I also own Tivos and can stream from those as well as download my shows to take with me. Not sure if cable companies allow that or not.

 

[kreckl]

How old are your kids?

 

[laceyinwonderland]

Sorry for the delayed response! Work keeping me from disboards is not making me happy! hehe

Thanks Wenrob for the movie tips!! I am going to charge up their tablets tonight and see if I can go ahead and get them a few apps and movies ready for when Santa leaves them under the tree!!

And my daughters are almost 7 and 2 and a half.

 

[Hofmanns4]

I suggest a sturdy rubberized case. I got one off ebay for under $10.

It was for a different tablet, but I think they may have for all tablets.

 

[laceyinwonderland]

Thanks for that tip! Yes I have already got them rubber cases!! They play (and fight) over my galaxy 5 all the time which is why Santa is bringing them tablets! And i have a otter box defender case on my phone. Do you think the case will be enough, or do people use screen protectors on tablets like they do phones?

 

[puffkin]

Its a little pricey, but my DS2 absolutely LOVES the ABCMouse site (you need a subscription to use). He plays it on our Ipad all the time. There is so much to do in there. I often catch DS8 in there as well, eventhough he is a bit old for it.

 

[HizMinnie2015]

My grandsons are 5 and 3; they both have the Samsung Tab 3. the 5yr old plays a lot of the angry birds which takes a lot of eye-hand coordination. The 3 yr old plays a lot of the apps taken from public television. I have the Disney app for movies and have installed a 32gb micro sd card in both of their tablets... I store movies on the sd card so we have more storage space.

It is a god send for their Mom on 6 hour trips to and from Nana's house LOL... also works well with headphones when we are all together for holidays.

My only suggestion - create a new gmail address to link to the Android platform. I did this for both our tablets. the reasons
1) their games don't show up in my app list on my galaxy note 4.
2) I didn't link a credit card to the google play store. My 5 yr old likes to download things; no credit card means no unexpected charges.

 

[la79al]

My youngest is 4 and has loved Dr. Panda games for awhile. We have the free ones on my Kindle and my phone.

 

[pad406]

My only suggestion - create a new gmail address to link to the Android platform. I did this for both our tablets. the reasons
1) their games don't show up in my app list on my galaxy note 4.
2) I didn't link a credit card to the google play store. My 5 yr old likes to download things; no credit card means no unexpected charges.

We did this also

 

[laceyinwonderland]

Wow, you guys are so helpful! Thanks a ton! So I will soon need to get sd cards, and I need to make them a new gmail account. I think this is my last question... Can things be shared between the two tablets? For example, the digital movies, and paid apps and such. If both tablets have the same gmail account in the play store? Or will I need to buy everything twice?

 

[wenrob]

Wow, you guys are so helpful! Thanks a ton! So I will soon need to get sd cards, and I need to make them a new gmail account. I think this is my last question... Can things be shared between the two tablets? For example, the digital movies, and paid apps and such. If both tablets have the same gmail account in the play store? Or will I need to buy everything twice?

If they share the same gmail account they should be able to share the movies, apps etc.

 

[wishing4PA]

If they both have the same account, then both can have the same apps. At least that is how Amazon works. I "think" it's the same for Google Play store but I use Amazon for more apps so I'm not 100% sure?

 

[wenrob]

If they both have the same account, then both can have the same apps. At least that is how Amazon works. I "think" it's the same for Google Play store but I use Amazon for more apps so I'm not 100% sure?

I think most services work that way. You can have a certain amount of devices (usually a higher number like 8-10) per account. As long as they're using the same log in credentials it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[laceyinwonderland]

Great! I cant wait til I get a chance to plug them up and get them set up so they will be ready Christmas morning! I really appreciate everyones tips!

 

[Hofmanns4]

Thanks for that tip! Yes I have already got them rubber cases!! They play (and fight) over my galaxy 5 all the time which is why Santa is bringing them tablets! And i have a otter box defender case on my phone. Do you think the case will be enough, or do people use screen protectors on tablets like they do phones?

The case I bought on ebay actually completely covers the tablet, screen and all. So the entire tablet is encased. If it was not, I would definitely have a screen protector. A lot of cases come with those too on ebay.