Raising a child is complicated. You have to teach them and prepare them for life while also keeping them entertained. And in the meantime, you must also find a way to have a life yourself.
Tablets for kids are one of the best ways, if a bit controversial, to help raise your child. While it is true that just keeping your kid glued to a screen all day is a bad idea, when used correctly, a tablet can yield tremendous benefits for your child’s education, development, readiness for life, and just overall enjoyment.
We’ll try to break down all the major benefits you can get from tablets for kids and the various ways they can make your and your kid’s life much better and easier. While we don’t want to sugarcoat things and we do insist that adequate and moderate use is advised, it’s also true that when utilized properly, tablets for kids can be tremendously beneficial.
The 8 benefits of tablets for kids
Like all other modern technology, tablets for kids come in various types and models. And, just like phones, laptops, and computers, they can be used in various ways. With that in mind, the best ablets for kids can all offer these eight main benefits to your child as long as you use them correctly.
Kickstart your child’s language skills
Tablets are phenomenally effective at improving kids’ letter-identification skills, their vocabulary comprehension, as well as their rhyming and tonal understanding. Many studies have been done on the topic and the consensus so far is that tablets are a great tool for the development of language skills. They don’t achieve that alone, of course, as they are just tools a parent can use, but they are just that effective when used properly.
Make learning fun
Another big benefit is that tablets are not just educational tools – they are fun educational tools. They are very good at helping your child realize the fun in educational progress. This is a huge positive not just for the learning your child is currently through but for the future as well – a kid that associated learning and education with fun is much more likely to keep progressing through life with a drive for new knowledge and information.
Improve your kid’s math skills long before it’s time for school
Math is a huge stumbling block for a lot of kids and parents. How do you make math interesting, intelligible, and fun for a child? Tablets are pretty much the best tool for the job. They do that not just by making math itself fun but by making a lot of IQ-boosting games available to your child.
Let your kid have fun with some entertainment
Learning is great but there’s nothing wrong with some digital entertainment too – as long as it’s used in moderation. Of course, this should never be used to fully replace physical play outside nor instead of socialization with parents and friends. However, a bit of playtime on a tablet can be a good thing too – it can give your kid quite a few fun moments as well as some time for rest for you.
Keep an eye on your child’s educational progress
Back to learning, it’s important to note that tablets are also excellent recording devices – most educational apps for kids are very good not just for teaching your kids but also for tracking their progress. This is useful for you to give you an idea of how your child is progressing, what areas he or she is struggling with, and what you can do to help.
A tablet can be taken anywhere you go
Unlike the large and clumsy computers and laptops, tablets are incredibly lightweight and portable. This is fantastic for kids as you often have to take them with you during the day. That’s why one of the best times to let your child play on a tablet is during car rides or when you’re waiting in line somewhere – those are times when your kid can’t do other things anyway, so there’s no problem bringing your portable tablet along for some entertainment.
Raise a kid with a knack for tech
A potentially huge side benefit of tablets is that they can give your child a knack for tech from an early age. Whether we like it or not, technology is the future and those of us who are most adept at using it and working on it will have an enormous advantage over everyone else. Getting your kid used with technology can be incredibly beneficial for his or her future job prospects and life in general.
Even the best tablets today are relatively inexpensive
Last but not least, it’s worth noting that even the best tablet for kids isn’t really something that needs to break your budget. Tablets today are fairly affordable, especially ones that are meant to just run kids’ education programs and some lightweight video games. This makes tablets not just an incredibly effective but also quite an inexpensive addition to your parental arsenal.
In conclusion
As you can see, tablets for kids offer much more than just entertainment for your child and some peace and quiet for you. While it’s undoubtedly wrong to just give your 2-year-old a tablet and let them watch cartoons all day, using a tablet properly can help your kid’s development tremendously.
As long as you don’t overuse it and you make sure you keep your child physically and socially active when it’s not using the tablet, this device can help your child learn, grow, and be prepared for life in a very effective way. As usual, most problems people associate with tablets for kids aren’t really the technology’s fault – it’s how we use it.