![]() Toddler apps can be a beautiful thing for a parent. Just when you think a situation with your child is about to go south—say, waiting in the endless grocery store line—you whip out your digital device and poof! Instant entertainment. But how do you go about finding toddler apps that appeal to your little one and are actually educational? And what constitutes quality digital content for a toddler in the first place? Experts say there are about 120,000 toddler apps out there (and counting!) made especially for preschool-age children—a seemingly impossible number to sort through. Which is why we’re going to help steer you in the right direction. ![]() Free 3 Year Old Game Shareware and Freeware Downloads by Faith, Inc., TONY Liu, Little Bean Limited, Bi Hong Lin. Play fun 3 year old Computer Literacy games online for free. 3 year old children learn Computer Literacy while they play games online and have fun. ![]() ![]() Learn everything you need to know about toddler apps, including what makes for quality content and whether there’s such a thing as too much screen time. In this article: Benefits of Toddler Apps When it comes to comes to giving your toddler apps to play with, we know you’re worried about overdoing screen time. After all, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) announced just last year that children between the ages of 2 and 5 should be exposed to only one hour of high-quality media per day. And yet, in this digital day and age, it may seem impossible to keep kids away from media. That’s okay—to an extent. What’s important is making sure the toddler apps they’re engaging with consist of quality digital content, the kind that actually provides benefits for your child. “I think there’s something to be said for developing technological skills and getting a familiarity and a comfort level with digital media at a young age, because this is the way life is now,” says Chrissy Elgersma, apps editor at Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that advocates for safe media for kids. “I think most parents have a story about their toddler swiping the TV screen, because they have this innate understanding. I also think that, once they’re developmentally ready, building that comfort level and having kids create things with digital media gives them a sense of power—they’re not just consuming media, they also get a sense that they’re creators too.” Peter Gray, PhD, a research professor in psychology at Boston University and the author of Free to Learn, agrees. “If the child is interacting with the content and choosing what to play or what to watch on a digital device, she can’t help but learn,” he says. “You’re always learning when you’re actively involved in something. And through toddler apps, kids are learning one of life’s most important lessons: figuring out what interests them.” But some toddler apps offer more learning opportunities than others. So how can you tell which apps count as quality digital content—the kind that both educates and entertains? Consider these guidelines from Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a faculty fellow in psychology at Temple University and president of the International Congress on Infant studies: 1. Is it active? “When we say ‘active,’ we mean ‘minds-on,’” Hirsh-Pasek says. Toddler apps that just ask kids to swipe their finger don’t count as active. Is it engaging? “Does it capture the child’s interest in a way that doesn’t involve a lot of distractions?” she asks. “With a lot of the games out there, you’ll be looking at something and then you get a pop-up, or it tells you to go somewhere else. That’s the kind of thing that isn’t good for you.” 3. Is it meaningful? “Take a game like like a Minecraft, for example. You’re doing meaningful stuff if you can play it with others,” Hirsh-Pasek says. “Many of the toddler apps out there are silly, like a dog asking, ‘Where is the triangle?’ over and over, and when you find it, there’s this disembodied clapping on the other end.” Her point? Without the feeling of interaction, the game loses power. Is it socially interactive? “While this criteria isn’t necessary, it’s a plus!
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March 2018
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