The Samsung GALAXY Tab 3 Kids is the tablet that grows with your child. With intuitive Kids Mode, parental settings and a great selection of preloaded apps, it’s the unique tablet for kids that parents will love.

After the best apps for kids? Let me tell you firstly, my household is one that has a strong culture of video games. My husband is a gamer. I knew this while we were dating, I knew this before I got married, I knew this when I said my vows to him at the altar on our wedding day. Four kids later, he is still a gamer. It is who he is, and I love him.

I find gaming a polarising topic; you either love it or hate it. I have known and spoken to parents who have laid down strong boundaries regarding gaming. Eg limiting gaming time to 15 minutes a week, if any at all. I understand the feelings and rationale of people who belong to this side of the fence. (I’ve heard my own father’s laments about this over many, many years).

I, myself don’t play games. I find it way too stressful. I perpetually feel the need to restart the game after any little failure in the game, (a terrible habit from years of piano practicing and my control freak ugliness). However, after watching and hearing my husband and kids game, I have witnessed the rich narratives great games offer; the characters, developments and plots are honestly just utterly engaging.

It’s been awhile since I first watched this TED Talk by Ali Carr-Chellman about gaming to re-engage boys in learning. I find myself agreeing with her on so many points: they (boys) are playing video games and we need to meet them where they are; we need to put ourselves into boy culture and stop demeaning it.

I also agree with Ali’s call to design better games for learning. Most apps for kids are still basically fancy flashcards. I think there’s a place and time for these. What we’re all waiting for, are more apps for kids, that have depth and rich narrative.

What are your favourite apps to re-engage boys in learning?

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Before kids, I didn’t mind being the subject of a photo or video clip. Now that I’m a mum, I am definitely more comfortable behind a camera, than in front of it. There’s nothing more humbling that seeing photos and video clips of yourself taken by your kids… while you are ungraciously eating, sleeping or breastfeeding in front of the TV. (Goodness me, is that how they see me?! Such an unflattering angle. Just look at my chins!)

I am ever, ever so grateful that the world has not seen any of those photos or video clips. My mind screams in horror at the potential of such sharing – especially via my public social media profiles!

Are there other parents who share my underlying fears of the potential mistakes kids could make when using technology? How do you set rules and limits so that so that they can use technology safely and within reasonable boundaries? I’m still figuring this out. I now have a password lock on my phone – but that’s useless when I unlock it for them so they can use my phone.

Imagine my utter delight (and relief) when I first switched on the Samsung GALAXY Tab 3 Kids and was greeted by the Kids Mode. This very special tablet has been designed, so that on top of the standard mode for adults, there is an intuitive Kids Mode built in and designed for kids aged 3-6. The very clever parental settings help parents stay in control of which apps kids use (and purchase!), and the amount of tablet usage each day.

What I would give for such great parental settings across all types of technology!

Smart Apps for Kids 3-6 Farm 123 from Pauline LessonsLearntJournal on Vimeo.

Safety and reasonable boundaries aside, the Kids Mode on the Samsung GALAXY Tab 3 Kids also comes preloaded with some of the best smart apps for kids that I have seen to date. Yep, preloaded. You don’t have to purchase or download these best selling kids apps. They come, set up ready to go, out of the box. No fussing about with this and that, looking and loading, waiting and telling kids… just a minute … one more minute… okay… look over there while I figure this thing out.. (grr!!).

Here are some of our favourite smart apps for kids aged 3-6 years old, that are FREE on the Samsung GALAXY Tab 3 Kids. All come preloaded, ready to go, out of the box, (except for Learn to Write English which is free from the app store).

A very special mention about this particular app, because it is simply brilliant. Pettson’s Inventions (1 and 2) is all about building inventions to solve a problem and make something happen. It’s utterly engaging – (*cough* and not just for kids).

Smart Apps for Kids 3-6 Inventions from Pauline LessonsLearntJournal on Vimeo.

Now for the icing on the cake, the GALAXY Tab 3 Kids comes with a unique protective and colourful rubber bumper to keep the edges of the tablet protected. That’s one less thing to shop for.

Hand on heart readers, I am a Samsung GALAXY Tab 3 Kids convert. I love it. Right now, there’s a special cash back promotion on offer. If you purchase a Samsung GALAXY Tab 3 kids tablet between 27 February and 30 April, you can get $50 cash back^.

$100 Google Play Voucher Giveaway!

To share the excitement of my new found love, we will be giving away a $100(AUD) Google Play voucher*. For your chance to win, leave a comment on this post sharing:

“How would the GALAXY Tab 3 for Kids fit into your life?”.

^ Terms and Conditions apply. Please visit www.samsung.com/au/promotions for full T&Cs
* This is a game of skill and entries will be judged based on creativity and originality. Open to Australian residents only. Entries open 9:01am AEDT on Monday 14 April 2014 and close 5:00pm AEDT on Friday 25 April, 2014. Terms and Conditions apply. Please click here for full Terms and Conditions.

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The post Smart Apps for Kids: 3-6 years old by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

It’s been about a month since our family life has changed in quite a dramatic way. I’ve returned to classroom teaching, (part time for now); Miss K has started day care; Mr E is back at preschool and our Twin 5s have started school.

My head is bursting with stuff I want to share – great learning activities, so many parenting reflections, along with a gazillion photos and an amazing collection of awesome content I have discovered on other blogs.

What better way to start, than a very easy math game for kids. This game helps kids work with numbers more efficiently by focusing on the important concept of exchange. It’s an activity that can be done easily at home, or in a classroom setting.

I’m writing over at Childhood 101 today, and so glad to be part of the team. So come, check out the math game, tens and ones, and see the other great ideas from the team at Childhood 101.

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Learning to recognise numerals correctly may take longer than most of us think. Providing children with playful, quick numeral games, makes their learning process easier. 

You’ll need to find an app which generates random numbers. A quick search, and I found plenty of free random number generator apps, which did the job. Look for ones where you can limit the range of the random numbers.

You’ll also need some counters or other small objects for counting, and some small containers for children to place their counters all small objects in (we used cupcake liners).

The game is very straight forward. Take turns using the app to generate a random number; say your given number; then place the corresponding number of counters into your cupcake liner. The person with the most number of counters after a given time wins the game.

Extension Activity: Kids need to be familiar with the forward and backward number sequence, and be able to count from any given number. Challenge kids to say the number before or after the random number generated.

After more hands on, playful ways to learn math? Browse through our many early math games.

More Activities for Preschoolers

Three to Five: Playful Preschool is stuffed to the brim with tried, tested and loved playful learning ideas for preschoolers. There are 25+ ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources and additional links to over 50 more activities. A great resource for parents. Download your copy here.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you. If you are new here, you might like to receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.

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