Yahoo Lifestyle Are Smartphones and Tablets Good for Toddlers and Pre-schoolers?
As tablets and smartphones become more ubiquitous, children are using them younger than ever – many toddlers can now navigate an iPad with ease and some parents even use them as a toilet-training tool.
Research from the US shows 60 per cent of children aged between six months and two years play with mobile devices.
And a recent Australian study found more children aged between two and five can play computer games than tie their own shoelaces or ride a bike.
Technology is now such a societal basic that children need to be able to interact with it comfortably and confidently once they reach school, but debate rages as to what age they should begin playing with it.
There is an abundance of apps aimed at toddlers and pre-schoolers that aim to improving literacy and numeracy, from ones that teach tots to match numbers to those that help kids create their own stories.
Marketing research also shows iPhones and iPads are becoming parents' quiet tool of choice, although University of Western Sydney education lecturer Dr Joanne Orlando points out in the Sydney Morning Herald that giving your child a smartphone every time you’d like them to hush is the equivalent of taming a tantrum with a lolly.
"Consistently demanding children disengage with the world around them and expecting them to be quiet all the time limits their opportunities to learn how to engage confidently with society. It teaches them that they are not important. They may be having fun using a device, but the message is subliminal."
Dr Orlando also explains that while many parents say they'd prefer to educate their children the old-fashioned way, technology is able to offer complementary benefits that traditional methods simply can't on their own.
"I would argue that there are lots of ways to learn the alphabet. In fact, the basics are best learnt in different ways.
"For example, learning the alphabet could involve a combination of writing, board games, exploring different fonts on a laptop, discussing street signs and posters, and reading an interactive story on a tablet - the best of both the old methods and the modern world."
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