"The one device I'm happy to buy my kids."

My family has a tablet device. And we love it. Unfortunately, we love it hard.

I read books on it, work on it, prop it up in the kitchen for recipes, and in the living room to talk to family via Skype. My partner uses it every day to be across the sport and headlines. And then the kids get to it. Let’s not even get into what they’re doing with it, other than that it involves a lot of swipey sticky fingers.

This post is an advertorial sponsored by Samsung Galaxy.

It’s time to face the fact we’re ready to become a two-tablet family, and this time, we need one that’s just for the kids. We’re settling on the Samsung GALAXY Tab 3 Kids, and this is why:

Help ensure they see kids’ stuff

We’re not using our family device for anything ‘adult’, of course, but with the Samsung Kids Tab, there’s a kids’ mode and an adult mode, and the kids mode comes with pre-loaded apps, and a specific Kids Store^^# for apps that my four-year-old can play with. It’s designed to help me control her app use and content*. 

It can grow with them

My kids are little, and technology moves fast, but this tablet can grow with my son and daughter. Right now my daughter absolutely loves the haircut app, it’s so easy to use and fun. But she’s also learning how to use the read-along apps, and loves practising counting with it. These apps are fun and educational apps that they can play with now, and move on to more complicated ones they can get into as they get older. My girl is just learning how to write letters at her preschool, and what she can do on the Kids Tab backs that up. Games all have various levels of difficulty, so my kids can start off with the simple versions, but move on to something more challenging when they’re ready.

I’m still in control

It’s not that parents want to be control freaks, we just have to be sometimes. When the tablet is in Kids Mode, I am confident that what the kids are looking at is fine. But better than that, there’s a mode that lets me decide how long they can play with it, with a timer mode that requests a password when it’s over. So I don’t need to stamp my foot and argue with them about it being time for dinner, the tablet stops them playing in plenty of time. This is good for keeping an eye on screen time as well as dinner time. As early childhood researcher and lecturer Dr Kate Highfield of Macquarie University says, “Many parents also find that devices with something to help track or restrict screen time can be helpful, this can act as a reminder for the user to have a balanced diet of play. For example, some tools have an inbuilt timing system (so parents can “set” a time for screen play), after this time the screen locks and requires a password. Even as an adult, this can be helpful as a reminder to get up and stretch!” Amen.

It’s designed to encourage their creative sides

My daughter absolutely loves to play the drama queen. Anything where she can play-act and role play is a big winner. Explain Everything is an app that allows her to record her voice and simple movements on screen, and she loves it. Along with the Creative Corner app that lets her draw and paint with the little stylus pen~(and without any mess), these are probably her favourite things to do, and it’s far from passive play, but really involved, creative fun. And as for reaching new levels of selfie-expression with the camera, she’s in heaven!

It’s intended to be educational, not just entertaining

The trick with anything for preschool kids is that they think they’re having a good time, when really they’re learning something. A-ha! Sneaky. Even something as fun as drawing and creating on the Kids Tab may help them develop skills they need. “Devices that allow children to both use a touch screen or use a stylus can be helpful, this means that young children can engage with the technology using a correct pencil grip,” says Dr Kate Highfield. “This is particularly helpful if the stylus is appropriately sized and robust, so it survives!”

We can use it too.

Yes, we can play on the Kids Tab with them, and we do, as they can learn a lot when you’re guiding them, but once the kids are in bed, the tablet can be switched to a grown-up mode where we can use it like any other tablet. With a Wi-fi connection, we can use it for many of the typical things we’d use our device for, including gmail, YouTube, Google Maps^.

No more scrapping over screens in our house.

Check out some of Holly’s daughter using the family’s Samsung Galaxy

Featuring a colourful rubber bumper, and an intuitive menu with a simple swipe and touch interface, GALAXY Tab 3 Kids is child’s play to use and enjoy. Your kids will love the playful characters, brightly coloured app cards, and fun camera overlay, whilst parental settings assist you to stay in control of app usage and purchases.*^#

By switching between Kids mode and the standard GALAXY Tab 3 interface, GALAXY Tab 3 Kids suddenly becomes great fun for adults! Use it like an ordinary tablet to write emails, organise your calendar, or surf the web.^

^# Internet connection required. In-app purchases may be required for full functionality. Data subscription and other charges may apply.

^ Internet connection required. Data, subscription and other charges may apply.

* If Wi-Fi or internet access is enabled, adult supervision is recommended in Kids Mode.

~Carry case with stylus pen sold separately.