Ask Slashdot: Android Apps For Kids Under 12 Months? 311
An anonymous reader writes "My kid seems incredibly interested in my Android tablet, but I'm not too comfortable with letting her play with my browser. I've been hunting the app store for apps that I could let my kid play around with, but haven't found much. It seems like most apps are targeted for slightly older kids and are trying to teach them words, math or whatnot. Has anyone found any cool apps for approximately 6-month-old children? I'm mostly looking for something that makes funny noises or where you just have to e.g. track moving objects on the screen."
Couting Robot (Score:4, Informative)
Counting Robot [google.com]
Basically it is a sort of whack-a-mole with different numbers of moles each time.
Toddler Lock (Score:5, Informative)
Toddler Lock works nicely. Cool colours and sounds as they touch the screen. It temporarily replaces the home screen so it locks out phone/internet/other app access until an adult follows the onscreen unlock instructions.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=marcone.toddlerlock [google.com]
Backlights may disturb melatonin production (Score:3, Informative)
The research is still early on this. I would be very careful, and I'd limit exposure to flat screen TVs as well.
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/28/news/la-jc-sleep-book-backlit-melatonin-20120828
“Our study shows that a two-hour exposure to light from self-luminous electronic displays can suppress melatonin by about 22 percent," said Mariana Figueiro, the lead researcher. “Stimulating the human circadian system to this level may affect sleep in those using the devices prior to bedtime.”
Virtual Cat Toys (Score:2, Informative)
Heh.... I just released this for Android tablets.... now I get to flog it here on Slashdot, LOL.
Seriously, though, it was designed for cats, but the reviews for the webOS version have stated that small children loved it, too. This was more or less confirmed when my 2 year old niece played the new enhanced Android version at a family Christmas party and she was delighted.. there's even an Easter egg in the game to put up a "Scary dog" which jut made her giggle (not my cats, though). She was also much better at it than the adults that tried it.
At any rate, here is the link [google.com].
Re:6 months? (Score:4, Informative)
Are the people at the American Academy of Pediatrics condescending pricks as well? Because their advice is to allow no screen time at all for infants and toddlers [center4research.org].