Tablets aren't just for adults. Here's our list of the best tablets for kids for education and entertainment — which also allow you control over the content.
It used to be that buying a tablet for a child would seem weird, but the world has moved on, and now it's commonplace for children to have a device all their own — even from a young age. But which tablet should you buy, how much time should your kiddos spend on them, and what should they be consuming on it? Such questions can haunt a parent, but you don't have to, because we're here to help.
It comes with a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids Plus, which offers access to thousands of curated books, movies, TV shows, apps, and games that are suitable for children based on their age. It costs $3 per month thereafter. You can also set up multiple profiles with tailored content to suit each child’s age.
The Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Edition won’t suit older kids, but it’s ideal for youngsters getting their first tablet. It’s a complete solution that’s quick and easy to set up and has everything your child could want out of the box. For the money, this is the best kids' tablet around. The battery is long-lasting, but the charge times are long, so you will probably need to remember to charge this overnight. The performance isn't up to handling many games, but it's great for simple tasks and simple games, making it a solid choice in this regard too. If your child is starting to branch out into more demanding titles like Minecraft or Fortnite then this is not the tablet for them.
The strength of the LeapFrog brand has long been in creating educational software tailored for different developmental ages but still fun for kids. The company usually limits devices to its own platform, but this is an Android tablet . Sadly, the tablet seems to suffer from being a bit slow and laggy, which can prove frustrating for wee ones and adults alike.
First, while the Pro version includes all the Kids+ content, it also has a separate Amazon-run digital store with a wide variety of apps created specifically for age ranges anywhere from six to 12 years old. Kids cannot buy the apps on their own — instead, they can send their parents specific requests for apps, and parents can choose to authorize a purchase or not.
As your kids head toward middle school, they’re going to want a more grown-up tablet, and they’re reaching an age where they can be trusted with it. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite could be ideal. It’s one of our favorite Android tablets because it's very light and portable, it has a wonderfully sharp and colorful 10.4-inch screen, and boasts an impressive 11 hours of battery life.
Then again, you may have a good idea about just how your tween is likely to treat a new tablet and balk at spending several hundred dollars when responsibility is still coming in careful stages. If that's the case, there are other options. We specifically recommend the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 as an alternative.
Performance is solid, and the basic model has 128GB of storage with an optional microSD card slot as well. The display is excellent. It's an 11.2-inch 2.5K OLED display with a 2560 x 1536 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate, and simply put, it looks incredible. Add the quad JBL speakers with Dolby Atmos support, and you've got a tablet that's an exceptional multimedia station, as well as a hybrid 2-in-1.
Apple’s parental controls, called restrictions, allow you to dictate what your child can access on the iPad, and you can restrict content by age rating. There are plenty of parental control apps if you want to maintain a tighter grip. There's also support for the Apple Pencil, which could be ideal for the budding artist in your life, though you do have to buy it separately for $100.
The battery's a bit smaller than that in the 9th-gen iPad, but Apple promises all-day battery life. The 64GB model is fine for kids and helps keep the price down. It works with Bluetooth keyboards and the first-generation Apple Pencil if kids like drawing — and it's likely to last for years if well taken care of.
Third, many parents feel comfortable with a"family-owned" tablet device with proper protections that can be shared among everyone — something that helps maintain family time while still providing some tablet benefits. This is a flexible solution that can work for many years with the right ground rules.