You know how before you have children of your own, you think you have parenting completely sussed and you go around telling people about all of the things you'll NEVER do when you're a Mum?
Well for me, one of those things was "I'll never let my child have a tablet"...in fact when a friend of mine bought them for her children one Christmas, I distinctly rolling my eyes...yep, I was THAT person...the one who knows it all without actually having a clue!
Now that I actually have children, not only does my 4 year old love using tablet devices - but I have actually become a huge fan of them and have even recommended that friends of mine buy them for their little ones.
You hear so many negative things about them but I honestly think that YouTube and various apps that my son has used over the years have helped him to learn so much more than he otherwise would have done - before he was 3 he could count up to 20 and knew all of his colours and shapes, and could even name the capitals of a fair few countries - and none of these things were anything we had taught him. He learnt it all from the apps.
Despite this, I had never actually bought him a tablet of his own - instead he was allowed to use mine for an hour or so each day but a few weeks ago he left it unattended and his baby brother spilt a drink all over it, rendering it useless.
That tablet was a very expensive one, and I simply couldn't afford to spend a few hundred pounds to replace it - which obviously meant that I had a very unhappy 4 year old on my hands!
Luckily, last week we were given the chance to try out the new Amazon Fire 7" - an improved version of Amazon's best selling tablet - thinner, lighter and more durable than before with the Alexa voice assistant included.
Tyne was absolutely thrilled when it arrived - he loved it's funky yellow body, and it's the perfect size and weight for him to hold comfortably too.
The Amazon Fire 7 with Alexa allows you to set up child profiles which is so easy to do and means that I don't need to worry about him accessing anything unsuitable or making any in-app purchases, a feature that I really love!
The parental settings also allow you to set time limits - I have set it up to allow Tyne 1 hour of tablet use per day, if he tries to go beyond this it will give an alert meaning that I would need to manually allow him to re-access his profile.
You can even set targets for how long should be spent on educational apps, too.
The tablet was super fast and easy to set up, and is very user friendly - Tyne has no problem at all with controlling it. It comes with the Amazon App Store loaded, which gives easy access to a huge range of educational and fun apps perfect for children and parents alike.
There are tons of free apps available, but if you do choose to purchase any then it's done with the touch of a button as it's all linked through your Amazon account.
Some of our favorite apps to use are:
Disney Life
This is one that we all really enjoy - it gives access to a huge range of Disney TV shows and movies, and allows each child in the family (or adult!) to have their own profile.
It gives you access to pretty much all of the Disney movie titles too - everything from modern favourites like The Incredibles and Finding Nemo to classics such as Cinderella and Beauty & The Beast, we tend to watch at least one classic Disney movie per week as it's something that all of us enjoy and it makes for a great family bonding experience.
You can download movies and shows to your device too, meaning that you can watch them anywhere - even when you don't have an internet connection. This is something that is going to be very handy when travelling!
Download here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/DisneyLife-Watch-Disney-Movies-Books/dp/B01N3O0AYB?ref=mas_uk_infpr_disneylife
Candy Crush Saga
This is one that all of us really enjoy playing and is one of those games that probably sounds a bit dull when you try to explain it, but is actually incredibly addictive!
It's one that Tyne really enjoys and sees as a treat when he's allowed to play on it, but it's actually great for helping him with counting and color recognition too.
Download here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/King-Candy-Crush-Saga/dp/B00FAPF5U0?ref=mas_uk_infpr_ccs
Lego Star Wars
Another fantastic family-friendly gaming experience, both Tyne & Jon love playing this together - kicking some brick through the various story mode levels!
Download here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/LEGO-Star-WarsTM-Complete-Saga/dp/B00NLOLYCK?&ref=mas_uk_inf
There are of course plenty of apps for parents too - such as Netflix, I player and my personal favorite - Escape The Titanic! A free puzzle game that takes you through various scenes, tasking you with solving various problems and puzzles in an effort to escape the sinking ship - SO much fun, I can hardly believe it's free!
Given it's £49.99 price tag I honestly think that the Amazon Fire 7" is the perfect tablet for children, and I don't know why I hadn't thought of buying it before - it is so easy to use, so light and incredibly durable (I can vouch for this as our tablet-destroying toddler actually threw it across the room tonight and it's still working like a dream! Note To Self: Keep Devices Out Of His Reach In Future!)
If you're looking for a tablet suitable for the entire family, with ease of access to fantastic games and apps - you really can't beat this one!
To find out more or grab one for yourself, just CLICK HERE
*Thank you to Amazon for partnering with us on this post, all opinions are my own
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