It’s a type of modern parenthood; your child complains he is bored but your tied up in a project or a seminar that you have to finish, so what do you do? One growingly common solution is the mobile phone – a wonderfully technical device with a whole array of different games and gadgets to keep them occupied for a while!
So whats the best apps and features to give your child to play with? How do you safeguard your phone from being tampered with and its features changed? How do you safeguard your child to ensure they are protected whilst using it from any unsavoury content?
Here’s some thought on the current apps and features on the market for children under 5 and a few thoughts on what new apps I would hope for in the future:
Internet security
Every parents greatest concern; are my children safe whilst browsing the net. As Mobile phones get “smarter”, companies are going to have to start designing the same protection software that exists on PCs onto mobile phones to help protect children. There are current developers like K9 Protection trying to investigate how this can be done. This is a space to watch!
Photo Matching Fun
Another educational game but this one is genuinely amazing! The aim of this app is to teach through interaction. Each time the app comes up with a different word, apple for example. The task is then for the child to go and take a photograph of the apple. Simple yet genius! The tasks would be a great way for a child to learn new words and get acquinted with their environment.. Now, Im just going to patent this idea and role on the millions of £££!
Child-mode feature
One feature which Im amazed isn’t out yet is “child-mode”. What this does is it takes the phone into a child friendly space on the phone which restricts access to certain things like the phone, address book and emails so that that accidental moment when you child deletes your contact or makes an accidental phone call to china doesn’t happen! The App would then be flexible to allow the owned to add and take away stuff they want or don’t want in the child-mode so that all this can be done later at the touch of one button! Brilliant!
Addi (Interactive learning games)
Ok, this may be drifting back to my own childhood games, but I remember the days when I used to sit behind my computer and bang out some arithmetic through the medium of games. Yes… you may be thinking how I could use the word fun, but I remember that the sheer novelty of using the internet to do it (which was new back then) made it thrilling! I can imagine the latest touch screen Galaxy Tab would have a similar effect! So here’s to education!
