We were very lucky last year to be given an iPad as a family. Having seen other people with them I was keen to get one but hadn't been able to buy one. Since then we have all had so much use out it.
At the time we got it my children were 8 and 5 but it didn't take them long to get the hang of using the tablet technology. Not having to grapple with a mouse and keyboard seems to make it a lot easier to pick up how to use it.
The touch screen technology makes my son's favourite games a lot easier to play as all it takes is a swipe of the finger:
The range of educational apps is also pretty vast. There is something for all ages and stages. We have had a variety of reading, writing and maths ones at various stages. Again these need minimal input from the grown ups to get going on which makes them a lot more fun.
One of the other great things about tablets is that of course they are incredibly portable. Ours has been used to entertain children whilst the child is taking part in an activity. It has also been great on long car journeys.
We had a great stand which was attached to the iPad which meant that we could take advantage of catch up TV and online movies as well! I am really going to have to replace the one that broke as it was very useful to be able to have entertainment on the go.
My daughter loves playing with the camera and all the funky effects it can do:
The only problem with having only one iPad is that sometimes more than one of us wants to use it at once. Sometimes this causes grief so I have been looking at the options on the John Lewis iPad and tablet to get another one! There is certainly a nice variety to choose from though we are big Apple fans in this house. Now I just have to work out how to save up for one or to get Santa to pop one in my stocking this Christmas...
