Yeesh let me know if you find a good answer. My <5 y.o. offspring found an old apple phone in a desk drawer and is begging me to charge it up, calling it “MY phone!” and in general causing me to worry about issues I wanted to avoid for a lot longer. Dreading the next 10 years of this battle.
Charge it, put some educational games and setup screen time it (assuming its not so old its useless), otherwise slap their music on it and they got an ipod and camera to play with until it snaps.
The best thing we have done is make all computers be in the same room, and no personal digital devices until they are old enough.
Just being able to give oversight is the most important thing.
You do need to be able to say “youre not old enough for that yet” and then explain why. Luckily my kids accept that when its explained.
Thanks for the advice, I’ll keep that in mind as an uncle.
I used a thin client, HP T610+, and installed Windows XP POS.
this is a point-of-sale version of windows xp that’s basically XPSP3. it comes with Ethernet, WiFi, touchscreen drivers, etc. works really well actually.
I firewalled it from internet access and allowed my kid to surf the intranet I host along with standard 90s 00s kids software.
- reader rabbit
- Disney interactive games
- encarta 98
I also used a kid keyboard that deviates from the typical 102 keyboard. no function keys etc.
you could do the same with an old x86 laptop too, recommend using a dual core CPU if possible though.
to ensure nothing is broken, I used software called deepfreeze from Faronics. it freezes the system and restores the system after reboots. just to make it clear, this means any changes to the “c” drive will not be permanent.
to keep the save files I used a some batch scripts/shortcut trickery and re/store them from the NAS when the apps start and end.
in the end it’s sitting in my tech closet after my eldest lost interest after a year. Now I’m waiting for my youngest to break it out again.
You’d be an awesome parent !
At what point is a mouth ready to drink from a firehose?
My brother was 4 when he started using a computer with his Microsoft Easyball mouse. With touchscreen devices, that could probably be brought down to 3 or even 2. Just make your kid a Roblox account, and set them free. It’s a kids game, so it’s 100% safe. Hell, set them up with social media accounts, too.
Lemmy will say, give them an old desktop with linux.
I would say the same. No ipads or smartphones. Give them books on coding. Build a pc with them. Learn to solder.
Some of the kids game sites like coolmath are still around. Lots of quick games that designed to be fun, beaten, but not drain your soul.
Also turn off the adblocker at some point. Kids gotta learn what’s an ad and what’s not.
What’s coolmath?
A website full of flash games (well, html5 now), many have some sort of educational value. At least better than mobile games.
Nothing groundbreaking, but if a kid’s gonna play a game, may as well sneak some math problems in there.
Also turn off the adblocker at some point. Kids gotta learn what’s an ad and what’s not.
And install Windows while you’re at it. Ransomware builds character.
Nah, they get enough of that on the school Chromebooks.
Goal is to teach them how to avoid the dark side, not to let them swim in it.
I don’t know if it can (or should) be done without the negative aspects. The internet is really dangerous.
Children can be introduced to baking in a playful way, but still need to be taught how to do it safely. You wouldn’t try to do it without mentioning that the oven is hot, or that they shouldn’t play with knives.
Doesn’t directly answer your question but relevant:
"The Wait Until 8th pledge empowers parents to rally together to delay giving children a smartphone until at least the end of 8th grade. Let’s protect the elementary and middle school years from the distractions and the dangers of a smartphone. Banding together helps decrease the pressure to have a phone at an early age. Ten years old is the average age children get their first smartphone. You can change this!
Smartphones are distracting and potentially dangerous for children yet are widespread in elementary and middle school because of unrealistic social pressure and expectations to have one.
These devices are quickly changing childhood for children. Playing outdoors, spending time with friends, reading books and hanging out with family is happening a lot less to make room for hours of snap chatting, instagramming, and catching up on YouTube.
Parents feel powerless in this uphill battle and need community support to help delay the ever-evolving presence of the smartphone in the classroom, social arena and family dinner table. Link arms with other parents to wait until at least the end of eighth grade for a smartphone!"
