Kindle Fire for Kids

Kindle Fire, Full Color 7" Multi-touch Display, Wi-Fi
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The Kindle Fire is a 7" tablet so it's quite a bit smaller than an iPad. For younger kids especially I think this is an advantage in many cases. A smaller, lighter device is easier for kids hands to manage.

The touchscreen interface is intuitive for kids and Amazon have really focused on making the Kindle Fire easy to use. The screen has also been designed to be scratch resistant which is reassuring!

The Kindle Fire has lots of content that will be interesting to kids. There are eBooks, audio books and music, instant video for TV shows and movies. Games and apps from the Amazon AppStore - we expect to see more games appearing now the Kindle Fire has been announced. It has a fast web browser too.

Yes, I can think of lots of things that kids will enjoy doing with a Kindle Fire.

Amazon have a range of kids free and paid apps in the Android AppStore and the popularity of the Kindle Fire means we can expect more in the future. Here are a few of the best apps for kids:

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox
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Kids Paint
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iStoryBooks
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The Cat in the Hat - Dr. Seuss
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How The Grinch Stole Christmas! - Dr. Seuss
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The Kindle Fire is a great platform for reading comics and graphic novels which are very popular with older kids. Amazon are bringing the latest comic titles to Kindle Fire (and not other Kindles.)

Batman: The Black Glove
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Green Lantern Vol. 3: Wanted Hal Jordan
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Superman Earth One
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Kindle Fire, Full Color 7" Multi-touch Display, Wi-Fi
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Kindle Fire, now with comprehensive parental controls:

- Password protection on purchases
- Ability to disable access to some content libraries
- Ability to block access to the Kindle Silk web browser

New features as of May 2012, Kindle Fire Software version 6.3.1.

Update: May 2012.
The lastest Kindle Fire Software 6.3.1 update provides significant additional parental controls: "This update brings additional parental controls to Kindle Fire, including the ability to password-protect purchases, disable access to specific content libraries, and block access to the Silk web browser."

These latest changes will make a big difference to parents who don't want their children to be able to buy things accidentally (or on purpose.) It's also useful for parents who want to share a Kindle Fire with their children and keep some content private.

Amazon had previously responded to concerns by providing partial parental controls for the Kindle Fire:

Parents tend to be concerned about two things:
1. Access to inappropriate content - via the web or downloaded books
2. Ability to spend money without permission

You can set parental controls for in-app purchases (new game levels, in-game currency, etc) for Amazon Appstore for Android on the Kindle Fire. This is important because kids sometimes don't realize these things cost real money.

You can turn off 1-click purchasing on the Kindle Fire, but at time of writing this is not possible for apps.

You can set kids up with a gift card or prepaid Visa card to give them a budget.

To access free apps you do need a credit card on the account, but a prepaid credit card, e.g. Visa, is okay. source

As of Kindle Fire Software Version 6.2.1 you can set up Kindle Fire Wifi Password Protection. This means that a password will be required to enable network access. This means that kids won't be able to browse the web or make purchases without the password.

Some parents feel that these issues are best dealt with by communication with a child rather than software enforcement. Others would prefer to have more safeguards built in. Amazon have listened and added further parental controls.

Personally, my children are young and closely supervised when using any electronic device. I'm not sure how I'll feel when they are older though.


Kids Place - With Child Lock
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Kids Place With Child Lock is a useful free app that works on the Kindle Fire. Kids Place will restrict kids to a limited set of apps that you select, rather than them having free access to the Kindle Fire. You should also enable the password on your Kindle Fire so kids can't bypass the app by powering off the device.

DB Tech Car Headrest Mount Holder For Amazon Kindle Fire - Includes 5 ft. 3.5mm AUX Cable
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Want to play videos on the Kindle Fire on the move? You can download a video to keep a child occupied on a long journey. It will be awkward for a child to hold a tablet for a long time, so a headrest mount in a good option.

Barnes & Noble have announced that the Nook Tablet will be available to order from November 18th 2011.

It has a similar specification to the Kindle Fire, but is a little more powerful. It also has a range of titles for children including eBooks and apps. The Nook tablet also has a read and record feature where parents of grandparents can record their own voice reading an eBook for later playback.

The Nook Tablet has parental controls on the browser. It also has password protection for purchases. These are things that parents really want for the Kindle Fire.

Read more about the Nook Tablet for Kids.

Don't forget to get some headphones for kids to use with a Kindle Fire if you don't want to listen to everything that they listen to.


NEW Kidz Gear Wired Headphones For Kids - Includes Inline Remote/Mic Audio Control
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Kidz Gear Wired Headphones For Kids
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There are other Android tablets available for under $200. Some of the cheaper tablets don't run recent versions of Android and maybe heavier and slower than higher priced tablets. But definitely worth considering.

Herotab C8 with Samsung S5PV210 1GHz Processor, 7" Capacitive Multi-touch, Android 2.2/2.3 Tablet, 4 GB Internal SD, Supports 36 GB (4 GB + 32 GB) with external SD
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PanDigital 72-70FW 7-Inch Tablet Computer - White (Remanufactured)
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Coby Kyros MID7015 7-Inch Android Internet Touchscreen Tablet - Black
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Apple iPod touch 8GB (4th Generation) - Black - Current Version
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Before the Kindle Fire came along, the iPod Touch was the obvious choice for a small media device for kids. It has lots of kids apps and is well established.

Of course the screen on an iPod Touch is much smaller than the 7" screen on the Kindle Fire. This makes the iPod more portable (and more easily lost) but not so good for watching movies or reading eBooks - though still quite possible.

The iPod Touch also has parental controls so you can decide what your child is able to do on the device and you can restrict purchasing to items you choose.

LeapFrog LeapPad Explorer Learning Tablet (Green)
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So Kindle Fire vs LeapPad? The LeadPad Explorer is a new kids tablet from Leapster. Unlike the Kindle Fire it is designed specifically for kids and has lots of educational games and interactive eBooks that teach kids to read. It also has a camera and video camera built in which the Kindle Fire doesn't.

The LeapPad is rugged and designed to cope with little kids playing with it.

To me these are very different devices. Our son is getting a LeapPad for his 5th birthday. It will be his and I know the titles are kid-friendly and he can choose what he wants to do.

The Kindle Fire on the other hand. Well I want one of those and yes, I'll share it with the kids and we can look at eBooks together. When my son is a bit older then maybe he'll get his own.

The VTech Innotab is another kids learning tablet. It doesn't have a camera or video camera (VTech have kids versions of those too.) It also has lots of games and eBooks for kids.

Again a rugged kids tablet might be better for the littler kids to use on their own. But if the family has a Kindle Fire I bet the kids will use that too.