My oldest (turns 7 in March) wants a tablet for Christmas.  Not looking forward to combating more screen time, but if it gets her off our computer and possibly frees that up for her sister (and cuts down on arguments over who's turn is it) to use then I figure why not.  Any recommendations of what to get or what to avoid?  I'm leaning towards the Amazon Fire or the Samsung Kids Galaxy tab.

My oldest (turns 7 in March) wants a tablet for Christmas.  Not looking forward to combating more screen time, but if it gets her off our computer and possibly frees that up for her sister (and cuts down on arguments over who's turn is it) to use then I figure why not.  Any recommendations of what to get or what to avoid?  I'm leaning towards the Amazon Fire or the Samsung Kids Galaxy tab.

Ours had ipads in school once a week to do different lessons and exercises, so I talked myself into getting them each an iPad Mini (with an otterbox) a couple years ago. I was expecting them to kind of live on them, but after the initial period they were pretty responsible about it actually. It's more of an investment ($199 versus $80-100 for a good different brand) BUT they've been going strong for 3 years I think, no accidents, and I could use one apple account on both so anything I downloaded or bought went to both ipads.

Amazon is great for reading, and maybe watching amazon owned stuff, but the processor is a bit too slow, and after about a year or two the battery life really takes a hit. I haven't trusted Samsung since all their stuff started blowing up, but my issue with them before was that droid is more open source and much more susceptible to viruses and malware than apple, which with accidental clicks and all the pop ups that happen in free software, that's a serious risk with kids. 

Interesting question...

Does the kid's traits call for a special kid-proof armored tablet, or can she be trusted to treat it with a bit of care?

Do you intend to curate what she can get to, or do you wanna pay amazon a monthly fee to do that?

Do you care about being within the amazon ecosystem vs. a plain ol' android that can get to amazon but isn't corralled there?

Do you intend/hope that this will also get used as an e-book reader, or do you look at it as mainly an entertainment device?

Interesting question...

 

Does the kid's traits call for a special kid-proof armored tablet, or can she be trusted to treat it with a bit of care?

 

 

Do you intend to curate what she can get to, or do you wanna pay amazon a monthly fee to do that?

 

Do you care about being within the amazon ecosystem vs. a plain ol' android that can get to amazon but isn't corralled there?

 

Do you intend/hope that this will also get used as an e-book reader, or do you look at it as mainly an entertainment device?

I have no concerns about her abusing/damaging it and know she would be fine with a "grown up", but I'm worried about her sister (4 and 1/2) and brother (almost 2) getting a hold of it and causing harm.

I guess I would prefer to decide for myself what she can and can't get to.

Ecosystem doesn't bother me, and I have an android phone so I'm comfortable using them.

Mostly entertainment.   

Ecosystem is a valid question with an Amazon tablet though, I had to work around to get Google Play on there.  The Amazon app store has less than you might think.

If I was getting a tablet, I'd be waiting for the Samsung Galaxy Pro.  Gun to my head right now, I'd go with an Nvidia Shield.  I did just get an Acer R13 2-in-1 though, which is basically a big Android tablet.

I've settled on 12" tablets for myself... which means I've got a couple 10" ASUS Transformer tablets (tf701 & tf101) that only get used when the grandkids are around... it's been that way sine they were 6 and 4... those tablets are pretty stout... to actually break one, I think it would either take a fluke event or else the kid would have to be working at it... (mine are older, but you aren't shopping used, and new ones cost too much... as for the keyboard option, it makes for a good 2nd battery)

Based on watching them use the 10" ones, I'd vote for a 10" vs a smaller one...especially since you see it as mainly an entertainment device..

I think the bigger size helps them be careful with it... it's more of a 2-handed device for small hands, so it doesn't get flung around like happens more easily with their ipods...