NEWS$show=/search/label/news

Here's where you'll find all the latest news about technology for children. We love to follow cool new inventions on Kickstarter and we hunt out all the latest announcements about tech toys and gadgets for the coming Christmas holidays. You'll also get our take on children's technology stories in the media.

REVIEWS$show=/search/label/review

Our kids technology product reviews are intended to help you work out whether a toy, gadget or kit is a good fit for your child or family. There's lots of cool stuff available, but is it the right choice for the child or teenager that you are buying for? We'll help you make the right choices and get the best value for money.

GIFT GUIDES$show=/search/label/gift%20guide

Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends assemble. We create gift lists to help you make good choices for kids technology which helps them develop the right skills for the future. We research the best in Coding Toys and Games, Making / Craft Tools and Kits, STEM/STEAM related gifts, Programmable Robots, Electronics Kits and Gadgets for Tech Age Kids and Teens.

PROJECTS$show=/search/label/project

Get crafty with technology. Here we'll post all our ideas and projects using technology to get creative and making with kids. You'll find anything from making a lemon battery to a glow-in-the-dark Minecraft sword. Our projects are tried and tested on our own kids or at events we run, so we are sure you can have a go at home with your kids. Some of our projects use specific tech gadgets which we provide links for you to purchase.

STEM$show=/search/label/stem

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. In recent years there is an increased focus in these areas of study. We like to include Art and Design too, so we often talk about STEAM (A stands for Art). At Tech Age Kids we believe Coding is a new literacy and children need to understand how technology works, practice making skills and grow in their curiosity to make a better future for us all.

CODING$show=/search/label/coding

Coding is increasingly being recognised as an important skill for children to learn. Some will learn to code at school or at a coding club, but it's brilliant if they get support at home too.

ELECTRONICS$show=/search/label/electronics

We think it's really important for kids to get hands-on with electronics and learn how to make circuits and write code to control hardware. Younger kids can start with conductive playdough. For kids who like to combine craft and tech, littleBits are fab. And we love SAM Labs wireless electronics components for making it easy for kids to make Internet of Things inventions. Lots of electronics kits for kids have support for the Arduino microprocessor environment. The DuinoKit Jr is one of our favourites. Arduino is a fab skill for older kids and teens to develop.

ROBOTICS$show=/search/label/robotics

We love robots at Tech Age Kids, especially programmable ones. We've got lots of them and write reviews and projects that use them. Our programmable robots for kids buying guide is a good place to start if you're not sure what's available. Roby the mBot Meccano robot dog is one of our popular projects and has been with us to lots of events. Our Ozobot LEGO trailer is fab for kids who love LEGO and robots.

MAKING AND CRAFT$show=/search/label/making

We're advocates of the creative use of technology, but this needs to be balanced with developing physical skills such as papercraft, woodwork, clay modelling, technical drawing and soldering. If children don't develop these skills as they grow up then physical making projects can become frustrating rather than fun. The Maker Community uses the term 'making' as a broad term to include all sorts of artisan skills or craft activities. Being able to make things can lead to life-long hobbies or even careers. It's a great feeling to be able to take a project from an idea in your head to a real object that does something. We're particularly interested to explore products that combine maker skills with tech skills such as electronics but others focus purely on the physical making skills that are still important to modern making.

iPad Pro for Kids and Families

Image: Apple
Surely the iPad Pro is for kids and families? A really big tablet that little kids can read picture books on, big kids can draw on, teens can mix music on and the whole family can play board games on. A tablet that can be permanently on display with quick access to the family calendar and photos.

OK, I can see some business use cases too. But the iPad Pro is just what families are looking for. Kids are touch-native, they want interactive big colour reference books and maps, multi-player board games, a big drawing surface and the ability to get their homework done without switching to a laptop.

I've written previously about big tablets for families. That was a couple of years ago and tablet specs and screen resolutions weren't anywhere near as good as the iPad Pro. We have a 13" Android tablet and while it has been useful it doesn't have the spec that we need to really make the most of it. We're a mixed Android/Kindle Fire and iOS house - we'll go where the cool tech and the content is, and that's not the same for every usage scenario. I can certainly see a role for an iPad Pro in a modern family home.

Cost


I know the price point is high and that's why the iPad Pro has been targeted at businesses initially, but I think that it's going to be a popular choice with families that can afford it. When you're looking at a device that can be used by the whole family that definitely makes a difference at to what's worth investing in.

Weight and Size


The iPad Pro has a 12.9" screen and weighs 713 grams. It's actually surprisingly light for its size, my old iPad 3 weighs 652 grams and my kids were fine with that before they got their own (newer!) iPads. It's much lighter than our big Android tablet which they manage to use. An iPad Pro would be unmanageable for  little kids, but big kids will be just fine with it (my kids are 7 and nearly 9.)

Durability


The durability of the iPad Pro will be a big issue for family use. But I expect that protective covers will be available as they are for the regular tablets. I think there's also a lot of potential for tabletop use for art and game play which is safer. 

Usage Scenarios


So, what will families want to do with an iPad Pro?

  1. Big Books


    When my kids were little we spent a lot of time together sharing picture books. I think this is a common way for parents and little kids to use tablets. Picture books are so much better on a bigger screen. In this situation it will be the parent holding the tablet. 

    Now my kids are a bit older they read lots of reference books and magazines about science, nature, history, and their other interests. Although eBooks and apps are increasingly available they haven't been very effective for these big format reference books. and magazines A 13" screen is just what we need. (We love physical books but I'd love not to have store quite so many of them!)

    When they become teenagers (gulp) it will be text books with detailed diagrams that require a big tablet. 

  2. Multi-Player Games


    Now my kids are bigger they pretty much always use their iPads at the same time. It's very much a social activity. At the moment they play networked games such as Terraria and Minecraft. I think the iPad Pro will encourage the development of more games where two people use the same screen together. 

    We like to play board games as a family, but they take up so much storage space. I'd love to be able to play on a tablet instead but smaller tablets just aren't practical to gather around. A 13" screen gives much more scope for detailed board games that 4 people can sit around. 

  3. Drawing and Writing


    Kids love to draw. Mine spend hours drawing. But other than quick sketches on the Boogie Board their drawing hasn't gone digital. I think this is in large part due to not having a large high resolution device. 

    The Apple Pencil for iPad Pro is aimed at graphic designers, but I think kids and teens who love to draw will really get a lot from it. 

    When my kids were learning to write we really wanted an accurate pencil-type digital device that they could use and apps to go with it. Schools still think handwriting is very important (I won't claim to understand why!) and learning apps using the digital pencil would be fantastic. 

  4. Coding


    We're seeing more and more coding apps for tablets (yay!) and to be really effective it's useful to be able to see both code and output, and often tutorial material at the same time. A big screen is much better for this. 

    My kids will always choose to use a tablet over a laptop if at all possible. 

  5. App Toys


    We're seeing a lot more app toys that work with a tablet. My kids play Skylanders Trap Team together on a tablet and a bigger tablet would be much more effective. 

    Wouldn't it be good to give Ozobot a bit more space? 

  6. Homework


    Kids these days are touch-native. They want to do everything on a tablet. A big screen plus the ability to have two apps side by side will be very natural to kids. Kids will love being able to do research and write a document side-by-side. 

  7. Video Chat

    Lots of families use video calls to communicate with families. A bigger screen works far better for young children or multiple family members. A tablet is portable and means that kids can chat to Grandma or Dad from the playroom or the sofa. 

  8. Shared Calendar and Notice Board

    We've been looking for a good digital solution to replace the old-fashioned wall calendar and notice board approach. We need a big tablet with good media capability. The iPad Pro could be just the device.
  9. And More!

    What else would your family use an iPad Pro for? Let us know in the comments.

24 days of Scratch coding book cover and cute penguin
Name

2013,13,2023,1,3d printing,5,3DTin,2,accessories,1,activities,1,adafruit,1,advent calendar,2,adventure games,1,amazon,13,amazon fire,2,amazon prime,1,android,6,angry birds,1,animation,6,anki,1,app,19,app toy,4,app toys,8,appcessories,1,apple,1,apps,25,arcbotics,1,architecture,4,arckit,9,arduino,33,art,1,artificial intelligence,5,astronauts,2,astronomy,1,augmented reality,11,automaton,1,awards,1,battle bots,2,battling robots,2,bedtime,1,big kids,103,big tablets,1,bigtrak,1,bike,1,binary,1,birthday,4,bitsbox,1,black friday,2,blockly,1,blogging,1,bloxels,1,bluetooth,2,board games,7,book,2,books,35,boolean box,1,breadboard,2,bricks,1,brixo,1,buying guide,11,camera,4,cameras,1,card game,1,careers,2,catroid,1,celebration,1,cellphone,1,ces,2,chemistry,2,chess,1,christmas,44,circuit cubes,1,circuit playground,8,circuit scribe,10,cleaning,1,climbing,1,code clubs,1,code-a-pillar,1,codebug,1,coder,2,coding,173,cognitive learning,1,communication,1,comparison,1,competition/challenges,9,computational thinking,3,computer,2,computer games,2,computer science,2,computer vision,2,computers,1,computing,1,conductive playdough,2,connected toys,7,construction,40,conversational ai,1,cozmo,1,craft,34,craft cutter,3,creative thinking,1,creativity,3,crochet,1,crowdfunding,120,css,1,cubs,1,curiosity,1,curious chip,1,cyber monday,1,dads,1,data,2,deals,4,dens,2,design,10,design process,1,design thinking,7,digital parenting,2,digital skills,13,disability,1,disney infinity,1,dog tech,1,dolls,2,drawing,2,drones,2,duinokit,1,earth day,1,Easter,4,ebooks,11,eco,1,edblocks,1,edison,5,edtech,1,education,79,egypt,1,electricity,1,electronic pets,2,electronic toys,2,electronics,141,electronics kit,4,electronics kits,1,electtronics,1,elementary,1,elenco,2,energy,1,engineering,17,entertainment,1,ereader,2,ereaders,6,esafety,1,escape the room,1,event,21,ewriter,1,exercise,4,family,12,family tech,2,fathers day,1,Festival of Code,1,fiction,1,fire,1,fitbit,1,fitness,1,fitness tracker,3,flotilla,3,flow charts,1,flutterbye fairy,1,flying,1,force awakens,2,force friday,2,future,2,gadgets,36,games,35,games console,2,games consoles,8,gaming,3,gift guide,55,gifts,12,girls,24,giveaway,4,glow in the dark,1,google,1,grace hopper,1,grove,1,hackaball,2,hacksoton,1,halloween,13,halloween costumes,1,hardware,3,headphones,1,health,1,hexbug,3,hexbug aquabots,1,hexbug project,1,high school,1,history,26,home,1,home education,2,homeschool,4,hot toys,7,hour of code,3,html,4,humanoid,4,ICT,1,in app purchasing,1,indiegogo,13,industry event,9,innotab,5,innotab 3,3,innotab 3s,1,internet access,1,interviews,1,invention,4,ios,3,IoT,4,ipad,7,ipad mini,1,iphone,2,jacquard,1,japan,1,java,1,javascript,5,k'nex,7,k'nex robotics,1,kano,8,keyboard,1,kickstarter,92,kids,3,kindle,7,kindle fire,8,kit,2,kits,5,kodu,1,kubo,1,label printer,1,languages,1,laptop,1,laptops,1,last minute,1,leap motion,1,leapfrog,2,leappad,7,leappad 2,3,leappad ultra,3,leappad2,1,leapreader,1,learning,5,learning resources,5,learning tablet,2,learning tablets,9,leds,2,lego,36,lego boost,1,lego chain reactions,1,lego mindstorms ev3,5,lego power functions,2,lego technic,5,lego wedo,2,let's start coding,1,lights,1,lightseekers,1,little kids,110,littlebits,16,logiblocs,1,logic,3,logical thinking,4,loom,1,machines,1,magnetic,1,make it,2,makeblock,16,makedo,1,maker,6,makey makey,6,making,54,mardles,1,mars,1,mars rover,1,marty,1,math,3,maths,1,mbot,6,mbot ranger,1,me arm,1,meccano,6,meccanoid,5,meccanoid 2.0,1,merge vr,1,mews,1,michael faraday,1,micro:bit,9,microbit,6,microcontroller,5,microscope,1,microsoft,2,middle school,6,miles kelly,1,mindstorms,3,minecraft,21,minecraft mods,1,mixed reality,1,mobile,2,modular electronics,2,monsters university,1,morse code,2,mothers day,4,motion capture,1,motors,2,mover kit,3,movie,1,movies,4,mu,1,mu toys,1,munzee,1,music,10,my first robot,2,national dog day,1,nature,1,new,1,new year,1,news,170,news coding,1,nikola tesla,1,nintendo,2,nintendo switch,3,ohbot,3,ollie,3,on the web,1,opinion,19,origami,1,osmo,4,outdoors,13,ouya,1,ozobot,10,papercraft,3,paperwhite,1,parental controls,2,parenting,34,parrot,1,pc,1,people,8,pet tech,2,pets,3,phone,1,photography,1,photon,1,physics,3,pi day,1,picks,2,pimoroni,1,pinoccio,1,pixel kit,1,pixelart,4,play,2,playstation 4,3,plezmo,1,pocket code,1,pocket money,1,pokemon,4,pokemon go,4,poll,1,pre order,1,pre-teens,2,prehistory,1,preschoolers,42,primary,41,printable,1,products,34,professor einstein,1,programming,15,project,102,projects,12,puzzles,4,python,10,racing,1,raspberry pi,29,reading,12,reivew,1,remote control,1,research,3,resource,34,resources,2,retro,2,review,223,rights,1,robot,11,robot dog,1,robot fish,1,robot wars,3,ROBOTERRA,1,roboticals,1,robotics,32,robots,140,role models,1,role play,1,romo,1,romotive,1,root,1,rover,1,safety,2,sam labs,6,samuel morse,1,sandbox,1,schools,3,science,16,scratch,48,scratchjr,3,screen time,2,screenless,15,screens,1,sensors,5,servos,1,simbrix,7,skills,1,skylanders,3,skylanders superchargers,1,skylanders swap force,1,smart pens,1,smartphone,1,smartwatch,1,snap circuits,2,social media,1,solar power,2,soldering,2,sonic pi,1,sony koov,1,sound,3,space,9,sparki,2,speaker,3,speech sythesis,1,sphero,12,sphero mini,1,spider,2,star wars,6,stars,1,STEAM,1,stem,10,stikbot,1,stop motion,2,stop motion studio,1,storage,1,story,2,strawbees,2,students,1,subscription,5,subscriptions,1,sugru,1,summer,7,swift,1,tablet,3,tablets,23,tangible coding,2,tech,3,tech age,1,tech craft,4,tech is bad,7,tech is good,4,tech toys,21,tech will save us,10,technology,2,technology will save us,3,teens,64,teknikio,3,tekno,1,teksta,1,tenka labs,1,tesla,1,textiles,1,thames & kosmos,2,the extraordinaires,1,tim berners lee,1,tinkercad,1,tinybop,3,toddlers,9,toot-toot,1,top pick,9,touch,1,toy,1,toys,5,travelling,1,TTS,1,TV,1,tween,1,tweens,119,tynker,2,typing,1,ux,1,vehicles,1,videos,3,view-master,1,views,10,virtual reality,8,voice assistants,1,voice recognition,2,vr,4,vtech,8,web,2,websites,1,wifi,1,wii,2,wii u,2,windows 8,1,wonder workshop,9,wowwee,2,writing,7,writing. education,1,xbox one,2,xyzprinting,1,
ltr
item
Tech Age Kids | Technology for Children: iPad Pro for Kids and Families
iPad Pro for Kids and Families
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilu1vpZ5DVXsIbcpPbjMbs31nBgwig8Pg-rQm_tyit05MK6SrC6-8EmpQdIfeciS9Ud8nqOWc44cr8G-4xKecGjcjfZ1qU-r3eufFsIXH18t2BbPzUqd47z9U7x4XBuSUfcNfCprqEVk8/s320/iPadPro_Lifestyle-Gaming-PRINT.tif
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilu1vpZ5DVXsIbcpPbjMbs31nBgwig8Pg-rQm_tyit05MK6SrC6-8EmpQdIfeciS9Ud8nqOWc44cr8G-4xKecGjcjfZ1qU-r3eufFsIXH18t2BbPzUqd47z9U7x4XBuSUfcNfCprqEVk8/s72-c/iPadPro_Lifestyle-Gaming-PRINT.tif
Tech Age Kids | Technology for Children
https://www.techagekids.com/2015/09/ipad-pro-for-kids-and-families.html
https://www.techagekids.com/
https://www.techagekids.com/
https://www.techagekids.com/2015/09/ipad-pro-for-kids-and-families.html
true
15639169850959392
UTF-8
Loaded All Posts Not found any posts VIEW ALL Read more Reply Cancel reply Delete By Home PAGES POSTS View All RECOMMENDED FOR YOU LABEL ARCHIVE SEARCH ALL POSTS Not found any post match with your request Back Home Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat January February March April May June July August September October November December Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec just now 1 minute ago $$1$$ minutes ago 1 hour ago $$1$$ hours ago Yesterday $$1$$ days ago $$1$$ weeks ago more than 5 weeks ago Followers Follow THIS PREMIUM CONTENT IS LOCKED STEP 1: Share to a social network STEP 2: Click the link on your social network Copy All Code Select All Code All codes were copied to your clipboard Can not copy the codes / texts, please press [CTRL]+[C] (or CMD+C with Mac) to copy