Travelling with kids can be rough. Long car rides and flights can be a testament to your patience if your child starts getting bored. Thankfully, technology has created dozens of gadgets to satisfy children of all ages.
We surveyed PCMag.com employees with sons, daughters, nieces, and nephews to see what kind of tech they use to keep them occupied while traveling. This set of gadgets—and the thousands of apps you can download for them—will surely make your children so happily immersed that they won't even have time to ask the inevitable question: Are we there yet?
TABLETS
Nearly every PCMag staff member we surveyed said a tablet is key to keeping kids entertained on planes, trains, and automobiles. If you guessed that Apple's iPad was the tablet mentioned most, you're right. There are just more kid-oriented apps and ebooks created for iOS than for Android or other platforms, and both parents and kids love the wide variety. But the iPad isn't your only option; Lead Mobile Analyst Sascha Segan, who never travels without a tablet, said he's found that 7-inch tablets, like the Google Nexus 7 (shown above), the Amazon Kindle Fire , and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) are the perfect size for his 6-year-old daughter. They're also much less expensive than the iPad, at $200 or $250 compared to $500 for Apple's new tablet.
"Using an Android tablet also lets us play our own media—the TV shows and movies we have stored at home or ripped from DVDs—as well as play the many free games and coloring book apps in the Android market," he said. The Nook Tablet is another good choice. Segan said his daughter recently took a liking to it because of its excellent childrens' books and comics reading experience. "Loading a bunch of books on the Nook Tablet prevents us from having to fumble around in a bag for several different books," Segan said.
IPAD CASES
MP3 PLAYERS
EDUCATIONAL GADGETS
LeapFrog LeapPad
LeapFrog makes educational devices for kids from infancy up to 9 years old. Two of our favorites hit the 4-to-9 age range. For the little one who wants a smartphone like Mom's, the LeapPad combines the coolness of a tablet with lots of educational content. With four apps included, the LeapPad is open to a library of over a hundred cartridge games and activities to buy and download. The tablet has a 5-inch, 480-by-272-pixel (16:9) touch screen, and 2GB of built-in storage. With a built-in camera and video recorder, microphone, stylus, and an accelerometer, this tablet can do just about everything children could want, including creating their own stories about themselves with personalized artwork narrated in their voice.
LeapFrog makes educational devices for kids from infancy up to 9 years old. Two of our favorites hit the 4-to-9 age range. For the little one who wants a smartphone like Mom's, the LeapPad combines the coolness of a tablet with lots of educational content. With four apps included, the LeapPad is open to a library of over a hundred cartridge games and activities to buy and download. The tablet has a 5-inch, 480-by-272-pixel (16:9) touch screen, and 2GB of built-in storage. With a built-in camera and video recorder, microphone, stylus, and an accelerometer, this tablet can do just about everything children could want, including creating their own stories about themselves with personalized artwork narrated in their voice.
LeapFrog Tag
The LeapFrog Tag Reading System is an electronic stylus that reads along with specially-coded books, helping kids read stories, solve puzzles, and sound out words that they're learning to read. While they're aimed at early elementary schoolers, the presentation and knowledge were interesting enough to temporarily transfix a 12-year-old as well, particularly the geography pages.
VTech InnoTab Learning App Tablet
Competitor to Leapster's LeapPad, the VTech InnoTab can perform many of the same functions your child loves about your iPad, including playing interactive ebooks that offer story narration, character voices, animation, graphics, sounds, and music. As kids read, they can watch as the words are highlighted, and then touch specific words to hear them pronounced. The touch screen and motion sensor allow kids to play learning games and apps. Kids can also listen to their favorite songs thanks to the built-in MP3 player and watch videos with the video player. There's also a photo viewer, calculator, calendar, notepad, clock, and address book.
Competitor to Leapster's LeapPad, the VTech InnoTab can perform many of the same functions your child loves about your iPad, including playing interactive ebooks that offer story narration, character voices, animation, graphics, sounds, and music. As kids read, they can watch as the words are highlighted, and then touch specific words to hear them pronounced. The touch screen and motion sensor allow kids to play learning games and apps. Kids can also listen to their favorite songs thanks to the built-in MP3 player and watch videos with the video player. There's also a photo viewer, calculator, calendar, notepad, clock, and address book.
VTech V.Reader Interactive E-Reading System
For kids ages 3 to 7, the VTech V.Reader Interactive E-Reading System guides them into reading with enough video-game-like elements to keep them occupied. Kids can touch and play as they learn core reading skills, touch the screen to read the story, and play interactive reading games. The V.Reader comes preloaded with the "What's That Noise" storybook and fun applications such as a Photo Viewer, Video Player, and art activities. Additional storybook cartridges (sold separately) offer new stories and adventures and feature a fully narrated and animated story, reading skill games, and a Story Dictionary.
For kids ages 3 to 7, the VTech V.Reader Interactive E-Reading System guides them into reading with enough video-game-like elements to keep them occupied. Kids can touch and play as they learn core reading skills, touch the screen to read the story, and play interactive reading games. The V.Reader comes preloaded with the "What's That Noise" storybook and fun applications such as a Photo Viewer, Video Player, and art activities. Additional storybook cartridges (sold separately) offer new stories and adventures and feature a fully narrated and animated story, reading skill games, and a Story Dictionary.
VTech MobiGo 2 Touch Learning System
Created for kids ages 3 to 8, VTech's MobiGo 2 Touch Learning System gives your child his or her own touch-tech toy that's both educational and fun. The touch-activated screen and slide-out QWERTY keyboard let kids imitate what their parents do with their gadgets. Tapping, dragging, patting, sliding, and flicking, kids can choose the way they play and learn spelling, logic, math, shapes, and colors. Parents can visit VTech's Learning Lodge Navigator to download more games and content to the MobiGo 2.
Created for kids ages 3 to 8, VTech's MobiGo 2 Touch Learning System gives your child his or her own touch-tech toy that's both educational and fun. The touch-activated screen and slide-out QWERTY keyboard let kids imitate what their parents do with their gadgets. Tapping, dragging, patting, sliding, and flicking, kids can choose the way they play and learn spelling, logic, math, shapes, and colors. Parents can visit VTech's Learning Lodge Navigator to download more games and content to the MobiGo 2.
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