I have a 28-month-old boy who is adept at handing the iPad or iPhone and who recently announced to me that he must 'download that' - pointing to the latest talking hippo/giraffe/fairy app on the App Store.
Yes, I have bred a fellow geek, which was a bit of a shock. While I was pregnant, I had all these lovely thoughts about how I would bring up my little boy - lots of reading (Magic Faraway Tree and The Hungry Caterpillar were first on the list), lots of being outdoors, lots of creative playing and definitely no TV or computer access until they were at least 10. Well, it seems I've ticked all boxes aside from the last one.
I've found TV to be a fabulous (cheap) babysitter. Without Justin and his house or Thomas and his tank enging pals, I wouldn't be able to get ready for work in the morning. I've worked out that I can shower, dress and dry my hair all within two episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine...
Equally useful - but in a different way - is the computer, or in our case, the iPad. OMG! What did people do with toddlers before these were invented? Last night, when we were out at a restaurant and he was bored waiting, I just waved it in front of him and voila! One whiny toddler replaced with one happy toddler.
I have definitely eaten my words on this front, primarily because I can see how much joy he gets from playing with the different apps, but also because he's learning new words and numbers all the time due to playing on it. He's getting into and understanding technology earlier. After all, things are only going to move forward and not backwards as he gets older... And as my childminder told me recently, Ofsted actually check her on the technology she offers the kids in her care!
We've road-tested many, many apps. Some are amusing for a short period of time, some never live up to their expectation and some have become firm favourites, which my little one returns to time and time again.
The best of these has to be Tozzle. It's basically puzzles for toddlers (see what they did there?). They're very simple drag and drop puzzles featuring different images. It's really helped my little boy with this fine hand movements and also with working out things. It's also taught him patience - although this doesn't translate when he demands his daily ice-lolly hit!
The animated puzzles are a big hit (when you build the train, it starts moving) but each one has its merits. And it doesn't seem limited to two-year-olds either. At a recent barbie, two five-year-olds were pestering their parents to download the app once they saw my LO playing with it.
So, if you want to allay tantrums while out shopping or keep your little one busy on a plane (which we're doing next month - help!), download Tozzle now. For £1.49, it really is a lifesaver and one you might even enjoy yourself...
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