Setting good examples might be easy to said than done.
We might say to our toddler they cant watch too much tv, while we munch our dinner with our eyes glued on our smartphones.
Living in Singapore where technology are part of our primary needs, it is hard to eliminate the habit of not opening email every hour, or checking up on someone's status on FB, or reading online articles, or watching *ahem* stalking what Benedict Cumberbatch is doing.
Nayaka fave time when he was 1 years old is unlocking our iPad and iPhones and tried to click on the bright colored icons.
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| Father and son bonding time could sometimes goes like this. |
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| Magical moments has gone digital |
Previously, as a new parents, i have made a promise that i wont be 'that kind' of parent who let their kid play with ipad so they would behave nicely and neatly. Trust me, it requires gulping your food in less than 5 minutes and at least 5 books to keep them occupied and happy. So mommies, dont ever feel guilty with all the stare from across the table! :p
Reading the news on some toddlers addicted to these gadgets and the other side effect,
i do feel there are needs to set boundaries.
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| 30 cm away from screen is the first rule. |
Lets list down what are the good things technology has bring:
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Nayaka's skill of understanding a concept is very fast.
i believe he is used to basic instructions from various apps. and this applies on real world too. everytime we ask him not to do certain things, like playing with scissors or go near the kitchen, it is fast for him to understand a consequence for dangerous activities. Differentiation between what is right and what is not. - His ability to extract and recall. He could linked some vocabularies like verb or names to something similar (like the other time we mentioned Gill from Nemo's, and he says its the same name as his teacher Ms. Jill)
- It improve Nayaka's vocabulary and math skills, especially in our house where english is barely spoken and mandarin is even less. There's one day when Nayaka sang me a Russian version of Wheel on The Bus.
And here comes the bad stuff:
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Nayaka's habit of watching ipad is when he eat, he needs to watch ipad.
It reduces his interest in learning to self feed. - Sometimes when using youtube app, he can go too far with many videos, which can lead to those bad contents like violence or sexual or even bad words.
- Some parents says it lessen the kid's social skill, because ipad is a one way communication and lack of human interaction. but i have to disagree on this, simply because Nayaka learn to share the screen with his neighbor kid too, even let him play the best part.
Here are the top 5 current apps that Nayaka loves:
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all of lego app (free app) it gives the additional pieces by playing it. It has clever and interesting stories too!
Build your own vehicle 
He build the model based on the apps. not perfect, but structurally very imaginative! -
Nemo's reef app. (free app with optional in-app purchase) being a diver and absolute nature lover, i am the one who is
responsible for introducing this app to Nayaka. Just the other day his
nanny brought home 3 small fish from the wet market, and proudly says
she bought it because it only cost 1 dollar each, and Nayaka can play
with it. I was quite upset with this idea of buying without my permission and 'playing' with living animal without sense of responsibility. I ask her to return the fishes, however i do think having pet are good idea to implement. So, comes this app! We learn interesting fish facts and we need to
design our reef so the new fishes are attracted to come :) ~woops, mom is addicted to this!
Can you spot Bloat the Puffer Fish? -
Candy Count (free app with in-app purchase). i love that this apps teaches about color matching + math skills at the same time. Thanks for mommy Lia for the info!
Match the colors 
Math Skills -
Rainbow Cars. (free app) Stumble upon by accidental search of cars, but Nayaka keep coming back to this app than the rest, because there are quite a few activities to do like learning about colors, drawing and story telling.
- all time fave: youtube. (free app) i have subscribe to some of his fave channels like Disney Collections, Sesame Street, Paw Patrol to streamline his watchlist. But seems like the side bar still leads to some inappropriate content sometimes. anyone know how to set the limitation?
All in all, personally i feel is good to have a balance between gadget time and real-world activities that your kid can still enjoy to touch or explore or smell and feel, like Lego or crafty projects (check my inbox review) or even baking cakes.
My guilty confession is, sometimes i use the iPad to calm Nayaka down because his sister need to go to sleep early, while he really likes to jump around and make loud noises around the house. I will tell him beforehand that as soon as Nadia asleep, we will turn off that iPad, and read a book or two, drink his milk, say his prayer and go to sleep. Seems like a good night routine for him and the rest of us. :)
It is important that these gadgets' objective is to add your parental time and bonding moment, and not taking it away. After all, the technology supposed to help you, not consumes you.
On a personal note, as a parent, there's a need to keep up with technology. I couldnt imagine what kind of technology will be when our kid has grown up (with all the hastags and abbreviation that i could hardly understand nowadays?!)
Any thoughts? or any mommies wanna share a personal favorite iPad app for their toddler?
Cheers,
Erlina.
