Thank you Amazon for sponsoring this family post!
We are loving Amazon’s Fire Kids Edition tablet for the entire family. Nowadays, everyone’s talking about how much screen time our kids get. But, there are ways to use a tablet to enhance family playtime and use it together. Here are a few of our favorite ways to use the Fire Kids Edition tablet together.
Before I get into the list, let me start off by praising Amazon FreeTime Unlimited. It’s free for the first year on every Fire tablet and it provides access to thousands of age-appropriate games, apps, books, and videos for kids! There is so much to explore without having to make individual purchases. That is my absolute FAVORITE part of the Fire Kids Edition tablet.
1 – SCHOOL TIME | Evelyn is going to be starting Pre-K this fall. Eek! I can’t believe she’s that old already! There are literally thousands of educational apps and games to help her learn in a fun way. We call this “school time” and we can sit together to enhance her knowledge. It gives mom and dad the tools we need to guide her in learning and when it’s fun to learn, the information sticks. There’s a fun animal app called Pre-K Animal Math Preschool Math Games for Toddlers by Eggroll Games that teaches everything from counting, to patterns, to shapes, addition, matching, and even puzzles. It’s adorable.
2 – STORY TIME | With so many age-appropriate books to choose from story time never gets boring. We can sit with the kiddos and read and explore. We love snuggling up and reading every day, especially at bedtime. It’s also perfect for on-the-go so we don’t have to carry a stack of books with us. We can bring the Fire Kids Edition tablet and we’ve got all the books we need. Right now, Evie is obsessed with puppies. We can even go into the characters section, click on the picture of puppies, and it brings up everything puppy related for us to choose from in her age range.
3 – FUN & GAMES | We love playing games together as a family. Evie is obsessed with Shopkins right now, and there is this cute Shopkins Run game that we’ve been playing together. We help each other out or we take turns. Taking turns is an important lesson for Evelyn to learn before she enters Pre-K this fall. We all know it’s a tough one for toddlers to get the hang of! Sharing back and forth also teaches us to cheer each other on, be happy for one another when we succeed, or be empathetic when we need to try again.
4 – DANCE PARTY | Let the giggling begin! There’s something about a dance party that gives everyone the giggles. Dancing on mom and dad’s bed? Even sillier. There’s an adorable music video called The Penguin Dance which is one of the Animal Songs by Pinkfong. It’s catchy and shows you dance moves to copy. Now, get those flippers moving!
5 – FAMILY CONVERSATIONS | There are times we let Evelyn explore Amazon FreeTime Unlimited on her own. I set the age limit so that the Fire Kids Edition tablet only allows her to interact with the games, books, and apps that are age-appropriate for her. My husband and I can then go into the Parent Dashboard to see exactly which content she’s been engaging with and for how long. We can pull up the Disscussion Cards provided within the Parent Dashboard and use those to start family conversations.
For example, Evie recently played with Jungle Animal Hair Salon which allows her to style hair and give baby animals mini makeovers. One conversation starter provided by the Discussion Cards is “What is fun about playing dress up?” That can lead into us playing our own version of dress up. Or taking her stuffed animals and giving them mini makeovers! It opens the door to creativity and imagination.
What are some of your favorite ways to enhance family playtime using your Fire Kids Edition tablet? I’d love to know if there’s a game or app that your family loves that we should check out!
