Contributed By Ginny Haynies Zoodles Marketing Team
According to reports, there are an estimated 40 million plus iPhones in circulation and 4.8 million Android devices activated per quarter. In addition, more than 3 million iPads were sold before July 1st. The sales only continue to grow and as the numbers increase so do the number of children with easy access to the Internet. With these devices comes the introduction of mobile applications for our children. As of September 2009, iPhone and Android users were downloading an average of 10 apps per month and iPod Touch owners at 18 apps per month. (http://blog.7touchgroup.com/tag/how-many-apps-sold-per-user/) A quick count of my own iPhone reveals 50+ applications with a large percentage of them being games, both fun and educational for my children.
According to Education.com there are currently over 3,400 education apps available for download at the iTunes store, with a large number of them targeted for children between the ages of two and five. They note that the top selling iPhone education app continues to be Wheels on the Bus and that “13 of the 20 top paid apps in this area are clearly child-directed.” (http://www.education.com/magazine/article/smartphones-kids) A quick search of the Android marketplace reveals the same trend occurring there. The preschool and young child market is clearly a hot topic and a market that is being heavily targeted.
Two great parent resources for finding great Smart Phone applications for your children are theiphonemom.com and momswithapps.com. While the iphonemom focuses more on iPhone/iPad applications, momswithapps also features Android applications. Their reviews and suggestions often lead you to some fantastic applications. While using discretion in selecting which mobile applications you choose to install on your device, you might also implement the 3 C’s approach to evaluating media for children as suggested by Lisa Guernsey, Director at the Early Education Initiative:
* Content – What is the basic premise of the app? How is it designed? Is it research based? Is it age appropriate? Does it come from a trusted source such as Sesame Workshop? There are a few great resources to help parents evaluate content, such as Common Sense Media and Children’s Technology Review.
* Context – Who is interacting with the child? How do parents talk about what’s on the screen? Is the child learning through a game, then applying that in another activity? Is the child telling stories about what he or she has experienced?
* Child – How much stimulation can this child take? What types of media trigger the most curious questions, playful reenactments, engagement and joy? What is she missing out on by spending time on the device – is she still exercising, socializing, and doing her schoolwork?
Apple reports that more than 1.7 million iPhone 4 phones were sold in the first week and that more than 75% of the devices sold were upgrades for existing customers. Which leads one to wonder: what is being done with the old phones? While many may be donated or resold, another use is to modify a few settings on your older model iPhone and let them function as an iPod Touch. Many of the current application offerings rival those of other popular hand held gaming systems and are quickly becoming more popular among elementary age children.
These same settings and suggestions are also easily applied to your own iPhone, iTouch, or iPad and will allow for some added security and protection if you choose to allow your child to play with your phone or device. These are all located under Settings -> General -> Restrictions.
The first step is to apply a passcode that you will remember, but your child does not know so that you can keep the restrictions in place.
Then you will see a list of choices of things you can either disable or set limitations to restrict. If you choose to use an alternate web browser application such as Mobicip or SafeEyes on your mobile device you will want to disable Safari so that you children will not get an unfiltered web browser. I also suggest you turn off YouTube. This will take away the button for YouTube, however, you would still be able to watch videos you have direct links to and through child safe video filters. This will keep little hands from navigating into Lady Gaga’s most recent music video accidentally. I also highly suggest you turn off In-App purchases. This will prevent your child from accidentally upgrading an application or purchasing something from within an application that they did not understand. Also located under settings are options for Music, Movie, App, and Podcast age ratings. Obviously the level that you choose to put these settings at would depend on if the device is being used by you primarily or if you are turning it into a dedicated child safe device.
As always the best advice is to closely watch your little one, but these precautions and settings can help to make your iProduct a bit more child-safe.
The iPad has arrived, and we here at Zoodles have been happily fiddling with our “family Pad” all week. Are you as excited as we are? Touch interfaces may be sexy for adults, but they are an insane game changer in the world of kids and education. Until now, a lot of the 
Most of the first toys your child handles are bulky, colorful, and safe. As your child learns to grasp these objects, they also learn how to wrangle fun sights and sounds out of them. In this early stage of motor skill development, your child is just starting to understand that what they do physically can make something else in the world behave a certain way.
Soon after, your child will start to understand that screens – be they on the phone, TV, or computer – are places where things happen too. Not only that, but they’ll quickly realize that they can make things happen there! Depending on how developed their motor skills are, this is a great time to introduce toddlers to hand-banging keyboards like Fisher Price’s 
Touch is the third physical interaction usually mastered by tots. Their little fingers do particularly well with touch screens, so the iPhone and iPad are great (though expensive!) interfaces for them to start with. With apps like 
After touch, the next interfaces to learn are ones that involve pens. No need to run out and get a tablet – you just need something interactive that will continue to develop your child’s fine motor skills without losing the feedback and immediacy of touch interfaces. Whether your child spends time with crayons, 
The keyboard – mentioned previously in Screens – is a tool that can be mastered to varying degrees. The first thing to learn is that banging on the keyboard causes things to happen on the screen. That’s pretty much all your toddler needs to know to explore their powers on sites like 
And that’s where Zoodles comes in. With Zoodles, you can trust that your little keybanger will not only be contained, but engaged, and educated, all from within the safety of our browser. Our interface protects your computer, and our content safeguards your kids. We feature content providers who are passionate about designing games, activities, and videos specifically for young developing users. 
With the Zoodles play timer, you can limit your child’s time online without having to constantly step in and feel like the bad guy. Zoodles does all the negotiating for you – as soon as your child’s time on Zoodles runs out, a big blue clock will appear signaling their time is up. The browser stays locked in full-screen mode, so your child can’t wander somewhere else online or click around on the computer. After a minute or so, they’ll be brought back to the original family log-in screen, so the brother or sister who’s been patiently waiting in the wings can get a turn!
With 10 minute, 5 minute, and 2 minute warnings, Zoodles eases your child off the computer and on to a new activity without the tantrum. The 
You can set time limits in half hour increments anywhere from half an hour a day to 8 hours a day, and you can set them differently based on whether it’s a weekday, or a weekend. What’s more, each of your children have their own unique play timer settings, so you can limit them differently based on their individual play patterns!
I spent a large part of last week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. While I love gadgets and new technology, I was drawn to CES this year by the Kids@Play conference held at CES. I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel about internet safety for children and to demo Zoodles. The panel and demo went very well, but the thing I came back from CES most excited about is all the enabling technologies that are going to improve the lives of children around the world!
any parents are hesitant to feel the same. There’s concern that something indescribable will be missing from their child’s education with the dearth of the textbook. Here at Zoodles we thought we’d take a step back and look at what the Digital Era could mean for you as a parent, and how to come to terms with its transition into schools. If you have any thoughts of your own on the matter, we would love to hear them!
), Abbie does love playing on the computer. So this week we have decided to use a newly updated feature of Zoodles that allows parents to “promote” educational subjects in their child’s toybox. The following picture shows our new interface which equally weights all the academic areas:
