Recommend iPad for kids

iPad 7th generation.

Education pricing is technically for university students or teachers, not for grade school kids, but Apple doesn't check.

Entry level 32 GB is enough for grade 1 student, at least for now. Not sure about grade 4 student, but 128 GB might be safer. What education software? If Google Classroom, Docs, Slides, etc, then the document storage is in the cloud. However, your grade 4 kid might want local storage for various stuff. And are you sure no videos will be saved? It makes a great Netflix machine on the plane for vacation for example, but 32 GB is tight for that.

Mostly google classroom , documents
Google meet.
So I should go for 128 minimum?

nousername wrote: ↑ Mostly google classroom , documents
Google meet.
So I should go for 128 minimum?

If it really is just for educational purposes with those apps (which make extensive use of the cloud for storage), 32 GB is sufficient for the grade 1 student for sure, and can likely be sufficient for the grade 4 student. But if it's education + other, the grade 4 student might find it filling up very quickly.

My kindie and grade 2 kids have iPad Air 2s, and they use about 10 GB storage each for Google Classroom, etc, which means their 64 GB models are way overkill. However, as kids get older, their storage needs often increase. Install a game and it's several GB right there. Load a long 4K video, and that's a another few GB. (The video could be an iTunes movie download, or could be something they shot themselves on an iPhone or something that they wanted to edit.) My 64 GB iPad Pro is very tight for storage for my personal usage, and if I decide to edit some video on it, I find I have to clean up my machine and delete unneeded stuff.

Then again, my wife has a 128 GB iPad 7, and she only uses about 10-15 GB, and the only time she approaches 32 GB is when we go on vacation and she loads up a whole bunch of videos for the plane. The main reason I got 128 GB is I figured eventually she'd pass it down to a kid in a few years, and by that time the kid will be old enough and average usage will have increased too, so 128 GB may be useful then... several years from now.

I have 2 kids, they use the same apps every day, Ipad mini 2 and Ipad 5th gen. I recently got an Ipad mini 5 after my younger one took my Ipad 5th gen. Ipad mini 5 is nice, too nice for my kid LOL

nousername wrote: ↑ Mostly google classroom , documents
Google meet.
So I should go for 128 minimum?

nousername wrote: ↑ Mostly google classroom , documents
Google meet.
So I should go for 128 minimum?

If you’re using google class room, and the school assigned them an email, don’t bother with the iPad. The experience is not the best. Either go with a desktop or get a cheap Chromebook

The iPad is perfect if they want to entertain themselves. I would just buy any thing above the 6th generation. Not crazy about the non laminate screen, but I doubt the kids will know the difference

Gee wrote: ↑ If you’re using google class room, and the school assigned them an email, don’t bother with the iPad. The experience is not the best. Either go with a desktop or get a cheap Chromebook

The iPad is perfect if they want to entertain themselves. I would just buy any thing above the 6th generation. Not crazy about the non laminate screen, but I doubt the kids will know the difference

That's the idea. buy a tablet. so , one can use the desktop and the other a tablet because right now the younger one has to wait for the older one to finish his work on the desktop.

nousername wrote: ↑ Mostly google classroom , documents
Google meet.
So I should go for 128 minimum?

Chromebook may be better for your needs.

nousername wrote: ↑ That's the idea. buy a tablet. so , one can use the desktop and the other a tablet because right now the younger one has to wait for the older one to finish his work on the desktop.

That’s not going to work. They will end up fighting fo the iPad

If you want to use Google applications properly on an iPad, you need to get a keyboard.

Also, you will want to install Chrome, as some third party websites (not Google) work better in Chrome. For example, from Google Classroom, the teacher may link an educational videogame from elsewhere, but that site may only work in Chrome.

My older one has a ThinkPad to finish her Google classroom work, and online French class. The younger one uses the IPad for Epic and Scholastic, Google classroom where there is a Youtube video attached.

I personally don't like Chromebook, a refurbished laptop would serve better.

nousername wrote: ↑ That's the idea. buy a tablet. so , one can use the desktop and the other a tablet because right now the younger one has to wait for the older one to finish his work on the desktop.

ArsTechnica just posted a detailed comparison test:

The ~$100 tablet shootout—Amazon Fire 8 HD Plus vs. Walmart Onn 8 Tablet Pro



Also, here's the top comment from the article discussion which seems relevant to this thread:

"Good for a kid? Hmmm, I used to think that way too. I have kids, and after the first busted iPad screen we got the youngest one something cheaper.

But honestly: I have come to believe that it's a bad solution. The problems with this way of thinking are:

1.) The cheap device gives your child awful UI behavior that attempts to compensate for the shortcomings of the device. For example clicking 3-4 times on the "close" button of an application window, because the App is not responding in a timely manner. And the constant ads teaches them to click "OK" on any damn thing that pops up.

2.) The quality of the device is often poor. If the screen is bad it leads to eye strain. If the touch screen is inaccurate, it makes them avoid anything that requires an on-screen keyboard. This drives them in direction of content that has a more passive nature.

3.) Not all screen time is created equal. Some Apps are educational and helps your child learn new things or trains useful skills. But unfortunately it seems quality Apps are often heavier and larger, and have higher RAM requirements. This means you can have fewer such Apps on the device at a time, and they are slower to operate. As a result your child may avoid using Apps that are "good screen time" because they don't feel responsive enough or have very long launch times. Instead they'll open TikTok or stupid small games, and spend "bad screen time" that only rots their brain. If you want Apps that evolves your child, you need decent specs.

4.) No embedded modem and GPS means they can't use them for some of the most popular kids titles, for example Pokemon Go! Perhaps your child doesn't need it, but trust me: you are going to miss that cheap 500 MB data card (just block video streaming Apps from using mobile data) and a cheap GPS chip.

5.) A poor device teaches your child that technology is frustrating to work with. And the first things they will ditch is all the useful stuff. This is not a lesson you want to give your child.

Think about it this way: Would you eat healthy food at the dinner table, while serving scraps and cheap tinned food for your kids "because they don't appreciate proper cooking"? Probably not. I hope not. So why would you give your child the same sub-standard treatment with tech products?

Get your kid a GOOD device, and spend extra on a rigid case or bumper that will keep it safe. They're not hard to find. Stop being cheap just because it's for a child. If you can't afford anything but a cheap device, fine. It will be better than no device at all. But the lessons learned by a poor device are not the ones you want for your child."

My kid now has my old 128GB iPad Pro 9.7 and she's now into creating animations and making little videos. So she ran out of space in her previous 32GB iPad long ago.

I would not get a 32GB because once they fill it up, it becomes a pain.

These iPads last forever.....so even 5 years from now, it will be still usable. So I would say err on the side of too much storage than just enough because you are stuck with it forever. They even have been dropped a few times and always survive (I have TPU bumper case and one of the corners of the iPad is a little dented in now). I would have thought that I needed to replace it due to physical damage but it keeps on ticking

In my family, I tend to buy the latest gear, and then pass it down to wife or kids.
I just bought the Pro 12.9 128
Kid is using my Pro 9.7 128
Wife is using Air2 64.
Retired the old Gen 5 32

I always feel like we get good value out of our iPads, especially now that we are stuck at home. So I don't mind splurging a bit on them. Laptops on the other hand are pretty useless. I still have my MacBook 12" but never use it. We have a desktop PC or iMac for everything else