Samsung Kids TIme

Smartphones and Tablets can be found in most households in Singapore. Families today call the tablet an essential part of their parenting arsenal, thus you will find them at dinner dates and at family gatherings. It is therefore not surprising that children today learn to “swipe” before they can say “Daddy!” However, technology does have its drawbacks, and every parent is afraid that their children will grow up as technology addicts or be socially deficient. 

In order to protect their children, some parents choose to isolate their kids from technology and forego the benefits of the 21st Century. Parents are often afraid that when we hand Junior the tablet, go goes off to his “own little world” and will not want to come back to reality. Parents have no idea where and what he or she has been up to, and to make things worse, they spend way too much time “swiping”, rather than time with the family.

However, there are benefits to technology, and we should not be so quick to ignore what technology can bring to the household. This was why, when we were invited by Samsung to try out KidsTime on their latest Samsung Galaxy Tab 4, we were looking forward to find out how KidsTime can work together with us. As you can see, my kids were also ever ready to go on this journey together with Daddy! 🙂

Turning on the tablet and entering the application, the kids witnessed the use of bold and bright colors, which immediately struck a chord with the kids! 🙂

With an interface that invites kids to personalize their accounts with their own “Avatars”, my kids were hooked from the ”get-go!“ They were even more excited when I told them that KidsTime offers them over 80 games and ebooks, a buffet of choices.  

The choices do not stop there!

KidsTime comes with an Interface that offers helpful tools for Parents. There are instruments to indicate to me what the kids have learnt in their last session, and a timer to restrict each session as well. I was therefore looking forward to find out how I can work together with this new interface, and have fun time bonding with the kids at the same time.

As I wanted to help my kids improve on their reading, the first program that we explored was Samsung’s e-book. Opening the application, the kids immediately tapped on “The 3 little pigs”. Frankly, I was expecting the simple straightforward classic that I was used to. However, my interest was piqued when I realized that Samsung’s version is slightly different!  The story came with a twist, and the “reader” had us captivated throughout the story. Coupled together with fun cartoons and imagery, we had a great time reading the book together. I am not going to “let the cat out of the bag”, but do explore this story with a Samsung tablet, and you will know what I mean.

Going back to the menu, I realized that there were many other stories waiting for us. The array of books available is definitely helping Samsung take a step in the right direction! 🙂

Find out about our further adventures in my next post, as I journey through what is becoming one of my favourite educational apps with my kids. In the meantime, you can also download and try out KidsTime for free at the Google Store or find out more on www.samsungkidstime.com