Strollerderby
iPods and Preschoolers Do Mix, Here’s Why
After having it sit in its box for a month, I finally loaded it up with some of my child’s favorite music, everything from Laurie Berkner to the Cars soundtrack to Missy Elliot. When we go on car rides and I cannot listen to the music from JoJo’s Circus one. more. time., I pass the iPod back, and she gets to hear her tunes while I listen to Fuhhh-reeeesh Air! She’s even been known to pass one of the headphones to her toddler sister.
Recently, I logged onto iTunes, chose some kids’ audiobooks and put those on as well. My daughter enjoys listening to them and after they are through, we work on her reading comprehension skills as I ask her what happened in the story and what her favorite part was.
I’ve taken to carrying around her iPod in my purse (because it’s so small), and when we are out at restaurants waiting for our meal, I can whip it out and it will keep her occupied. We’re probably going to ditch our portable DVD player and get a video iPod so that my girls can watch their favorite movies on long car rides or while on an airplane. Living in Silicon Valley does that to you, I guess.
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13 Comments
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amI’ve written previously about how iPods are perfect for preschoolers , and so it was with great excitement
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 am
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amI loaded my video iPod up with the four of the six free “Learn Along with Sesame” videos available on iTunes in preparation for a plane trip we recently took. It was our toddler’s first plane experience and leading up to it I was freaked out that she’d get bored and throw a fit. I had also purchased every toy in the dollar store just in case, but thanks to the iPod I ended up not needing any of them.
Letting her use my iPod to watch these 15-minute shows was the only thing (other than the safety information card in the seat pocket) that kept her entertained for long periods. She was captivated with the “little TV” and sat quietly watching her favorite characters for nearly all of our flights.
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amI would totally do this. I’m waiting to get a good deal on a video ipod on Craiglist, then getting one of those kid-friendly Tadpole covers, then putting some Disney movies on the thing, maybe some music, audiobooks, etc.
Then when we go to restaurants, the kid will sit! Hopefully…
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amPingBack from http://www.clipgator.com/blog/2007/02/27/the-parenting-buzz-on-clipgator-11/
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amI got so much crap when I bought my daughter a iPod Shuffle for her 4th birthday (Dec. 2005). In reality, it has saved us so many times and she really loves downloading books onto it as well.
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amI was in a restaurant last night and saw a toddler walk by watching a video on an iPod.
Only in L.A. I thought, shaking my head with a WTF expression on my face.
A couple of minutes later I realized how brilliant it was and how nice it would be if every kid in the restaurant had one.
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amthat max volume sounds fantastic. My son has a kiddie walkman sort of thing and he likes to max it up (I have to always turn it down for him even though he knows better).
The only problem is that sometimes he likes listening to stuff “out loud” so the iPod wouldn’t save me 100% from listening to Curious George 500 times (I like it actually, but not 500 times), but it might help some of the time.
And the audio books sounds like a great idea!
pinkpinkmoon commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amI think the mp3 player is great for all of the reasons you mentioned above!
My daughter has her own, and she absolutely loves listening to it in the car and around the house.
Her favorite? The Beatles – Yellow Submarine Soundtrack and Smoosh.
RachelZ commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amYou can set the max audio level on an iPod to keep them from being able to turn it up so loud that their ears bleed.
CityMama commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amThe sound isn’t intense. I check the sound level before I give it to my child and I usually clip it somewhere not in her reach so she can’t fiddle with the volume control.
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amwhat about damage to their ears? Are they more vulnerable to that intense sound?
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amI am an audiologist and I think it’s great that you let her listen to audiobooks! It is great for auditory comprehension, a very important skill!
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