Somehow in 30 seconds or less, I can hand my child my phone or iPad and turn around to find nearly 200 selfies and shots of little foreheads.
It never fails.
A full memory from family photos plus files and apps that seem to strangely disappear, the plight of sharing a family iPad can be difficult. But with a few simple tools, it’s actually very manageable and even doable.
And you’re probably expecting something like “get a case”, but who doesn’t already think of that?
Let’s get real here.
7 Secrets to sharing an iPad with your young kids
Get an iPad stand.
Having a stand, it’s easy to make the rule tat it has to stay on the stand when using it in the home. This not only helps if for some reason a glass of water spills nearby, but it also helps keep our children at a distance.
It’s a strain on our kids’ necks to have them looking down all of the time, so this helps get their heads up and typically also gives them a more appropriate distance from the screen.
Backup your precious photos.
Yes, even the 200 toddler selfies.
You know why? Because in a few years, they’ll be bigger. They won’t be so fascinated with using your iPad or phone and those sweet innocent pictures capture the candid moments in their lives.
Not only do my kids tend to fill up the photo roll with themselves, I know I am constantly trying to capture their childhood and I have an immense library that has caused us to not be able to download anything new because there was no more space on our device!
Using the SanDisk iXpnd™ flash drive, we easily transfer photos over to back them up and even free up space on the iPad for more fun games, movies, and apps.
Teach responsibility by making it a family iPad.
It’s expensive. That’s part of why we only got one, but we also decided on a family iPad because it forces some extra responsibility. Everyone has to do their part to keep the iPad fully charged, protected, and in good condition.
We also made a rule in our house that we call it “mom and dad’s iPad”. What this does is it teaches that it’s a privilege to use it.
Enable triple click childproofing with Guided Access.
By going into Settings >General > Accessibility > Guided Access, you can set up a triple click of the home button to keep your children on a certain screen.
This great tool not only helps keep them “confined” on your family’s iPad, but it also can establish time limits, which hardware buttons can be used, and if the touch screen is enabled or not.
Create a restricted photo sharing library.
With older kids, other factors start to play into sharing devices or just having an iPad or iPhone in general. And there are other activities we worry about as parents, aren’t there?
Going into Settings > Privacy > Photos, you are able to choose which apps have access to pictures.
The key is to also make sure that you set it to where it can’t be changed (unless of course with the password that you set and don’t share).
Enable restrictions such as preventing apps from being deleted or disabling in-app purchases.
My worst nightmare is letting my kids play a game only to find out that they also made purchases accidentally (or otherwise) while in the app.
In Settings > General > Restrictions, you can easily set up restrictions for your kid(s).
You will find options for everything including, but not limited to: which websites are acceptable and not, setting certain ratings for movies and music, creating a volume limit, and even which apps can be accessed when restrictions are enabled.
Keep sensitive material on a flash drive.
Just like photos, we back up anything that we don’t want accidentally deleted or the kids to get ahold of on our SanDisk iXpand™ flash drive.
This makes it more functional for everyone. We don’t worry as much, especially with restrictions enabled, when the kids are on it and we know that they’re safe while at the same time so are our important pictures and documents.
Have grandma on facetime speed dial.
Especially with younger kids, it has been a life saver to have a shared iPad in the house. The kids know they can call grandma, friends, and other family whenever they want as long as they get permission to use the device first.
It’s also come in handy on the days when both my young girls were having a rough day and needed to hear someone else’s voice besides my own.
Need more resources on protecting your family when using technology?
No matter the age of our children, it’s important to keep both devices safe, but also our families safe when using screens. I have created a guide for talking about computers, ipads, and the internet together as a family.
Click the preview image below of the printable to subscribe and download this free guide!
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Kara is an author and advocate for positive, grace-filled parenting. She is homeschooler to her 5 children living on a farm in New England. She believes in creative educational approaches to help kids dive deeper into a rich learning experience and has her degree in Secondary Education & Adolescent Childhood Development. She is passionate about connecting with and helping other parents on their journey to raise awesome kids!
