We don’t actually have an iPad ourselves but that doesn’t mean Florence doesn’t know exactly how to use one! Her Granny has one and it’s almost the first thing Florence asks to play with when we arrive for a visit!

We have a different make tablet which Florence also asks to play with regularly and indeed thinks of as her own. To Florence, using a device like this is just normal. It’s more normal for her than me because she’s always known it. When she sees all the amazing things they can do she shrugs it off as a given but for me, I still think it’s pretty out of this world!

The apps, games and capabilities of such a machine are so fantastic these days that they are even being used in business and yesterday we got to see how one business, Clarks shoes, are using them to measure children’s feet. Yep, that’s right! The iPad actually can measure feet accurately including the width! To me it’s a wow moment, to Florence it’s a ‘but of course?’…

Florence having her feet measured in Clarks yesterday. By the iPad!

Clarks say that they will always still train their staff to measure feet manually and that the iPad is just a starting point! It doesn’t measure feet under a size 7 so they still have to measure tiny feet of course but they say they just want to use the iPad as a guage and then take each little foot individually. They feel the feet in the shoes and advise on style and even might change the sizing afterwards if they’re not happy with it. Saying that, the iPad measured Florence exactly as the assistant, Sarah, did afterwards.

Florence had the full experience and Sarah from Clarks measured and felt so that the measurement was completely accurate!

She also measured Jimmy’s feet but once he was done he was off. He had no time to peruse the shelves of shoes afterwards unlike his sister! Florence tried on lots of pairs and when I wasn’t keen on a pair Sarah did a very good job of swaying her with me which was lovely. However, I decided to let Florence have two pairs, one she chose herself and one with a bit of guidance. I was never allowed to choose so I wanted to give her the pleasure of being in total control! Although what she chose were sparkly they are lovely and I have to say a very good choice!

Jimmy also had his feet measured!

But then just wanted to play at the play station with AK from My Buggy Junction’s little boy!

I think Florence loves the whole shopping experience in general so she’s not difficult to buy shoes for like some children. I think the iPad will really engage children who aren’t quite so keen though because you get to choose a character, give him or her an age and touch the screen in a bit of a game before it measures your feet! What a fantastic idea!

The character chosen by Florence stayed on the screen helping to measure her feet!

I might not be totally in the digital age myself but I’m coming round and I do totally see that this is a brilliant idea! We loved the shopping experience and we love the shoes we bought too! Clarks really have come a long way since I was a child! Brown and frumpy is certainly no longer the order of the day and sparkles, funky and trendy have replaced what was once a choice of this or nothing to one of great deliberation over many beautiful styles! Do you like what we chose?

With a bit of encouragement Florence chose the Constance Eve shoes (£17) from the Doodles range which will be great for summer! She loves the sparkles!

These were her all her very own choice and actually, I think they’re pretty sweet too! Of course the Dance Sparkle shoes (£20) are very sparkly!

For Jimmy I chose these Crazy Rock Fst (£30) which I think are gorgeous!

I think we’ll be taking another trip there soon for sandals! They have some lovely ones and in particular I like Ava Moon in white for a girl while I might have to get Jimmy some Doodles of his own! I also really liked the shoes chosen by Katy from Modern Mummy’s little ones! See, I told you there was lots of choice!

Clarks invited me to try the new iPad and treated us to some new shoes in return for an honest review.