We bought Florence an iPad for her birthday which I do see might seem a little extravagant but frankly I think it was worth every penny. She was spending an increasing amount of time playing on mine and having one of her own not only means that mine is free for myself (or more probably Jimmy) but that she can have just the apps and music that she likes and they don’t have to take up storage space on mine. She uses it for education as well as recreation and very often combines both. Loads of children’s apps have an educational aspect as well as being fun and I’m really pleased with our purchase.
Florence also likes to watch things on Netflix or YouTube using her iPad and because she can now read and write, she finds it easy to navigate to the things she wants. She especially loves songs and finding all the ones she loves (which are a mixture of pop and child like songs from television shows she likes) is something she really enjoys – it’s really lovely when she and Jimmy are both watching together and she is being generous by finding the things he wants to watch as well.
I’m always really pleased when we find something that they both enjoy as it means boring journeys are not so bad for them and if they can both be entertained by just the one iPad then it was definitely money worth spending! On Saturday when we were invited to the launch of a new YouTube channel called Jellybugs we discovered a new thing for them to watch and enjoy together. From the minute they saw the vibrant and unusual Jellybug animations coupled with nursery rhymes they were both smitten!
It reminded me a little of a more energetic Baby TV and comes from Jonti Picking (the man behind Mr Weebl, another internet sensation) and his partner Sarah Darling who has written for Sesame Street. Their songs are really cool and loads of fun, we especially like Baby Baboon:
Baby Baboon is one of their silly songs but they have also given updated twists to old favourite nursery rhymes and all with their signature style and creative flair. We loved it all with the exception of their pronunciation of the letter Zed. At the end of their alphabet song, in order for it to rhyme they have Americanised it to a Zee which I find almost as abhorrent as H being pronounced ‘Haitch’ instead of ‘Aitch’. I spoke to Sarah about it and she seemed really keen to find a solution as they pride themselves on being British made. It cheered me to hear her so interested in rectifying this aspect. It may seem a small thing to some but for me it’s an absolute no go area and it’s actually one of the reasons Sesame Street is no longer broadcast on mainstream British television so I’m clearly not in the minority. Good for them to wanting to fix it and good luck, I know we’ll be watching!
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