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My kid has a leapfrog, but that doesn't curb her curiosity about other devices. I don't know how it is with others, but my kid is fascinated with all my comput

My kid has a leapfrog, but that doesn't curb her curiosity about other devices. I don't know how it is with others, but my kid is fascinated with all my computers. My netbook, my MBP, my Droid, my Touch, and now my iPad. I don't discourage her curiosity. We had a VIC-20 when I was a kid and later a Commodore 64, and that's probably the reason I love programming to this day. What she wants most of all is for her parents to sit with her as she discovers. The iPad is really good for that - the best computer I own for that use case, I think. I can't stand the Leapfrog for long, but watching her with the iPad is fun. It helps that I have the chops to build little apps to distribute on my own devices.

Psyonic 16y ago
I don't have kids, but I'd feel exactly the same about letting her explore and try out things. What I was saying was that if it was a disappointment for you, but your 3 year old loved it, it's probably not worth keeping. Child curiosity can be appeased for less than $500. Now if you loved it as well, it's a different story.
- Splines 16y ago
  > Child curiosity can be appeased for less than $50 Definitely. My daughter loves play-acting with her toys (most of which are just cheap plastic things from Toys R Us). Pencils and crayons with reams of paper last for quite some time. Blocks, balls, and mini versions of adult things (e.g., toy phones, kitchen appliances) that let them play pretend, are all great hits. In my experience, the specific toys (i.e., the ones that have clearly defined "play" scenarios) are the ones that get great attention for an hour, and then are left at the back of the closet until we get rid of them. Computer software is similar - my son loves any building/open world type game (simcity, bridge builder, the sims, harvest moon), but usually loses interest at games that have very specific goals (most platform type games, although mario and the lego games seem to be exceptions).

Psyonic 16y ago

I don't have kids, but I'd feel exactly the same about letting her explore and try out things. What I was saying was that if it was a disappointment for you, but your 3 year old loved it, it's probably not worth keeping. Child curiosity can be appeased for less than $500. Now if you loved it as well, it's a different story.

Splines 16y ago
> Child curiosity can be appeased for less than $50 Definitely. My daughter loves play-acting with her toys (most of which are just cheap plastic things from Toys R Us). Pencils and crayons with reams of paper last for quite some time. Blocks, balls, and mini versions of adult things (e.g., toy phones, kitchen appliances) that let them play pretend, are all great hits. In my experience, the specific toys (i.e., the ones that have clearly defined "play" scenarios) are the ones that get great attention for an hour, and then are left at the back of the closet until we get rid of them. Computer software is similar - my son loves any building/open world type game (simcity, bridge builder, the sims, harvest moon), but usually loses interest at games that have very specific goals (most platform type games, although mario and the lego games seem to be exceptions).