These days, kids are simply crazy about phones. Isn't it? I am not talking about tweens or teens. They anyway want their own phones now. I am asking about toddlers and preschoolers. Kids of these age groups never miss a chance to grab any phone around and if it a smartphone, which they already know how, then in no time they start opening different apps of their interest; games, videos, youtube and even camera. With the invention of smartphones, our kids have become equally smarter. They don't need much help or instructions to understand apps and games.
My son is 3 years old now. And he knows how to put the password to unlock my phone. He knows how to turn wifi on and he also knows how to open youtube. Till here, I let him do these steps, but after he opens the world of alluring videos, I don't reply on YouTube. I fear to which video he would click and what content it is going to pomp.So, I keep on checking what he is watching.
Some parents might assume me a bad mother but I admit, limited phone playing is allowed at my house. Keeping kids away from smartphones in today's world is absolutely impossible. But we can, of course, limit its exposure and usage. I allow my son, my phone, only when I have no other option to keep him engaged. For example; when I am in the office transport. He goes to my office creche only so we both use the same transport. At times, he doesn't want to sit quietly and disturbs other bus mates. Those times, my phone becomes the saviors. For watching a video or for playing a game, he sits on his seat quietly and gets busy there.
Once he asked me to show his favorite YouTube rhyme. I searched it and gave the phone to my son. With a video playing, YouTube also gives ample of suggestions at the screen. So, after finishing his rhyme, my boys clicked on a suggestion. He liked that video as well, as suggestions come based on the category on currently playing video. I also thought this way he would sit quietly until we reached our stop so I let him play videos out of those suggestions. Suddenly I noticed he was watching a particular video in which cartoon characters were beating each other and laughing abruptly. Some of them were jumping in the river and other were laughing seeing then drowning. I immediately snatched the phone from my son's hand and started diverting his mind. I felt sorry for my ignorance. I was letting him watch content which was not suitable for kids. Although it had cartoon characters, it was teaching something improper and ill-suited for small kids.
Since then, I always keep an eye over my son whenever he plays with my phones. He doesn't like games much yet and he mostly likes watching rhymes and cartoon shows on YouTube. Recently I came to know about an app called "OckyPocky". I talked with the intelligent man, Amit, who envisioned it and I felt assured to try this app with my son. I installed it and explored the app along with my 3-year-old phone worm. He really likes it. With some initial settings, the app was ready to play with. The app has a catchy sound "Ocky pocky" and my boy immediately got it on his tongue. The colors and the visuals are of great quality.
More about OckyPocky
My verdict for the app
I feel OckyPocky is a must to have app. Although the app is going to be counted in the screen time of your kids, yet the resorted thing is while playing OckyPocky, kids will be seeing age-appropriate content. Somethings which don't teach them bad habits like anger, bullying or making fun of others.
The only thing that I see as an improvement is an ability to change age group. Because as of now age group selected during initial settings can never be changed for that installation of the app. Other than this, everything is just amazing in the app. Kids need close to zero supervision when they are using the app as OckyPocky app has a decent collection of videos. The design is easy to use and understandable for kids. As a parent, you would also get the chance to share their plays and take part in activity-based videos. This would further add to parent-kid bonding.
Go and check the app today only!
More details of app, here at their website: http://www.ockypocky.com/
Check their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/iamockypocky
Twitter page: https://twitter.com/iamockypocky
My son is 3 years old now. And he knows how to put the password to unlock my phone. He knows how to turn wifi on and he also knows how to open youtube. Till here, I let him do these steps, but after he opens the world of alluring videos, I don't reply on YouTube. I fear to which video he would click and what content it is going to pomp.So, I keep on checking what he is watching.
Some parents might assume me a bad mother but I admit, limited phone playing is allowed at my house. Keeping kids away from smartphones in today's world is absolutely impossible. But we can, of course, limit its exposure and usage. I allow my son, my phone, only when I have no other option to keep him engaged. For example; when I am in the office transport. He goes to my office creche only so we both use the same transport. At times, he doesn't want to sit quietly and disturbs other bus mates. Those times, my phone becomes the saviors. For watching a video or for playing a game, he sits on his seat quietly and gets busy there.
Once he asked me to show his favorite YouTube rhyme. I searched it and gave the phone to my son. With a video playing, YouTube also gives ample of suggestions at the screen. So, after finishing his rhyme, my boys clicked on a suggestion. He liked that video as well, as suggestions come based on the category on currently playing video. I also thought this way he would sit quietly until we reached our stop so I let him play videos out of those suggestions. Suddenly I noticed he was watching a particular video in which cartoon characters were beating each other and laughing abruptly. Some of them were jumping in the river and other were laughing seeing then drowning. I immediately snatched the phone from my son's hand and started diverting his mind. I felt sorry for my ignorance. I was letting him watch content which was not suitable for kids. Although it had cartoon characters, it was teaching something improper and ill-suited for small kids.
More about OckyPocky
- OckyPocky is basically an interactive learning app for preschoolers in the age group of 2-6 years.
- The contest is based on different kinds of videos that come based on age group setting. Yes, this the most highlighting feature of this app.
- When you start the app very first time, it asks you for some settings and there you can select the age group of your kids. Then a train of videos comes and from this train, kids can select the video of their choice. The navigation of videos is very easy and attractive.
- Videos run connecting to the internet but can be made offline just like YouTube offline feature. Also, videos can be marked favorite.
- Other than this, there is an amazing collection of activity-based videos that you can watch along with your kids for an enriched bonding experience.
- The app is available in both the app stores. The additional offerings can be taken just like other in-app purchase apps.
- One more feature that I like is the compilation of both Hindi and English videos. I know it's personal preference. But Hindi is our national language and as a parent, I want my son to have equal commands in both Hindi and English. So yes, a big thumbs up for Hindi videos of the app from my side.
My verdict for the app
I feel OckyPocky is a must to have app. Although the app is going to be counted in the screen time of your kids, yet the resorted thing is while playing OckyPocky, kids will be seeing age-appropriate content. Somethings which don't teach them bad habits like anger, bullying or making fun of others.
The only thing that I see as an improvement is an ability to change age group. Because as of now age group selected during initial settings can never be changed for that installation of the app. Other than this, everything is just amazing in the app. Kids need close to zero supervision when they are using the app as OckyPocky app has a decent collection of videos. The design is easy to use and understandable for kids. As a parent, you would also get the chance to share their plays and take part in activity-based videos. This would further add to parent-kid bonding.
Go and check the app today only!
More details of app, here at their website: http://www.ockypocky.com/
Check their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/iamockypocky
Twitter page: https://twitter.com/iamockypocky
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