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My 2 year old knows how to use my PalmPre, sort of. When we get to the pictures, he knows how to make them bigger and smaller and how to move from one picture to another. It's actually kind of scary!

My 12 month old unlocks my ipod touch and watchs downloaded sesame street videos :) Glad to hear she's not the only one

My kids love the iphone.
And there are tons of apps out there that really are educational (nothing against bubble wrap :-))
My kids favorite is: Gigi and Frank. www.bookboing.com

I have 3 young boys (6, 3 & 1 yr old) and they all love our iPhones. I'm amazed at how intuitive and quick they are to learn how to use the apps/games, and of course nothing beats a long line at the grocery store or settles fussy kids like an episode of "Dora" on my iPhone. How did our parents do it? ;)

John Nemo, http://www.nowsharethisblog.com

Same here... My three yr old asks to play with the 'Button' and 'Puppy' on my iPhone. She zips around checking out other apps and she knows to just touch and press. Little smarty pants!

Check best iPhone apps for Kids

http://www.iphonehall.com/applications/all-in-one/488-best-iphone-apps-for-kids

Our 12 month old is already well aware of how the iPhone works - and quite happily scrolls around pictures.

My son was about a 1 and a half when the first iPhone was released. He quickly understood how to flip through pictures and loved making the pics flip by rotating the phone. By 2 he had remembered by password to unlock the phone and knew how to flip through the screens to find the apps he played with. Now that old iPhone is his filled with some apps and a few kid songs and video, he loves it.

What was neat to see was that after he learned how to use the phone he would touch the icons on a monitor or screen of a laptop hoping that it was touch sensitive.

We also have a 6 month old now who can't keep her eyes off my 3G.

All kids love phones...but a phone with a bright color screen that reacts when you touch it is pure enjoyment.

My 16 month old daughter knows how to turn on my iPhone, and unlock it using the slider. From there it's her picking out what application she wants to 'play' with. It's so much fun to watch.

What happened to the good old days when we simply let children play? My preschoolers can spend hours playing with bubble wrap. They don't care if it pops or not, they use it as a baby blanket, making prints in the paint, pour water on it & bury it in sand....all things they can't do on an iphone. I can see how it can be useful to keep kids busy--but what are they really learning? To investigate the world around them and to engage in relationships? Or to zone out & focus soley on a screen?

AMEN Heather R. AMEN!

I don't think anyone is recommending that we ditch time in the sandbox for time playing with iphone apps. But having play time with a well made app as part of the mix of experience is a good thing. Also, if you've ever seen a 3 year old playing with some of these apps you'll know they don't just 'zone out'. They giggle, read, and move!

I would like to think the use of iphone apps for young children is simply an anomalous incident, indicating nothing more than a parent's need for something to entertain a child for a few minutes in the check out line. Unfortunately, less time in the sandbox and more time on computers is exactly what many parents and even educators are advocating for! The current trend in early childhood is more exposure to electronics, and less time engaged in hands on sensory play and social engagement, both at home and in educational settings.

Today I visited a sparkling new child care center, she walked me through the building's computer lab declaring how wonderful their program is because the children "learn phonics" through an hour of computer use per day. I asked about art & sensory play, and she basically told me "They get that during free play, it's up to the teacher whether she wants to have that or not." This is not a part time program, it's a full time program where children spend 8-10 hours a day. I'm not sure, but I would venture to guess based on prior experience as a childcare provider the vast majority of parents don't come home after a busy work day and pull out the fingerpaints.

The top sellers on the American Baby's Christmas list this year include the "Bounce and Spin Pony" from Fisher Price, which not only encourages physical movement (apparently bouncing up & down counts as physical activity) but also stimulates your baby with bright lights and loud music--even offering the extra benefit of wireless hook-up to your TV! Despite the voluntary recall of Baby Eistein products due soley to the efforts of the Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood, their DVDs & flashcards can still be found on any toy store shelf. Concerns from the American Academy of Pediatrics in regards to television use of infants and toddlers have been largely ignored. Most "baby holder" products you will find in a standard household (swings, bouncy seats, even playpens) offer lights and sounds. Floor time is out, TV time is in!

Just to be fair I reviewed the video frame by frame as I do with the documentation I do within my classroom. During the total length of this clip I observed five instances of what would be considered "social referencing", two of them being the interaction between the teacher & child in the background about 16 seconds into the clip and an interaction between two children at 1.28 in the clip . At 1.20 I observed a child engaged in socially avoidant behavior, actively turning his back on the reporter. Throughout the clip I observed four children engaged in behaviors indicating a high level of stress (sucking thumb, biting lip, drooling, and scratching). In contrast--every one of the children attempting to pop the actual bubblewrap engaged with the adult! Even the reporter declared, "For some three year olds, the hardest part of the iphone experience is having to put it down". Hardly a statement encouraging occasional use of the phone. Granted, this clip is certainly not grounds for a qualitative research study. However, I have yet to be convinced that there is *anything* a child can learn from an iphone application that could not be better taught by face to face interaction with a loving caregiver.

Now, you might ask, who really cares? And why on earth would someone insanely want to spend her Friday evening viewing & reviewing an obscure 3 minute video clip? Because, what it comes down to is this. As parents and caregivers are the ones who decide what we want for our childrens' future, and if we choose not to speak out for childrens' rights for hands on play, natural outdoor experiences, and active social engagement our children are going to continue living in a technology-driven world increasingly void of social relationships. I think one of my students said it best. When I asked why, when he became emotionally disregulated his automatic response was to scream, "I hate school, I want to go play video games!" he matter-of-factly declared, "Because then I don't have to be with people."

Sorry Charlie....in my classroom we're sticking to the sandbox.