ipad – Page 2 – Mediocre Mum

How to set Parental Controls on LoveFilm App

I really should pay more attention. I put far too much trust in Film/TV Producers and recently Lovefilm, to know what is appropriate for my daughter to watch. I’m guilty of putting the TV on and if it’s on Cbeebies, Boomerang or Nickelodeon I don’t even give it a second thought, trusting that what she is watching is appropriate.

So what’s the problem?

I have a subscription to Lovefilm, so our 5 year old can watch movies on demand. She tends to watch movies in the morning with breakfast. Armed with a bowl of cereal she grabs the iPad, loads up Lovefilm and navigates to the ‘Children’s ‘ films. She’s watched the likes of Mary Poppins, Enchanted and Scooby Doo plus a few others. All pretty harmless in my view.

Eeek!

However, this morning, do bear in mind she also tends to wear earphones so I couldn’t hear what she was watching, I was walking past and glanced at the screen and the word ‘rape’ jumped out at me in the subtitles. I quickly grabbed it off her to find out what she was watching. It was a movie called ‘Mulan’ which is rated 15, previously I hadn’t realised that within the ‘Children’s’ collection there are also movies that are rated 12, 15 and 18; which makes perfect sense as 12-18 are kids but what’s appropriate for them is worlds apart from what appropriate for a 5 year old.

Phew!

I’ve now found the parental settings and have turned them on. However, according to some the Parental controls on Lovefilm and Netflix aren’t what they should be. She can now only watch movies rated U freely but if she tries to watch something PG (e.g Matilda, Karate Kid, Parent Trap) or higher she will have to ask me to enter a password. Phew! One less thing to worry about.

To set the parental controls:

Go to Lovefilm.com and sign into your account
Access ‘your account’ which is in the top right.
In the My details section you will see Preferences on the right.
Scroll down to parental controls
You will be prompted for your Lovefilm password
On the next page you will need to choose a pin and the level of control you want.

Is there anything else I should be watching out for?

Apps we love! Doodlecast

I absolutely love this app, bar the music at the beginning. At first, Doodlecast (£1.99) just looks like another drawing app which we have many, but if I’m honest we prefer paper and crayons for that. What I really love about this one is that the children can record their own narrations whilst drawing the pictures. It comes with a selection of templates for inspiration (shopping trolley, park, dinner late, faces etc) or you can start from a blank canvas.

In addition, if you set it up, it will automatically upload the final product to YouTube which makes it incredibly easy to share with friends and family!

You can check our more of our favourite apps here.

Didn’t your mother ever tell you you’ll go blind…..

I went to an event a while back; while I was there I lent my Ipad to one of the mum’s daughters to keep her occupied as it’s full to the brim with educational apps. Another mother, who wasn’t meddling or being judgmental, asked me if I worried about the affect it had on children’s eyes. She rattled off some statistic about increase in short sightedness of 11 year olds that for the life of me I can’t remember.

My daughter does use our iphones and ipad so this did worry me a bit, so I popped up to our local opticians (@leightonsopt) to have a chat about it and he kindly put this information together for me. Firstly, he outlines the problem and then gives a few tips on what you can do about it. I thought you may find it useful.

I personally feel the Ipads are an amazing educational tool, I would never suggest not exposing children to them but there are a few things you should consider.

The problem

• The iPad has a shiny, flat screen surface which causes reflections thereby reducing the quality of images being viewed on the screen.

• Due to its weight and lack of fixed position children may find it difficult to hold an iPad for any length of time, increasing the possibility of postural problems.

• Children spending less time playing outside and more time with their nose in front computers & tablets – could be contributing to the increased rates of short-sight.

• An American study has shown that short-sight in the US jumped from just 25% in people ages 12 to 54 in 1971-72 to 41.6% in 1999-2004

• Increased use of computers or tablet PC’s may result in computer vision syndrome.

• Ocular symptoms occur as a result of decreased blinking whilst concentrating on a computer, this results in disruption of the tear makeup causing dry eyes.

• Excessive use of computers in small children may result in a reduction in hand-eye coordination.

What to do

• If you allow your child to use an Ipad it may be an idea to have their eyes tested to identify any underlying issues that may be exacerbated by using one.

• Limit time spent on the iPad. A good rule of thumb for children is to have a 10 minute break for every 30 minutes spent in front of an iPad. During this time their focus should be on varying distances.

• Set a kitchen timer for 25 mins, then a 5 min warning before iPad activity is due to finish. Have another activity ready or in mind for when your child finishes on the iPad.

• Ensure that your child is comfortable at their screen, it May be a good idea to consider a writing slope for the iPad to help with posture. A good rule of thumb is keeping it at an arms distance.

• If you see your child rubbing their eyes, blinking excessively or they complain that their eyes feel sore it is best to have their eyes examined to exclude any ocular problems. As adults we all have days where our eyes feel sore after using computers, please be mindful that children may not necessarily be aware or mention that they have a problem.

• Ensure that your child does not use a computer or iPad in the dark or low light. Local lighting should be at least the same as the background of the screen they are viewing. Also ensure that the brightness of the screen is not too great. If it is too bright for you as an adult, it will also be too bright for your child.

• If you allow your child to use an Ipad it may be an idea to have their eyes tested to identify any underlying issues that may be exacerbated by using one.

• Have your child’s eyes examined regularly. Free NHS eye examinations are available at all Opticians in the UK for children in the age of 16.

• If weather allows, get your child outdoors to balance the time spent indoors.

As this technology is fairly new it will be interesting to see in 10-15 years what impact it is actually having on our children and their eye sight. I’m just glad I now know a few tips for keeping her eyes a bit healthier. Thanks Indie.
What do you think? Do you have other tips you can offer?

How to ‘Pin’ on an iPad (Pinterest)

In the evenings, I like to sit on the sofa in front of the TV with my Ipad and do a bit of surfing. Last night, I became a bit frustrated that I couldn’t ‘Pin’ things with the stroke of a button. I tried the Pinterest App but didn’t get on with it.

In the end, I found these detailed instructions at Jemsweb for adding a bookmarklet to my Safari browser. However, for the life of me I couldn’t copy the code and I struggled to find the ‘+’ button that he was referring to as I don’t have one on my browser.

So, in the end, this is what I did….

1) Open Safari on your Ipad

2) Navigate to www.jemsweb.com/2011/03/bookmarklets-for-ipad?

3) Add it as a Bookmark by clicking on the square with an arrow in it, to the left of the URL. Rename it ‘Pin it’ and save.

4) If you are able to copy the following code below using your iPad then go straight to step 8.

[textbox rows="3"]javascript:void((function(){var%20e=document.createElement('script');e.setAttribute('type','text/javascript');e.setAttribute('charset','UTF-8');e.setAttribute('src','http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinmarklet.js?r='+Math.random()*99999999);document.body.appendChild(e)})());[/textbox]

5) Now this bit required getting off the sofa and going over to my laptop as I couldn’t copy the code using my iPad. So, I copied it from the web page, and then emailed it to myself on my PC. Odd I know, but did the trick.

6) Then I went back to my iPad, my place was still warm on the sofa.

7) Open your email and copy the code.

8) Then go back to safari, click on the Bookmarks, it looks like an open book. Then choose Bookmarks Bar>Edit>Pin It!

9) Replace the address that is in the URL box with the code that you have copied.

10) You should now see Pin it on your Bookmarks Bar

Now when you come across something you like and want to share on Pinterest, just click Pin it!

Happy Pinning!

Is this now when you tell me there is a much easier way of doing this???

Ipad Apps for Kids: Magic Ink Books

I stumbled across this app, Magic Ink: Tinkerbell and Friends, the other night and I think it’s great. Kids have the opportunity to either read the story themselves or have it read to them. But this is where the magic begins, with a simple swipe of your finger you go from this…..

To this, revealing more of the story….

We absolutely love it and what’s better many of the titles in this series are FREE!