How young is too young to start letting kids play with a tablet?

So we were discussing x-mas gifts for my nieces and nephews and I threw the idea out about Kids Fire tablets for my sisters kids.  They're 2, 4 and 5.  The oldest already routinely steals her mothers phone and kills it, knows how to operate the camera, and which apps are "hers". I'm assuming the 4yo is not to much further behind her, and the 2 year old, well because, she's going to throw an uholy fit about being left out. (kids got some moxie, doesn't let her older brother push her around, and sure as heck doesn't run to mom when he does something to her. Fully expected, as she's a spitting image of my grandmother, and she could put a blush to anyone with her mouth) 

To young? or go ahead and get them started with tech? And before anyone says anything, the kids get LOTS of outside time, their backyard is a minefield of toys, tipped over push cars, swing set etc. 

To me it's less about being glued to an electronic device and more about I don't get letting a small child play with a multi hundred dollar toy. They have no concept of taking care of things. My grandkids play with their parents phones and my wife let's the older one play with her iPad (supervised) but it drives me nuts. One slip and the screen is ruined. If they make a cheap kids version I'd understand that better and I think  I would consult the parents to make sure they are ok with it.

My daughter will be two and a half at Christmas. She's getting my old phone. Edit to clarify: I'm giving her the phone as a present, but she'll be allowed 1 or 2 hours a day before it gets put away.

I personally feel that it is too young. But. The more time I spend playing around in kids mode and checking out the apps, I recognize its value as a learning tool. So I figure an hour or two a day couldn't hurt. And it will stop her from taking my new one. 

We both really like a Sesame Street cookie baking app that you spell words and make letters with the cookies, she Skypes with Elmo for sing along, and I'm looking into abcmouse, so their apps could be useful. 

I locked it down already, but haven't actually given it to her, she's not touched any devices for a while come to think of it. The only anything she will be able access are the handful of Sesame Street apps on it, no settings, no play store, no YouTube or internet. It's also in an otterbox that survived me for a year, and since it's not compatible with my new network, it's petty much useless to me, so if she did manage to break it no big deal. 

16.  Now get off my lawn.

Its a nice gift.  I too recommend checking with the parents first.  This is not the kind of thing to just spring on them.  Also be sure to confirm that the house has Wifi internet.  These devices are a lot less fun/interesting with no connectivity.  

My dad introduced my oldest to an iPad with supervised play at 18months.  We bought the bottom rung one ($300) for the oldest as their only 3y/o birthday present... one year later we're now in an otterbox case (previous off-brand case died due to use).

the otterbox is a must.  Locking it down is a must.  Beyond that, I don't see an issue.

our oldest learned the alphabet playing this metamorphosis alphabet game.  The pbskids app is absolutely phenomenal... we used a bit from it to teach him to calm down from having fits.  But, it's really an app of apps, and isn't laden with ads or in-app purchases.  Don't restrict them to only "educational" games... stuff like monument valley are engaging and teach 3dimensional thinking.  Plus there's some puzzle games that essentially teach circuit diagrams.

Both of my granddaughters have tablets 1 is 8 the other is 6 and have had them for a number of years with rules, they still have to go outside and play and no electronics at grandpa's house.

It is working out good both are computer savey and they still know how to play.

Depends on what the states laws are for child labor so they can get a job and buy one themselves.  That's sure to get me another chastisement. 

There's studies that show that kids who spend a large amount of time staring at screens have less imagination than those that don't.

So I would proceed with caution and read about parental controls on whatever device you wish to use and leverage them to ensure that they don't go over the time limit you set.

There's plenty of time for them to play with computers and screens, don't rush it.

Looking at the Kindle 7 kids edition, vs just a generic kindle 7 for them. 69 vs 29. But the kids version comes with a year of unlimited use of the kids library. (6.99/mo for unlimited family use vs 3.99 a device after the 1 year free.) a 2 year "worry free warranty" vs the kindle's 90 day, and a "shockproof case". Makes sense to me to purchase the kids versions.

Parental controls on them include password protected content lockouts, age range content lockouts (vetted by Amazon), TIME lockouts, no ads on the screen savers, individual kid profiles can be set by parents, kid web browser (not sure what the entails, more research needed) and must be logged into parental controls to download app's and make purchases. VS here's a tablet "don't get in trouble with it".

And yes, there is wifi in the house. 

Edit : for those worried about playtime, whenever I go over, the first thing grabbed and brought to me are blocks  (duplo and wood) and the giant 5' plastic tube of monster trucks/cars. If it's later in the evening it's books. These guys actually play. (it's one of the things I feel my sister actually does right with these guys vs the 15 year old. Not my kids, and I'm not a parent, so "you don't know" as she's told me when we talk about such things)

I general we've always treated screen time as screen time. Whether TV or tablet or computer. They had 0-1 hour while they were less four or so. A bit more as they get older. My 14 year old has just been allowed unlimited time this year and he's GLUED to his computer. We still reserve the right to shut things down for behavior. 

That doesn't really answer the "what age" question. I'd say somewhere between two and three if they have structure. Older the less they're supervised.

Lil Stampie didn't get a tablet (my old one) until he was in kindergarten but he understood that anytime he was told to put it down here would. He's handled that well and always got my old hand me downs. Now at almost 10 he just got his first active phone and new to him. Not that I thought it was appropriate for his age but more because I got the phone for $1 and it's only like $2.50 a month unlimited talk and text 100 MB data. Other than a few calls to his mom or me he's treated it just like the old tablets and deactivated phones he's had in the past. That said each child is different and the parents know them best.

TLDR Ask the parents

It's a personal decision parents should make. Dont surprise them and undermine them as parents. 

My parents were notorious for doing crap like that. They constantly bought my kids stuff they were not ready for, which broke rapidly and left the kids disappointed.

They convinced themselves they were helping the grandkids "learn". In reality, it was selfish. They wanted to buy stuff for the grandkids that we could not afford, in a feeble quest for the attention and admiration of the grandkids. It didn't work.

My kids always preferred time with their grandparents. Still do, 30 years later.  Those tech gifts never included that option. 

Ask the parents. 

My kids were 4 when they got there first tablet. make sure parental controls are set and limit the time spent on it and i dont see any reason not too. Saves me cash in the long run, DS games are exspensive and the playstore has plenty of free games

My oldest was “smart” enough to use my iPad and iPhone when she was 3. My youngest started at the same age but only with a Kids Fire Tablet from Amazon. She is a pro at her current age of age 4 compared to her older siblings. The Kids Fire tablet is awesome for the Freeform software in which you set the time limit each day or week plus requiring them to do educational reading or apps first before whatever game apps they want to play. So far so go and it has not been broken once yet among the three of them. However it can get crazy when one was to use it first so either have a spare or alternative computer source. 

Just bought a new tablet. Giving the old one to the 5 and 3 year old nice and nephew. It's worthless. If it costs a lot I wouldn't do it.

I would limit access, but they are useful as a diversion when you have to spend time in a place where the child really does not want to be.  By the time the kids get to Kindergarten, they'll be seeing them in a classroom setting, so familiarity with the device might give them an advantage.  With a good case, they are sufficiently robust to survive, given a reasonable amount of supervision.  Definitely consult the parents first.

Three tablets are easily as much as an old International.   Im sure they’d rather see you happy anyway.

Ours had them very young. They had a ton of learning apps and limited time. They also had to complete a certain amount of math bingo, reading stuff, etc. before they could use them for play. 

We bought our son when he was 1 or so a kurio kids tablet at wally world for under $100. The lock down parent app work ok, sometimes it wouldnt stop after the hours/min used or at the specific time at night. It also said it was an 8gb version with an SD card. Well it turns out was it was a 4gb only when we got it out of the box and you cant store apps on the sd card. We were kind of disappointed with it but it fit our use. He used to ask for it all the time but hes 3 and doesnt really ask about it unless its sitting in his view.

I think the learning apps were useful and some of the kids youtube stuff for learning colors/animals/letters  but then you can get to videos of people open candy and get toys. Not exactly educational.

Overall I would probably do it again, but a better version of a kids tablet. Probably an Amazon one.

Stefan said:

There's studies that show that kids who spend a large amount of time staring at screens have less imagination than those that don't.

So I would proceed with caution and read about parental controls on whatever device you wish to use and leverage them to ensure that they don't go over the time limit you set.

There's plenty of time for them to play with computers and screens, don't rush it.

This! My brother in law is a child psychologist and my wife is a teacher. Both of them spent a decent amount of time talking about the effect of electronic devices on kids and studies on this. I wouldn't recommend it personally. 

I would not let them use Youtube. Look into it if you think that the kid's area of Youtube is a safe place for children.

It seems that tablets are the new pacifiers. It's been too long for me to have a valid opinion on how young is too young. I wonder how the internet/tablets/smartphones are changing our brains and how we think and interact.

My kid has had a tablet since he was two. He's learned a lot from the educational games using it. Even learned to circumvent some of the parental blocks. I'm impressed! LoL kids don't need too much virtual stimulation, but getting them familiar with tech early helps them. Just don't let the tablet raise them! 

If they can use a laptop or computer get ABCmouse as well. 

Asap, imho it's like wondering when you should teach them to walk or talk. Why wait? I mean dont put uporn or whatever on it but...

I tend to think the parents' readiness to manage devices is most important. My cousin started teaching sharp knife use skills when his kids turned 5. Both parents dedicated time to be there and really TEACH them how to cut bread, their meat on their plate, fruits, etc. So hey by 7 they don't need supervision to cut anything they toss at their oldest two kids. I think he only had one bad hand/finger cut between the three kids so far. At least that is the only one he owns up to. 

Devices are the same, if the parents are ready to manage them and teach kids how to put them down to enjoy people and take care of them. Then they may have the proper values when older, so that they focus on human interaction rather than just burying their face into a phone. 

Ask parents if they are ready before gifting such things. 

One of my kids started at almost 4 years old. We managed her balance by focusing her on learning more about a real life experience by using the device as a tool. She has had moments of obsession with her device but overall; real life experience beats virtual. A few years on, she still prefers life experience rather than virtual which is actually causing some issues with her peers as they are more focused on staring at the colorful lights! 

Devices are tool to help life, not a life in themselves.