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The Best Tablet for Kids

By Ryan Whitwam and Andrew Cunningham
Updated
A kid using an Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition tablet.
Photo: Michael Hession

The best tablet for your pre-K to middle-school kids is usually the one you aren’t using anymore. But we’ve spent hundreds of hours testing tablets; if you need to buy one, we recommend Apple’s 9th-generation iPad, which has the best combination of ease of use, performance, kid-appropriate app selection, and price. It can do anything your kid might want, from schoolwork to games, and it should still be usable three or four years from now.

Everything we recommend

Our pick

Apple’s entry-level iPad has the best combination of ease of use, performance, app selection, and price—whether you’re an adult or a kid. The 64 GB version is a good buy unless you plan to download a lot of high-end games or 4K video.

Budget pick

The Fire HD 8 Kids Edition is slower than an iPad, with a worse screen and a much more-limited app selection, but it’s inexpensive, includes a childproof case and an accidental-damage warranty, and it has good parental controls.

Buying Options

Our pick

Apple’s entry-level iPad has the best combination of ease of use, performance, app selection, and price—whether you’re an adult or a kid. The 64 GB version is a good buy unless you plan to download a lot of high-end games or 4K video.

The iPad is a fast, well-made tablet with a great screen, but its app selection may be its best feature. You can, of course, also use it to download or stream video from just about anywhere, including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTube Kids. But Apple’s App Store offers a huge range of educational apps and games for kids of all ages, as well as tons of apps for creating and editing art, video, and audio, which can nurture a child’s creative impulses. An iPad isn’t cheap, but it will last for years—thanks to great hardware and to frequent system and security updates—and the app library means an iPad will stay useful as your kid grows and their interests change.

Budget pick

The Fire HD 8 Kids Edition is slower than an iPad, with a worse screen and a much more-limited app selection, but it’s inexpensive, includes a childproof case and an accidental-damage warranty, and it has good parental controls.

Buying Options

If you want a tablet mostly for kid-focused video, books, and music, Amazon’s Fire HD 8 Kids Edition is less than half the price of an iPad, and it’s a decent 8-inch tablet that includes a protective case and a year’s subscription to Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, which has an extensive library of kid-friendly content. The Fire HD 8 Kids Edition is much slower and more difficult to use than an iPad, and it has far fewer apps and games, but its smaller size may be more comfortable to hold for younger kids, it supports multiple user accounts, and it’ll survive a drop better than an iPad. And if your child does manage to break it, the two-year accidental damage warranty will get you a no-questions-asked replacement.

Tablets aren’t just small screens for putting cartoons in front of your kid. They can also be educational tools, toys, and gaming devices. Your kid can stay entertained on long car rides or plane trips, use educational apps provided by their school, practice math and verbal skills, use their musical and artistic creativity, and much more.

Not everyone wants to give their kid a screen, but many experts agree that above a certain age, screen time isn’t inherently negative as long as you carefully control and supervise it. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against screen time for kids younger than 18 months except for video chatting, and it advises that kids aged 18 to 24 months do all screen time with a parent; the organization recommends limiting screen time to an hour per day for kids 2 to 5.

According to Common Sense Media, not all screen time is equal—more passive activities like reading or watching videos are different from communicating with others or playing games. Based on the organization’s usage surveys and the AAP’s recommendations, Common Sense Media encourages parents to make sure their child is “using high-quality and age-appropriate content, their behavior is positive, [and] screen time is balanced with other parts of life like sleep, connecting with family and friends, and time outdoors.”

Assuming you want or don’t mind your child using a screen sometimes, a tablet is easier to use, offers much more space for apps to work with, and costs less (often substantially less) money than a smartphone. A tablet’s larger size also makes it easier to monitor your child’s use, and the lack of cellular service (for the models we recommend) makes it simpler to manage what they’re doing on it. (The New York Times, Wirecutter’s parent company, has a guide on how to limit kids’ tech use.)

Before you buy a tablet for your kid, ask yourself whether you already own one you don’t use much. If you do, chances are it will work well enough for your kid. At the other extreme, if you use your tablet regularly, consider buying a new one for yourself and handing down your old one. Win-win!

iPads make especially good hand-me-downs, and you have plenty of case options to make them more childproof. Apple currently supports every iPad since 2017’s 5th-generation iPad with regular software updates, so even those older iPads will be compatible with all the apps and games that your kids will want to run, and they should still be quick enough for most apps (though you shouldn’t go out and buy a 4- or 5-year-old iPad if you don’t already own one). And any iPad that can run the current version of iPadOS (version 16 at the time of publication) should be fast enough to handle all but the most demanding kids games.

Amazon’s Fire tablets, on the other hand, aren’t particularly good candidates for hand-me-downs, especially if the tablet is already a couple of years old. Amazon does provide software updates for three or four years after a device is released, but Fire tablets have much less-powerful hardware than the iPad. So by the time it’s ready to hand off to a child, the Fire will struggle with newer games. And Fire tablets—especially the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition that we recommend—are inexpensive enough that it makes more sense to buy a new one with a fresh, kid-resistant warranty than it does to reuse an old one.

Older hand-me-down smartphones can also be a good alternative to a tablet. Although smaller than even the Fire HD 8 or an iPad mini, larger-screen iPhones and Android phones will run most of the same games, video-streaming apps, and educational apps. And if you use them over Wi-Fi without a SIM card, they won’t add anything to your phone bill.

You can try to save some money by buying a used tablet, but you need to be careful. Buying from third-party sellers on sites like Amazon or eBay can be a bit of a crapshoot, and if something goes wrong, you don’t have a lot of options. Reputable resellers of used devices, such as Gazelle, sell used iPads that have been fully inspected and offer a 30-day return policy. These companies can also be useful if you want to sell an older tablet or phone that you’re no longer using.

Most people are best served by buying the newest iPad, though buying a refurbished version of an older iPad can save you some money—and if you buy a refurb directly from Apple, you get a full one-year warranty.

Another thing to keep in mind with older iPads and iPhones is storage space, since you can’t add more storage later. In general, 64 GB of storage is tolerable if you don’t want to download and store a ton of videos, but Apple’s only storage upgrade for most iPads is 256 GB, which adds over $100 to the price. Luckily, most kids don’t need more than 64 GB.

We generally recommend against specialized kids tablets, since they tend to be underpowered and have fewer app options, but kids do need different things from a tablet than adults do. We’ve spent countless hours testing iPads and Android tablets, but to better apply that testing to this guide, we surveyed eight parents on staff to get an idea of what parents (and kids) needed from a tablet. We then took another look at the models we’ve tested for our iPad guide and Android tablet guide to come up with parent-approved recommendations for which tablets to buy and how to shop for them.

Most of our respondents had kids under 8 years old, though we also got responses from parents with kids between 9 and 13. In rough order of importance, these parents told us they want:

  • a durable tablet that can stand up to normal wear and tear—either because the tablet itself is durable or because it has many options for cases and screen protectors
  • a wide selection of apps, especially for education, video streaming, gaming, and reading
  • robust parental controls for limiting what kids can do
  • a good amount of storage for downloaded games and videos
  • good enough performance to play relatively demanding games

Most of our respondents indicated that they want a tablet to last for at least three years, and that they would like it to cost around $300 or less (though around a third of respondents said they’d pay more if necessary to get the right device).

Our respondents told us that cameras for taking photos, videos, and video chatting are firmly in the nice-but-not-necessary category. They also agreed that their kids would primarily use a tablet at home, not at school.

We spent additional testing time (both for this guide and for our guide to parental controls on smartphones) using the parental-control features on the various tablets we considered.

A 9th-generation Apple iPad with the lock screen lit up.
Photo: Sarah Kobos

Our pick

Apple’s entry-level iPad has the best combination of ease of use, performance, app selection, and price—whether you’re an adult or a kid. The 64 GB version is a good buy unless you plan to download a lot of high-end games or 4K video.

Apple’s 9th-generation iPad is the best kids tablet for many of the same reasons that it’s the best tablet for most people: It’s the cheapest way to access Apple’s huge library of educational, video, gaming, and reading apps. Plus, it’s fast and responsive, and the display is sharp and bright enough to use indoors or out. The biggest downsides are that you can’t create multiple accounts for multiple kids—if they need to share the tablet with anyone, they end up sharing everything—and iPadOS’s parental controls, although powerful, can be difficult to use. You also need a durable case to protect the iPad’s aluminum and glass body from cracks and dents, but because of the comprehensive range of iPad accessories, you have plenty of options.

The best thing about the iPad is the plethora of apps available in the App Store. If you have a younger child, you’ll appreciate the wide selection of age-appropriate games from developers like Toca Boca and educational and licensed apps such as the ones from PBS Kids. Older kids will enjoy all the different sources of ebooks, apps with Apple Pencil support for drawing, and video- and audio-creation apps like Apple’s own iMovie and GarageBand. The 9th-generation iPad also supports the 1st-generation Apple Pencil, which artistically inclined kids might enjoy.

The iOS app store also has tens of thousands of games, many of which debut on iOS or run only on iOS. And, of course, kids of all ages will appreciate video-streaming apps like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTube Kids, all of which run perfectly on the iPad. If that’s not enough, Apple has its own streaming service and the option to purchase downloadable video content.

Apple’s parental controls are powerful; they give you a lot of control over what your kid can do and when, while still allowing them to ask your permission if they want more time or want to buy an app or a game. The Screen Time feature can set off-limits hours for iPad usage and time limits on particular apps; parents on Wirecutter’s staff also said they appreciated the ability to disable the home button to keep younger kids from accidentally (or purposely) closing their game or app.

While the iPad’s parental controls are not as easy to use as Amazon’s, the company has worked to improve them in the latest iOS 16 release. For example, you can configure the iPad simply by bringing it close to your iPhone, and the Quick Start feature lets you set restrictions in a few taps. Screen Time extension requests also route to the Messages app for easy approval (or denial). However, changing content settings for Apple’s various features, like Game Center, Siri, and Safari, requires digging around in the Screen Time settings on the tablet.

The iPad runs on Apple’s A13 Bionic chip, which debuted in 2019. Even though it’s a few years old, the A13 is still much faster than the budget MediaTek chip powering Amazon’s Fire tablet. The iPad can run high-end games (including some that were originally designed for gaming PCs), play 4K video, and even multitask with ease. It has more power than your child probably needs, but that means it will still be fast in a few years as apps and iOS itself become more demanding.

Apple’s 9th-generation iPad lacks the mini-LED and OLED screen technology of more expensive tablets, but the 10.2-inch 2160×1620 Retina LCD looks crisp and gets bright enough to be usable even in bright outdoor lighting. The 10th-generation iPad offers a slightly larger 10.8-inch screen with a higher resolution and narrower bezels. However, the roughly $120 price increase is not worth it for a kids tablet.

One drawback of the iPad for smaller kids is its size: The large screen gives young fingers larger targets to tap on but also makes the tablet more of a challenge to hold. One Wirecutter parent recommended a case with a built-in stand, especially for use on a plane. If size is a concern for you, Amazon’s Fire HD 8 Kids Edition, our budget pick, is smaller and lighter, and it comes with a grippy case and integrated stand. Apple does offer an iPad mini, which has all the same features in a more manageable size, but it’s much more expensive (about $500) and includes some add-ons that aren’t necessary for kids, including support for the 2nd-generation Apple Pencil and a faster processor.

How much storage do you need?

If your child will mainly use apps and stream video, the 64 GB version of the iPad will likely be fine. That will give you enough space to install apps and store some content offline in case you end up somewhere that doesn’t have Wi-Fi for streaming. If you want to load the tablet up with high-definition video and large games for slightly older kids, a $150 storage upgrade gets you 256 GB of space. We don’t recommend spending that much—Apple’s storage pricing is designed to nudge people to choose more-expensive models. Still, keep in mind you can’t upgrade the internal storage in an iPad after you buy it, so you may want to consider how your kid’s needs will change over the next few years.

An Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition.
Photo: Michael Hession

Budget pick

The Fire HD 8 Kids Edition is slower than an iPad, with a worse screen and a much more-limited app selection, but it’s inexpensive, includes a childproof case and an accidental-damage warranty, and it has good parental controls.

Buying Options

Amazon’s Fire HD 8 Kids Edition isn’t as powerful or versatile as even a years-old iPad, but if your child will mainly be watching video and you don’t need a wide variety of apps, the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition costs less than half as much as Apple’s cheapest iPad. And it has some interesting features of its own, including a colorful (if bulky) protective case, a two-year “worry-free guarantee” that covers even accidental damage, Amazon’s robust parental controls, and a one-year subscription to the extensive Amazon FreeTime Unlimited content library of (as Amazon puts it) “kid-friendly books, movies, TV shows, educational apps, and games.”

Although the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition includes only 32 GB of storage, you can easily expand that using cheap microSD cards (Apple does not support microSD cards on the iPad). The tablet is also smaller than a full-size iPad, which may make it more comfortable for small hands to hold, and Amazon’s Fire OS supports multiple user accounts to facilitate easier sharing between multiple kids (or kids and adults)—each user gets their own settings and usage restrictions.

The 8-inch screen may be easier for kids to handle, but the resolution and brightness are much lower than the iPad. It may not be as easy to read in bright lighting conditions. And the MediaTek MT8169A processor is less powerful than the A13 Bionic chip in Apple’s iPad, so don’t expect the same level of responsiveness.

The back of an An Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition.
Photo: Michael Hession

The Fire HD 8 Kids Edition works best as a video-streaming device. In addition to Amazon’s extensive video library, you can get Netflix and Hulu, as well as kid-specific apps from Disney, Nickelodeon, and PBS Kids. There are a couple of notable absences: If you have Apple devices, you can’t access your Apple media library on Fire tablets, and the lack of any Google apps on Amazon’s tablet platform means no easy access to YouTube Kids (and you’re stuck with the web interface for standard YouTube, which means you have to unblock the entire web browser in the parental controls). Confusingly, Amazon’s Fire TV device has some Google apps, but not the Fire tablets.

The selection of educational apps and simple games isn’t bad, but it’s nowhere near as varied as what you can get on an iPad. Although the one-year FreeTime Unlimited subscription does give you access to most apps at no additional charge, you’ll have to pay once that subscription expires: Amazon Prime subscribers pay about $48 a year for a family plan that covers up to four kids, while non–Prime members pay about $79 a year for the same plan. It’s a good deal if your kid is always trying new apps, games, videos, and books—though as we mentioned, the selection isn’t huge—but it may not be worth the cost if they’re using the tablet just as a screen for watching Netflix.

One area where the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition bests Apple’s tablets is in parental controls. Amazon’s Fire OS offers not just parental-control options but also a completely separate user interface for child accounts that removes ads and puts the focus on Amazon-vetted books, apps, and games based on the age and gender of the child using the tablet. Apps running in a child’s account don’t send location data to those apps’ developers, the Alexa voice assistant is disabled, and age-based content filters are automatically enabled. You can even use time restrictions to reward kids—for example, letting them play games only after they’ve spent a certain amount of time reading or using educational apps.

Amazon announced two large Fire tablets for kids, the Fire HD 10 Kids and the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro. The Pro is designed for kids ages 6 to 12, and the regular Fire HD 10 Kids for ages 3 to 7. Both have 10.1-inch 1080p screens, bigger than the Fire HD 8 model we currently recommend. Like the Fire HD 8, they promise up to 13 hours of battery life and come with 12 months of Amazon Kids+ included. Both tablets are available for pre-order starting at $190, $10 cheaper than the last generation of Fire HD 10 Kids models (which were released in 2021), and will ship next month. We will update this guide with their testing results as soon as we have them.

The 10th-generation iPad released in 2022 has an updated design with smaller bezels around the screen, gesture navigation, and vibrant color options. It also runs on a newer Apple A14 processor. However, none of these things make it better than the 2021 model as a tablet for kids. The 10th-generation iPad is also much more expensive than the 9th-generation model—the 10th-gen is about $450—and it has the same 64 GB of storage in the base model.

Apple still sells the 8th-generation iPad in its refurbished store, which was a previous pick in this guide. Refurbished devices aren’t as reliable as new ones, but Apple’s store includes a one-year warranty, and you save about $60 compared with the 9th-generation iPad. However, the 8th-generation model is a year closer to running out of update support, and it takes a small step down in performance and camera quality.

The 6th-generation iPad mini is close in size to the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition, but the design, internals, and display are all more refined. The iPad mini has historically been a more budget-oriented tablet, but the current model is even more expensive than the 9th- or 10th-generation iPads, at around $500. It has an 8.3-inch display, an A15 processor, 64 GB of storage, and support for the improved 2nd-generation Apple Pencil. The $170 premium over the 9th-generation iPad doesn’t get you anything that will make a difference to kids, though.

Apple’s iPad Pro tablets are faster and have better screens and cameras than the 9th-generation iPad, but those aren’t features that kids would notice or care about. The iPad Pro models are also at least twice as expensive as the base model iPad, significantly more money than any of the parents we surveyed would want to pay for a child’s tablet. iPad Pro tablets are nice for demanding grown-ups, but they’re overkill for children.

Amazon also sells Kids Edition versions of its two other Fire tablets: The Fire 7 Kids Edition and Fire HD 10 Kids Edition each include the same childproof case, two-year warranty, and FreeTime Unlimited subscriptions as the Fire HD 8. But we don’t like either of these tablets as much as the Fire HD 8. The Fire 7 model is a bit cheaper, but it’s slower and equipped with a noticeably less colorful, lower-resolution screen, while the Fire HD 10 model costs significantly more without offering many benefits beyond a larger screen.

You can find plenty of Android tablets, but you shouldn’t buy any of them for your kids over an iPad or a Fire tablet. Although they run most of the same games and video-streaming apps as the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition, and they have easy access to apps for YouTube and other Google services, the devices themselves aren’t available in kid-specific editions with similar perks. And to get a really good Android tablet, you have to spend at least as much as it costs to get an iPad, which is faster and has a larger library of apps.

We haven’t tested educational tablets sold specifically for younger kids, such as LeapFrog’s series of tablets. These devices are designed to be durable and have app catalogs specifically curated for kids, but they can cost roughly as much as our Fire HD pick but with inferior screens and slower processors that may frustrate kids and parents when using some apps. More important, their selection of apps is limited compared with what Apple and Amazon offer, focusing mostly on educational apps for kids age 7 and younger. Many of these apps are advertised as educator approved, but if your kid gets bored with them or outgrows them, you don’t have Apple’s or Amazon’s variety of popular games, video-streaming apps, or even educational apps for older kids that can extend the tablet’s usefulness.

The latest version of this article was edited by Caitlin McGarry and Arthur Gies.

  1. Where We Stand: Screen Time, healthychildren.org, November 1, 2016

  2. How Much Screen Time Is OK for My Kid(s)?, Common Sense Media, March 11, 2022

Meet your guides

Ryan Whitwam

Andrew Cunningham

Andrew Cunningham is a former senior staff writer on Wirecutter's tech team. He has been writing about laptops, phones, routers, and other tech since 2011. Before that he spent five years in IT fixing computers and helping people buy the best tech for their needs. He also co-hosts the book podcast Overdue and the TV podcast Appointment Television.

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