Help me pick a device for a young elementary aged child to listen to audiobooks on

[momee]

I am looking for a device that can play audiobooks that I hope to download from the library.

 

I'm not especially thrilled about games and other visual distractions so I don't want an ipod touch or ipad mini.

 

We have an old ipod nano, I think, but it is giving me issues and isn't really intuitive for her.

 

The playaways from the library are awesome (plug in headphones, put in batteries and off she goes) but we've gone through the non-scary ones and are not at all interested in the magic - dark themed junk that seems to make up most of the library inventory.

[LifeLovePassion]

Can you get an old itouch and just not load games on it? My kids have samsung galaxy players that they use for music and audio books

[Kerileanne99]

Oh no!

I went through this last Christmas! My dd5 has listened to audiobooks independently since before she was 3 on an old IPod. When it died we went looking for a suitable replacement for her bday.

After much consideration we bought her the new iPoD. After daddy spent 2 hours loading it with all her favorite audiobooks we discovered that the newer generations LACK INTERNAL SPEAKERS!' Huh? I get that adults want buds, but I was not about to put buds or headphones on dd at bedtime (which is when she uses it the most.)

Back to the store it went...

 

The only other option was the IPod touch. We do not want apps or anything available to her at bedtime. She has an IPad so would be very knowledgable. Then we realized it is cheaper/easier to just give her an old iPhone. We upgraded ours and gave her one of our old 4s phones. It has been perfect. Huge capacity for audiobooks and she takes pictures with it as well:)

 

ETA: you can put controls on it if you want to eliminate/restrict app or other usage.

[Lizzie in Ma]

I vote an old phone too.  If one is available.  Youngest uses my old Samsung and with the 32 gb sd card, I've loaded a ton of audiobooks on it for her.

Overdrive works well on it also.

[Alessandra]

Another vote for an old iPhone, like 4s. Having speakers is a must, imo.

 

Otherwise, for cheap, a Sansa. But they are hard to navigate than a phone.

Edited November 19, 2015 by Alessandra

[Dmmetler]

Or just buy a cheap $10 phone without a plan. Last summer DD went to a program that was supposed to be non-screen/no internet, but the kids could have cameras, music players that didn't have games, and e-readers without games. There was an e-list for parents, and one of the experienced ones suggested exactly that-buy a $10 android phone at the grocery store, take out the SIM card, put a BIG memory card in it, and download the kindle app and a music player (usually pre-loaded) over wifi. Presto, e-reader, music/audiobook player, and camera, but no Minecraft or anything like that. All for about $20, so if they lose it, no big deal.

[kitten18]

My kids use iPod nanos.

 

There was only one generation that had speakers (I think it was 4), it also had a video camera. That was a great version and they stopped making it around the time they came out with the touch.

 

You can always use a small external speaker, we have a couple ihome speakers.

 

An old iPhone would be good if you have one.

[mathnerd]

old iPhone or old android phone. Don't waste money buying a device for it. And you can attach them to external speakers (they sell speakers just for that purpose) and your child will never need earphones.

Edited November 19, 2015 by mathnerd

[Forget-Me-Not]

My kids are using an old iPhone as well. And they use it for audiobooks frequently. It's basically an iPod touch once you've taken the phone service off. It's been nice for them to be able to text too.

Edited November 19, 2015 by Forget-me-not

[Wabi Sabi]

Ditto everyone else. An old smartphone or iPod touch will be most intuitive and you can disable or remove the games and other visual distractions. 

[Alessandra]

Or just buy a cheap $10 phone without a plan. Last summer DD went to a program that was supposed to be non-screen/no internet, but the kids could have cameras, music players that didn't have games, and e-readers without games. There was an e-list for parents, and one of the experienced ones suggested exactly that-buy a $10 android phone at the grocery store, take out the SIM card, put a BIG memory card in it, and download the kindle app and a music player (usually pre-loaded) over wifi. Presto, e-reader, music/audiobook player, and camera, but no Minecraft or anything like that. All for about $20, so if they lose it, no big deal.

What a great idea!