Can I Use A Cell Phone As A Learning Tool For My Child?

When you give your child a cell phone gift card, you have a tool for staying in touch with your child, but a mobile phone for kids can also be an excellent learning tool. When you buy your child a Firefly cell phone for kids, or an LG Migo, use it to introduce them to number recognition.

Let your child help you when you dial the phone. Taking a little extra time to let your child help you enter the numbers will also help them remember the cell phone's key designations. Text messaging is also an excellent opportunity to learn. Studies done at Tokyo Denki University and Kent State have found cell phones to be useful tools in language development and communication skills. There are many creative ways to put a cell phone to work as part of your child's learning experience.

Cell Phone Battery Safety For Kids

When you give your children cell phone gift cards, discuss cell phone safety for kids. Proper cell phone battery care is important; over the last two years, 83 people were burned by exploding cell phones. In all cases, the battery was to blame, with a large percentage of the injuries caused by counterfeit batteries.


Avoid the counterfeit issue completely by getting batteries from your cell phone carrier, or directly from the manufacturer of the cell phone. Cell phone safety for kids means getting them the right equipment to charge their phones. Incompatible cell phone chargers can damage your battery.


Warn young cell phone users not to touch the battery with metal objects including keys, coins, or jewelry. Cell phone batteries can appear undamaged after getting wet or being dropped, tell your child to let you know if any of these things occur, and replace the battery immediately.

Kid Friendly Cell Phones

What makes a cell phone "kid friendly?" A model such as the firefly mobile phone for kids has parental controls, only five buttons, and password-protected call screening. These all add up to ease of use for the kids, and peace of mind for parents.

Many kid friendly cell phones have limited dialing options and call screening features to permit only calls from numbers you choose. One feature to pay special attention to is the "emergency" button on your child's first cell phone. The emergency 911 button on some models makes it all too easy to accidentally dial 911 when handling the phone. If you suspect that a prominent emergency button will be a problem, shop for a kids cell phone with a more streamlined handset.


If you need Chaperone service or a GPS locator feature for the phone, be sure to double-check the specs on that kid-friendly cell phone. If GPS is included, it will be listed in the technical specifications of that phone.