Best tablets for kids 2024: great tablets for children of all ages

The best tablets for kids are more than just a distraction. If used judiciously, they'll keep your children entertained, engaged, and educated. Whether you’re looking for something on a budget or a bit more of a premium option that the whole family can use, we’ve got you covered in our best-of children's tablets guide.

Each of these tablets for kids has features you’ll love, such as parental controls, decent battery life and protective covers (because accidents happen), so you’ve got all the information to pick the right device for your children. Some are dedicated kid's tablets while others are fully-fledged slates that we reckon make for the best kid-friendly (and kid-priced) choice.

Various brands offer some of the best options, including Amazon, Apple, Lenovo, Samsung and more. We’ve included a variety of options in our round-up in order to help you choose the best tablet for your kids, no matter what you (or perhaps they) are looking for.

If you're interested in a tablet for the whole family, we've put together a guide to the best tablets overall, while for bookworms we've also got a guide to the best Kindles.

Since this is very much the Christmas season, T3's expert team is also gathering all of our best gift guides in one place for you, along with highlights of some great deals this December. Check them all out by visiting our Christmas hub – you might save yourself some money on a new tablet for the kids!

T3's Top Picks

The best tablets for kids in 2024

The best tablet for most kids

This version of the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition doesn't offer much of an improvement over its predecessor – a bit more memory, a processor that's a bit faster, slightly longer battery life – but there wasn't much wrong with its predecessor at all. This is our pick for the best kids tablet on the market right now, whether you find the 2024 or 2022 version for the best price (although our review is of the older model).

What really makes this kids' tablet appealing is what Amazon offers with it: a year's free subscription to the Fire for Kids Unlimited service, offering more than 5,000 apps and games for your youngsters, plus a two-year replacement programme – if this tablet gets broken in that time, Amazon will replace it for free.

On top of all that, it's very affordable, and comes with an inspired chunky rubber case that doubles up as a kickstand. It's got everything you want in a tablet for children, even if other slates have better screens and faster specs.

To see how this tablet compares to a top-rated Apple slate that is suitable for children, be sure to check out our Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition vs Apple iPad Mini comparison feature.

The best premium tablet for kids

Take a glance down this list and you'll see how great the Amazon Fire HD tablets are for kids, and the 10.1-inch version is the biggest and most powerful of the lot (it's also the most expensive, which is something to bear in mind when you're choosing between them). As with the other models, you get a colourful, padded case that doubles up as an excellent stand for watching movies and making video calls.

The hardware under the hood is so-so, but the software is great: especially Amazon Kids+, which gives you a wealth of content (from apps to movies to books) for youngsters to enjoy. Do bear in mind that this is a tablet that will push you towards Amazon's services first and foremost, and you will have to subscribe to Amazon Kids+ a year after you've bought the tablet if you want to carry on using it.

We can't argue with the two-year replacement programme for the Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids tablet, which gives you peace of mind should the worst happen, and we think it's a device that your children are going to love. Note that these basic versions of the Fire HD tablets are aimed at kids aged 3-7, with Pro models available for older ones.

The best budget tablet for kids

Amazon knows how to put together a kids' tablet (as you'll know from the fact that the 8-inch and 10-inch models are also featured): the chunky build, the bright colours, the easy and accessible software... everything you could want as a parent is right here.

The specs aren't fantastic, but then they don't need to be. You get a two-year warranty, a year of the Fire for Kids Unlimited service (giving you access to a wealth of apps, books, games and more), and easy-to-use parental controls. If you don't love it, you can return it within 30 days for a full refund.

Amazon is promising seven hours of battery life, which should be enough for the longest car journeys, and offline support is good too for when your kids are away from Wi-Fi. This is hands down one of the best tablets for kids on the market right now.

To learn even more about this compact kids' tablet, be sure to check out T3's Should I buy the Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition? guide.

Best Apple tablet for kids

The entry-level Apple iPad 10.2-inch (2021) is a great tablet full stop, but it's also a great tablet for kids – albeit a bit more expensive than many of the other options we've listed here (but cheaper than the 2022 10th Gen model). It's also way less robust and more delicate than the dedicated tablets for children made by Amazon.

Why, then, should you consider it as a tablet for your kids? Well, you get Apple's excellent iPadOS software, plus access to the huge Apple App Store. If you connect the iPad up to your Apple account, you can easily put parental controls and screen time limits in place, so your children won't exactly be able to do whatever they please.

This is perhaps a better option for older kids, and it will grow up as they do – remember you've got plenty of accessories to pick from here as well, from the Apple Pencil stylus to a variety of clip-on keyboard covers.

Best Amazon tablet for older kids

Although not a kid-specific tablet, the affordable price makes this an excellent option if you've got slightly older children who you can trust not to immediately throw it on the floor. If they demand a higher-quality device, much the better. With 4GB of RAM and 8MP front and rear cameras, this is a significant performance upgrade from previous Fire tablets, even if the software and features are largely the same.

The 11-inch screen is the biggest a Fire tablet offers, which makes it a fantastic option for streaming Netflix and the like. With the keyboard and stylus (sold separately) you could even transform it into a capable laptop replacement.

As we noted in our full Lenovo Tab M10 FHD Plus review, this tablet is a great buy for families, delivering a really solid all-around package that will serve, kids, teens and adults alike. The design of the Tab M10, too, feels far more premium than its attractive price would suggest, and it packs a 10.3-inch IPS Full HD 1920 x 1200 resolution screen. This display is great for streaming TV shows and movies from Netflix and Disney+ for example, and gives plenty of real estate for online browsing.

Importantly, for a children's tablet, the Tab M10 comes with a dedicated Kid's Mode, which is pin-code locked to prevent access by busy hands. Using Kid's Mode, you'll find videos, games, audio content and cartoons for children, with a mix of free and paid-for apps on offer. In terms of cameras, the tablet comes with a basic but functional 8MP rear and 5MP front selection.

Overall, it's a rock-solid offering for a very attractive price point, with whole family usage on the cards. You can even save on your purchase with one of our Lenovo discount codes.

How to choose the best tablet for kids

There are several issues to consider when deciding on which of the best tablets for kids is right for your family.

The first and most obvious thing is protection: little hands can be accident-prone, and we can't be the only parents to be on first-name terms with the local tablet screen repairer. Many of the best kids' tablets include protective cases; if the one you choose doesn't, we'd strongly recommend getting one.

Screen size is a factor too. Too small and it might be awkward to watch some content; too big and the tablet can be too heavy for little arms. Some of the tablets here come with keyboards; others can connect to wireless ones over Bluetooth.

One of the key selling points of many kids' tablets is parental control and filtering software, which you can use to prevent your little ones from accessing inappropriate content. Such software does work very well, but it's important to note that it can't always filter everything. We've found that even in Apple's otherwise well-policed App Store, free ads often come with advertising that's completely unsuitable for the age range the app is aimed at. If that's a concern for you, most tablets enable you to prevent the kids from installing any apps or games without your permission.

When it comes to buying the best tablet for kids, what you're looking for is going to be different compared to when you're buying your own tablet. Raw power matters less than good parental controls and long battery life, and exterior design doesn’t matter so much when it's going to spend all its time covered in crumbs.

We'd also recommend thinking about what your child is likely to want in a year from now, not just today: a child that's quite happy with Peppa Pig clips now may well be a proficient platform gamer just months later. We therefore think it wise to buy a tablet for the age your child will be in one to two years time.

In very select circumstances one of the best foldable phones may be best for a child. If they are more of a teenager and can be relied on to not easily break a product, folding phones are great as they offer both phone and tablet functionality in one package. Worth considering as two birds can be bagged with one stone.

Who is the best tablet for kids manufacturer?

This is a really simple question to answer. The best tablet for kids maker is Amazon. Amazon's Fire Kids Edition range of tablets not only boasts excellent parental controls that make it super easy for a parent to lock down every aspect of the slate, but they also come with a suite of excellent kids software and a protective casing, too.

Amazon Fire Kids Edition tablets also don't cost anywhere near as much as, say, an Apple iPad, and also boast strong battery lives as well, which is great as you don't really want children messing around with power supplies and sockets frequently.

There are some drawbacks, though, to Amazon Fire Kids Edition tablets, and the first of those is that because they run Amazon's own proprietary OS they don't offer access to Android or iPhone app stores, which does reduce the amount of apps they can use. And the second is that Fire tablets are (obviously, you may conclude) very tied into the Amazon ecosystem, shopping or otherwise.

If we were to make a recommendation for a kids tablet that wasn't made by Amazon, then we'd likely point you toward either Apple with its impressive iPad selection, or Samsung, who produced numerous affordable Android tablets.

Best tablet for kids: extra information

Don't worry if you're not very techy. In our best tablets for kids guide we'll junk the jargon and tell you everything you need to know: the features that matter, the corners you don't want to cut and how easy it is to use parental control features. And of course we'll help you find the best tablet prices too. We think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how affordable the best kids tablets can be.

In this guide we're looking at the best tablets for kids, by which we mean tablets for toddlers, tablets for school children and tablets for younger teenagers. For young adults and grown-ups, check out T3's comprehensive best tablets guide; if you know you want an iPad but don't know which one to go for, we have a best iPad feature with everything you need to know. And if you're looking for a slate primarily to read on, then you might also want to check out our best Kindle buying guide too.

How we test tablets for kids

Testing the best tablets for kids differs slightly from rating slates for adults in terms of priorities. The safety of both the child and the tablet are paramount, and that means aspects like parental controls and device robustness carry a lot of weight.

Amazon's kids tablets are best-in-class right now because of their superb parental controls, which allow guardians to really lock down exactly when they can be used and what the child can access.

They also score really highly in terms of robustness, with Amazon not only supplying a chunky rubberised case for each tablet, but also offering a two-year guarantee where if the child breaks the tablet they just replace it.

So while specs and features are important, we're looking for a strong core functionality with kids' tablets, strong parental controls, and a build quality that instils confidence that at the first drop, the product is going to be write off.

With these things established, we're then looking at the user interface and app ecosystem the child is going to live in. If there is plenty of child-focussed content and apps (again something Amazon excels in thanks to Amazon Kids+) then we're going to rate a slate higher.

At the bottom of the pile we have raw hardware specs, however battery life is something we factor in as kids aren't the best at remembering to charge their devices. If a kids tablet runs for days on end, we're going to find out.

When all these factors are considered we then judge the overall usage experience delivered and its value for money, before then bestowing a star score upon it. If the tablet has impressed it is then entered into T3's best tablets for kids buying guide.

Would your child be better off with one of the best lightweight laptops or best 2-in-1 laptops? Find out in our dedicated buying guides now, as well as the top models currently available.

Reviewer panel

David Nield

David is one of our foremost freelance experts – he's been reviewing tech and covering the sector for years now. That's included plenty of reviews of tablets aimed at parents and kids, and he's used a wide range to give him loads of authority when comparing them.

Matthew Bolton

Matthew was AV and Smart Home Editor (UK), which saw him oversee a wide range of home and AV tech coverage, but he also covered a lot of the tablet market. He wrote a bunch of iPad reviews in that time, including the 10.2-inch version that features here.