For the last few months and especially over the Summer holidays when the kids had quite a lot of a tablet time in order for me to keep up with my workload we’ve been using Hopster TV on their kindle fires. They have one each, and I prefer them to regular tablets as I am able to completely control how they use them and for how long for, knowing that they’re safe from seeing things they shouldn’t. The interface is easy to use and fun to look at and is designed with little fingers and little brains in mind!
Best of all Hopster TV isn’t just a ‘telly’ app, but it has the following options once logged in:
Shows
All the TV shows you’ll find in Hopster TV are age appropriate, entertaining and semi-educational. We’ve discovered ‘Sid the Science Kid’ and ‘Monster Math Squad’ and both kids enjoy them without realising they’re being taught things at the same time! There are also classics like Postman Pat, Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom and Pingu! You can download shows for offline watching too, when you’re not somewhere with Wi-fi/4g etc.
Books
There are three ways to read using the Hopster TV app – audio books, eBooks & Video books. Athena loves the audio books as she can try and follow the words as she gets read to, and I love this functionality too as it can keep her busy on nights when I’m having trouble getting her brother to go to bed so she doesn’t miss out on a bedtime story! She was pleased to find The Enormous Turnip too, as her class had this book as one of their topics to explore last year! There is a wide range of topics covered in the books and the illustrations are all modern and fun.
Games
Each game found in this section is exclusive to Hopster, and cover things like numbers and counting, shapes and letters, including phonics. They’re all simple to understand and easy to play with short sessions so no boredom sets in! The music and arty games are good fun too, and some involve use of the camera to draw on your own masterpieces!
Music
There are lots of fun songs and nursery rhymes to sing along to, some old and lots of new too! Arlo loves this section as he loves to leap around and dance to music. There are even french lullabies, and some familiar characters, like the Moshi Monsters!
What we love about it
- It’s Ad-free, which is something we really appreciate as kids are SO impressionable and mine want EVERYTHING on adverts.
- You can use one subscription on multiple devices without having to pay more
- Download things for use when no wi-fi available, like on the train to London below!
- You get a report each month telling you what your kids have been up to on the app
What could be improved
Honestly, nothing. It works well, there are lots of different options for use and you can download things for use offline when you’re on long journeys, for example.
If you want to trial Hopster TV for a MONTH, absolutely free then enter the code AMAZON1M here: https://www.hopster.tv/register and let me know what your kids think!
This app sounds so clever, I am always really worried about what louie might come across on tablets, which is one of the reasons i’ve not got one for him yet, but was thinking about it in black friday sales for a Christmas present, thanks!
Love the look of this, nice to know it’s safe and secure!