The iPad Problem
My son uses the iPad. He uses it A LOT. When it’s too quiet in the house, all I usually have to do is peek in his room and I”ll find him curled up in the corner watching Netflix. Luckily, he’s not always using it to veg out and watch TV or play games; he also uses it to learn to read. His absolute favorite app is The Cat in The Hat, which either reads the whole story to you, reads it one page at a time, or reads each word as you tap it. The variations are helpful and really let kids explore the story at their own pace. Also, if they tap an illustration, the word for the object they tapped will appear so they can learn words visually as well. But, enough about the app. What I was going to say is that I notice that a lot of the time — especially when he’s trying to interact with said app — the iPad keeps falling over. The cover we have has a built in stand, but it’s just not sturdy enough to stand up to a 5-year-old’s firm poking.
The Solution
After discussing this with a friend for a few minutes, we Googled “easy iPad stands” and came across a video that explains how to make your own iPad stand out of a wire coat hanger in about 30 secs. I gave it a try and they were right. It took just about 30 seconds for me to bend my unused hanger into a handy little stand that does not fall over. It’s been kid tested and DIY Dad approved. Check out the video below. I had to rewind once or twice, but it’s really easy to learn, and now I know wherever I go I can open the coat closet and find a iPad stand.