The problem with trying to find a tablet for kids is that many of them tend to look like, well, tablets for kids. And the thing is, no matter how amazing might be (looking at you, Nabi 2 and Nabi Jr) I can’t convince my older kids that it’s a real tablet. They want theirs to look like mine, with a name that doesn’t sound like a cutesie kid name. So, I’m excited to have found the perfect mix of kids tablet and adult design, in the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids.
Don’t let the colorful packaging and protective orange carrying case of the Galaxy Tab 3 Kids fool you–this is not a kids’ toy. It is a legitimate Samsung Galaxy tablet which happens to have dual operating modes, one for kids and one for parents.
The kids’ mode has a fun, energetic artwork and features only the Android apps you’ve selected for your kids to have access to using the parental controls. You can also set time limits on how long your kids can play, or you can set a specific schedule for the Tab 3 to operate (say, it only works between 6:00 am and 4:00 pm, so there’s no arguing when it’s time to get off for dinner).
Because my kids beg me constantly to buy new apps for them, I’m also loving the “wish list” feature on the Tab 3; they can browse through the store, star the apps they want, and then I can reward them weekly for doing their chores with a new app from their list or delete the ones which…no way, not ever.
However, know that it comes with more than $40 worth of pre-loaded content to start, which will keep my kids occupied for quite a while. It also comes with a $10 Google Play credit to cover those first few wish list items.
When you want to switch away from kids mode, simply enter your passcode and click through to Galaxy Tab 7 standard mode–it will have all the features and capabilities you’d expect from any other Galaxy tablet. Making this a perfect choice for a whole lot of parents. Like me. -Kate
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids is now available for $229.99 from our affiliate Amazon, for $209 at B+H Photo, or at stores near you. And thanks to Samsung for providing us with a review unit.
Can you purchase the kids mode interface if you have an older galaxy tablet?
Sorry, Carla! You have to buy the Tab 3 to get the dual interface.
Is this geared towards young children? Does this have all the capabilities and everything the same as the regular pad 3 but also has parental controls? will a 10 year old feel this is just for young kids because of the colors? What age is this geared towards and what can this do?
Lisa,
I have a 5 year old and she loves it. What’s great is I can use it or anyone else can as well. You can customize it as your kids grow. For example, I downloaded Netflix and then checked it off so she can access it for watching shows. When I exit the kids mode with a password I can browse with it and do everything I would on a regular tablet. It also takes excellent photos for a tablet. Since it looks and feels just like a regular Samsung Tab 3 your 10 year old will enjoy it and so will younger kids or adults.
Can you set any kind of parental controls on YouTube so when they are in kids mode they can’t get to to stuff they don’t need to? Also, is there a minecraft app available?
Hi DeeDee, it’s a fully functioning Android tablet so it has any parental control apps and Minecraft apps that any Android tab would have like this one: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mojang.minecraftpe&hl=en
Here’s a helpful article on setting up parental controls for Jellybean OS devices: https://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/google-android/3461359/parental-control-on-android/
If minecraft is available on Google Play or Samsung App stores then yes. I haven’t checked into the You tube setting but you might see if you can set up parameters via any other android related operating system for you tube to check.
I recently purchased the Samsung Galaxy 3 kids tablet for my grand daughter for Christmas. Before purchasing I was told that when in regular mode any music I had previously purchased in play store would automatically load in play music as songs had done on other devices in my home. Samsung S3 phone and a couple of other cheap tablets. However I can’t get any ssongs to load on this galaxy 3 kids tablet? any help you can give me will be appreciated.
You may just want to connect it to your computer and copy the songs onto the tablet. I put a 8gb Mircro SD card in my daughters and plan to do this with songs I feel are appropriate plus some fun kids songs that she’ll enjoy from age appropriate shows and movies etc. Hope this helps. The ones that downloaded from play will have done so if you use the same Google account to log in and will likely show up in parent mode.
Frustrated. I was loving it until I gave up trying to figure out how to black out the screen in the sleep mode. There’s a save screen that stays on and would not turn on unless I turn off the tablet completely. And today my daughther was playing one of her games when suddenly she got a message ” YOu need to sign in into your Google account to continue” so I tried to log in and it won’t let me back in. I’m completely lock out of the tablet and can’t access my apps or my daughter’s … considering returning it to the store . 🙁
H.H., we just had the same situation. My child’s time was up and he tried to enter a numeric password too many times. In case some other desperate parent is searching the web and finds this reply, here ya go… At the screen you described, I entered my google account info but it wasn’t being accepted (i even logged into my laptop just to make sure i had all my details right). I thought maybe the wifi connection was buggy (our router goes out regularly), but being locked out i couldn’t change that from the standard screen. What ended up working was this : hold the power button until the menu comes up with “power off, airplane mode, restart, mute, etc”. I turned on airplane mode. Then I selected “Power off”. I waited about 10 seconds and held the power button again to turn the unit back on. Once booted, it reset back to the 4 digit numeric password screen. I entered it and the kids’ screen came back up. After a sigh of relief I went into the time manager console and set to “no time limit”. That way if the littlest one gets a hold of it, there won’t be a problem like this again. The oldest is always supervised (or in the vicinity) when playing so I don’t have a problem keeping track of his time on my own. Hope that helps!
THANKS JOHANNA!!!
Your trick saved me hours of troubleshooting… and put a relieved smile on the face of my older son.
The wireless was off so it could not reconcillate with my google account while denying access to the device settings to turn the wlan back on.
how can I reset the password. My 4 yr old daughter pressed numbers and locked the access to go to google account. Hope you can help me.ty.
Oh no, Marites! Searching the web yields a few possibilities. One is to select “forgot my password” and they’ll send reset info to the email address you registered with.
Another tip: Here’s ATT’s info on doing a hard reset. Just know you will lose all your personal data and content that isn’t backed up so use that as a last resort.
Good luck!
Hi Liz…I have not reset my daughter’s Samsung sm-t2105 because I am really not sure if it is the best thing to do. My last question before I reset…the unit has been preloaded with kids games worth $90 or over when it was purchased (ocean, wipeout, fruit ninja, toy story smash it, where is perry?, etc. Would these be removed if I reset it?
For the past months she is contented with these games…but now she wants different games and I am thinking about resetting it. I am just afraid if all her pre installed games will be erased as well. Hope you can help me. Thanks.
Hi there I am looking for something for my toddler to take on the airplane next month for a trip we have planned, can you tell me if the apps already supplied for this will work in airplane mode or if you would like to suggest something better for a 2 year old electronic wise, as he has nothing yet? Thanks!
Just purchased the Tab 3 KIDS for my 6 year old. Love it, love it! How do I received the $10 Google Play credit as stated on the box. It was not in the packaging and after registering the product on Samsung, I have still received nothing. Thanks!
I have the same question! Would also like to know how to get the $50 of NOOK books it is suppose to come with. I created a NOOK account but the books did not load onto it like they were suppose to, anyone know how to get these two perks? They were one of the major selling points for us!
Hi Jen, how frustrating. Have you contacted Samsung or NOOK yet? Unfortunately we’re not up on all the incentives that Samsung has bundled with the tablet, so I’d recommend starting with them. Good luck! -Julie
Hi Michele, so glad you like it! Check our advice to Jen above — we’d start with Samsung to get the details on the Google Play incentive. -Julie
Hi Julie,
I just wanted to let you know we bought the Galaxy Tab 3 on Black Friday and have had the same issue as Jen with the Nook books. I contacted Samsung and they said there was nothing they could do about it and maybe that promotion had expired (even though it is still being sold in box that clearly displays that you get $50 of Nookbooks). So I contacted Nook/Barnes and Noble via email. They support tech was VERY rude and told me that it was only a $5 credit and he would add that to my account. Well, he did not add the credit. I emailed him back with a picture of the packaging clearly showing that it was $50 not $56 and he never responded again. So I’m guessing there is no hope on that issue.
Other than that we have loved the tablet. And thanks Johanna for the info on how to unlock the tablet!
I bought two this past christmas, one for each 4-year-old. My daughter is special needs and obsessed with watching Disney videos on YouTube.
Recently, we are getting an error message when trying to connect to YouTube. Shutting it down/restarting doesn’t work. We check wifi, airplane mode, etc. Wifi is working – I WAH and am in my connection with no problem.
Help! Anyone know what we can do here? TIA…
This tablet is great for kids! The only problem that I have with it is, in the kids mode they are able to delete the photos that they look at and take. How do I get it to where they can still look at the photos and videos without being able to accidently deleting them? I need help!