We have been exploring all the opportunities open to us in the world of iPad and we have been delighted by our findings and experiences. Tonight we went outdoors to take in the star filled sky, the joy of that is amazing in itself of course, but to add to the mystery we used the GoSkyWatch app. We were able to hold the iPad up to the sky, pointed towards the stars, so the iPad was facing us, and the stars on the screen exactly matched what we were seeing in the sky!!!!! Every single star and planet is named!! Just UNBELIEVABLE. All this with a simple configuration!

Our eldest boy has found a new game, Stand O'Food, where he runs a fast food restaurant (we call them tofu and veggie burgers as we are vegetarian). His entrepreneurial drive is already highly developed so he is serving customers, and knows that he has income, expenses and profit! Now I think that is absolutely fantastic! 

In general the boys relate to the 'magicness' of the iPad. Our 3 year old just loves to draw and keeps checking his fingers to see if there really is colour on them as he strokes across the screen. It is an amazing experience to do so many things with literally the touch of one fingertip!

Our two boys are now content to watch each other as they play without interfering or constantly commenting. It seems that they learn from each other which is an added bonus. Every time our little baby (18months) sees the iPad she wants it and says 'birdie'. She plays Sound Shaker and just delights in touching the screen, holding her finger down, hearing noises and then seeing a chick appear. We all love to watch her face smile with delight! Imagine that, she will know no other way, she'll ask us in the future what's a 'mouse'? Brilliant!

We also bought some TV shows that the children like, Dora, Little Einstein's and Diego. We don't have a TV and haven't for the last 12 years (our children don't even know what it is) but they do watch movies occasionally which we have vetted. 

The iPad enhances this experience. They are used to watching movies projected on the wall of our family room, nice and big but now that the iPad can sit nicely on their lap it makes meeting Dora and Diego more intimate and provides a different watching experience! These shows are such great value for money, which I find very fair. 

Quick to download, no streaming and buffering as you get sometimes on youTube and perfect quality and no disappointed children as we return scratched and unplayable DVD's to the movie store! HURRAY HURRAY! And still our choice of what to let them watch and still no unnecessary conditioning comments or advertising to deal with!

What else can I say...it's 11.30pm and almost time for bed. I think I'll see if I can beat my high score on Harbor Master, I may not get a turn for a while! Now I'll just push the email button and send this to my husband and he'll publish it on the web... modern technology is fab!