Make Your iPhone Baby-Friendly With Fisher-Price Baby iCan Play Case

February 14th, 2011 by K. T. Bradford  

Lately I’ve been hearing a lot from parents who are introducing their kids to mobile technology at a younger and younger age. It’s apparently not unusual for kids as young as 18 months to pick up on how to use an iPad, and apparently even babies love the iPhone and iPod touch. Granted, there are plenty of child-focused apps for these devices, and kids are attracted to the gadgets their parents use. But is it a good idea to let a baby play with expensive electronics that they might break? Nevermind the loss of money–that broken iPhone can also cause serious physical harm.

Since it seems that parents are giving into their children’s demands for their electronics, Fisher-Price figured they might was well make things a bit safer. Thus the $14.99 Laugh & Learn Baby iCan Play Case. This wheel-shaped product looks like a crib toy (complete with rattle rings and teething-friendly handles) that holds an iPhone at it’s center. Babies as young as six months can still interact with the phone by tapping and swiping, but they won’t be able to access the home button. When the iPhone isn’t in the case, babies can still be entertained by the mirror on the back.

Fisher-Price will also release some free Laugh & Learn apps made for babies to use with the iCan Play Case. Animal Sounds, Where’s Puppy’s Nose and Counting With Animals are all geared toward babies and have multiple levels of interaction. Taps, swipes, even movement makes things happen on the screen.

Currently the case will fit all versions of the iPhone and iPod touch. It’s not out until June of this year, so presumably it will fit the iPhone 5 when it arrives.

The iCan Play Case solves the whole safety issue, as babies can drop the toy and you don’t have to worry about it shattering. (How well your iPhone will fare inside may be a different story.) Still, is it such a great idea to treat a smart phone like a crib toy? Parents, let us know what you think.

Comments (6 Responses) 

Our Related Content

From Other Sites

Related Deals

 

6 Responses to “Make Your iPhone Baby-Friendly With Fisher-Price Baby iCan Play Case”

  1. brianna Says:
    February 15th, 2011 at 8:52 am

    i think it is a terrible idea to introduce babies to this kind of technology because then kids wont play outside and use their imagination. we already have that problem with todays society. we dont need to make it worse

  2. Rob Says:
    March 1st, 2011 at 6:00 pm

    Brianna, you’re probably right in the long run, knowing how people are… However, just like TV, if parents makes sure to limit time on tech devices just like they should limit TV time, I don’t see a problem with it. And, as a parent, I’ve witnessed first hand that many apps are extremely educational, and I think helped my son become advanced at knowing letters and numerals.

    Regarding this case, I think it’s good for drooling babies or if you’re giving a toddler their own iPhone or iPod touch (which probably isn’t most people). But if you’re sharing your own iPhone or iPod touch, it will be a hassle to use this case. Every time you need to change the app (say your kid gets tired of the one you loaded, or perhaps your kid presses an in-app link to the developer’s site or the app store) you’ll need to unscrew the back remove the iPhone, press the home button, but it back in the case and screw back the cover.

    I think BubCap Home Button Covers are a better way to share iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches with toddlers. You just apply one and leave it on your phone, it’s too rigid for toddlers to press the home button, but flexible enough that parents can. It got a great review on Parenting.com.

  3. Nizetti Says:
    March 24th, 2011 at 1:14 pm

    Nice case, HOWEVER, why isn’t there a locking cover for the Home button at the bottom? Babies love to press that button and exit the app you’ve selected for them, it would make a lot of sense to be able to protect it!

    App store programs are not allowed to change the behaviour of the key, so you have be able to ‘disable’ it somehow.

  4. Nizetti Says:
    March 24th, 2011 at 1:33 pm

    dammit I didn’t see the part about the home key lock.

  5. Amanda Says:
    July 5th, 2011 at 3:17 pm

    There’s no lock for the home button!? Are you kidding? That’s the only reason I would get it. My son is 14 months and has EDUCATIONALLY (Brianna) benefitted from many iPhone apps. One in particular, AlphaBaby, has the ability to upload family pictures and record your voice. This app has helped my son with identifying relatives he rarely sees. Everyday he cycles through the pictures and listens to the names. He smiles really big or laughs when he sees his “favorites”. How is this not a positive?! Oh, and we swim almost everyday, attend gym, he knows 5 signs, several words, walks, was standing at 9 months…iPhones don’t make babies inactive or “dumb”, it’s their parents. ;-)

  6. Heaven Says:
    February 22nd, 2012 at 2:21 am

    I wonder how sturdy this would make your iPhone? I wish someone had a fake iPhone they could try throwing a few times lol. My son has a fascination with throwing things (maybe he will be a football player) not to mention he usually just drops stuff when he losses interest. I agree that this is not a device you would want your child on for hours, that part is up to the parents not fisher price lol. On the package it said it was good for face timing (video chat) which I though would be perfect. My son will be visiting his father for a few days every other month and I am allowed video chat with him during those visits. So in hopes that there are no excuses as to why I won’t be able to chat with my son I bought this. Haven’t tried it yet, just hoping it holds up but that we shall see :)
    M

Leave a Reply

Featured Sponsors