Hey parents, here's one less thing you need to worry about today.

I’m always trying to cram bits of learning into my little girl’s head without her realising it’s going in. And I’ve struck gold.

It took my daughter all of 30 seconds to get to grips with her latest piece of technology to come into our home. I can only imagine how dumb she’s going to make me feel by the time she’s in high school.

“I’ll turn it on for you in a minute,” I yell from the kitchen (there’s a lot of yelling from the kitchen in my house), but she’s all over it. “Don’t worry mum, I’ve done it,” she yells back.

Argh, wait for me, I think, used to her playing with an adult tablet that can go anywhere, but by the time I get to the living room, and to her side, she’s busily driving her Toca Train on her Samsung GALAXY Tab 3 Kids.

Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by Samsung. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100 per cent authentic and written in their own words.

My daughter’s four and at preschool. She’s learning letter and number recognition at the moment and she’s going pretty well. But there are kids who are doing better. “Amy can write her name,” Matilda tells me. I resist the urge to point out that A-M-Y is much easier to spell than M-A-T-I-L-D-A, because, of course, I don’t want to be THAT mother. But yes, we’re doing a little bit of practice at home now. Not that I’m worried about it. Oh no.

But she’s little, so nothing can feel like a lesson or you’ll lose her quicker than a puppy in a ball pit. So playing with her tablet using a reading game where you are working with picture-word recognition works really well for her, as does the farm yard number game where she’s having such a good time poking all the little animals that she doesn’t even realise she’s counting*.

Nothing makes me feel more like mother of the year than feeling like I’ve just ‘played’ with my daughter for 30 minutes but really I’ve been sneaking information into her busy little head. Every mother’s dream, right there.

I do it all the time when we’re out somewhere. Tediously counting everything we see – “Can you go and get me FIVE lemons please?” or sneaking in important information wherever I can manage (“Did you know, M, that one of the reasons the ocean’s blue is because it’s reflecting the sky?” Um, thanks mum, not that I asked.)

So using ‘quiet time’ to get her to play and learn on her tablet is right up my alley.

One of Matilda’s favourite books on her tablet is ‘Silly Squirrel’. It’s about Sid the squirrel as he goes about his daily life making friends, collecting food and dealing with the seasons*. Matilda likes to use the audio narrator but hopefully one day she will read it out loud instead. As each page progresses, Matilda can see and/or hear a bit more about Sid – and he and the other characters are animated when she touches them. There are also simple puzzles to do such as ‘match the words with the pictures’ where a word appears like ‘tree’ and that has to be matched with the picture of a tree. Numerical puzzles such as ‘how many squirrels’ helps Matilda recognise numbers. After each puzzle or two, another part of Sid’s story is revealed.

Fun? Learning? Both. Win-win.

* In-app purchases may be required for full functionality. Data and other charges may apply. If Wi-Fi or internet access is enabled, adult supervision is recommended in Kids Mode. 

Here’s some other sneaky ways to get some extra learning in each day…

Featuring a colourful rubber bumper and an intuitive menu with a simple swipe and touch interface, GALAXY Tab 3 Kids is child’s play to use and enjoy. Your kids will love the playful characters, brightly coloured app cards, and fun camera overlay, whilst parental settings assist you to stay in control of app usage and purchases.*^#

By switching between Kids mode and the standard GALAXY Tab 3 interface, GALAXY Tab 3 Kids suddenly becomes great fun for adults! Use it like an ordinary tablet to write emails, organise your calendar or surf the web.^

^# Internet connection required. In-app purchases may be required for full functionality. Data subscription and other charges may apply.

^ Internet connection required. Data, subscription and other charges may apply.

* If Wi-Fi or internet access is enabled, adult supervision is recommended in Kids Mode.

~Carry case with stylus pen sold separately.