A protective case keeps the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition tablet safe from your more destructive tykes, but its cheap cost makes it easily replaceable if it breaks.
If you can't get an iPad, Amazon's tablets are among the best you can buy for a kid. The Amazon Fire HD 8 should be near the top of your list.
We could point to the modest price tag and the inclusion of a kid-friendly protective case it ships with, and that'd be that. But, we can't forget about the other qualities, including a big, sharp 8-inch HD display and the Fire operating system (OS), based on Android, that offers a fun and safe multimedia experience.
Amazon has spent years filling its own app store with an abundance of games, apps, books, and video content. Don't want to spend a ton on apps? Check out FreeTime, a cheap monthly subscription to enjoy premium content from over 20,000 sources, including Disney, Nickelodeon, and PBS. Oh, and did I mention you get a full year of that for free with a new Fire HD tablet purchase?
Fire OS includes a wealth of great parental control features, including the ability to set screen time limits, education goals, and filtering out the bad stuff you don't want your kids viewing. You could even enable an adult profile for yourself whenever they aren't hogging the thing.
Reviews from 3,400 buyers average out to a 4.1-star rating. User BrookCom says, "Great value for a kids tablet that you don't have to worry too much about getting broken." Wired scored it 8/10, saying, "The Fire HD 8 Kids Edition is a useful compromise of a device—durable, enjoyable, and at $130, way cheaper than an iPad mini."
Pros: Affordable, comes with a protective case, uses Amazon's intuitive and kid-friendly Fire OS, comes with a year of FreeTime Unlimited
Cons: Amazon app store updates lag behind Google Play and Apple's App Store