4 year old mp3 player help

bluebear wrote: hi- im 18 years old and i have a 4 year old cousin that is my everything- he is like my nephew. i wanted to get him started on listening to music at an early age. i was thinking about getting him an mp3 player, one that is simple to use. he knows how to operate a wii and do bowling (he's quite good- beat my high score) so i was searching out to see what kind of mp3 players to suggest. i know he knows how to use a leapster, so i guess he can use an mp3 player, right??
i don't want to get him an ipod because a lot of my friends break theirs, so imagine a 4 year old with one of those, but im looking for one with a screen so he can read and look at the words to help him. something VERY basic. i don't want one that's a pain to load music like the fisher price ones because i want him to listen to real music, not ones downloaded off the fisher price web site. im sure somebody here has a young kid with an mp3 player.
thanks for your help!

TLCDad replied: Hmmm. 4 years is in my opinion kinda still too young for an MP3 player. But if you get one, I would recommend the original iPOD shuffle. It is kind hard to break those, but they do not have a screen. I would avoid any with a screen because too easy to break.

I waited until Ashley was almost 7 before getting her one but she does love it.

bluebear replied: i was actually looking at one with a USB so you can drag and drop, because i don't think my cousin's computer can support itunes (the 4 year old is my cousin's son- sorry i didn't state that earlier)
Would you recommend something like this?
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-NWZ-B142F-Playe...r/dp/B002COJ544

TLCDad replied: Yes, that looks like a nice player. The iPod shuffle is USB too, but you are right I think it does require iTunes at least for the easiest way to upload music. Though I do not think iTunes requires too much PC power. Although I am a PC user, I mainly use my MAC for my iPods though and iTunes is really the only good option on the MAC.

ZandersMama replied: I have a zen mozaic that my 4 year old took over, its great. it also has an exernal speaker which i love.its been dropped everywhere, including out the van window, and still works perfect.

eta, the zen also has big enough memory that it can hold audio books, awsome for long drives.

coasterqueen replied: Hmm, well if someone was going to help him put songs on there, I don't see anything wrong with something like the iPod shuffle. That's what I'd go with.

The girls inherited my iPod and DH set up all their cd songs on there, plus a bunch of movies. We then bought an external speaker so they can both watch the movies on the screen together and listen to music together. They also have headphones.

We mainly only use the iPod for traveling, though. My 4 year old does fine with it, but she's mastered my iphone as well. We don't allow much computer time at this age, so they know the iPod more.

bluebear replied: thanks for the replies. the thing is i don't have a job (still searching) and i don't want to spend a lot of money on it. i looked at the zan mosiac ZandersMama suggested, i like it but the buttons seem to look too hidden. Does it look like that when you actually see it?


I would buy a shuffle but they literally change every few months, and it's hard to get your hands on an older version without resorting to ebay or an online store. I'd get the new shuffle that talks but it seems too small!

mom21kid2dogs replied: We got Olivia a Sansa Shaker when she was 5. It was a great starter for her. Pretty indestructible and has an external speaker. We didn't permit her to use earbuds until this year (she's 8). If we can hear her music through the earbuds, the player is ours for the day.

We don't purchase her much music on the internet although Amazon is compatible with it. We generally rip & download what she has in herCD collection or whatever we like at the library.

bluebear replied: I saw that one online...it looks perfect. can you disable the songs from changing when there is movement? also how do you put music on it? do you drag and drop the songs or use itunes?

mom21kid2dogs replied:
LOL! We can't get it to change songs at all by changing it~never could, although I worried about that as well. It runs on AAA battery and has media card. It just downloads like anything else~USB port. We use the Windows Media Player, mostly because we rip her already existing stuff but we have downloaded from Amazon with no problem. Don't use Itunes so I don't know about that one. Sorry. It's very durable and if he loses it you are out $100+ bucks.

bluebear replied: It says $20 online. I could get a bigger sd card for more memory and it will be compatable for it, right?
i was thinking of getting him a nintendo DSi since i have one and know how to put music and everything on it, but that's way too expensive and hard for a 4 year old to use.

mom21kid2dogs replied:
Sorry for all the typos! I'm at the library because my computer is in the shop~I can't deal with the keyboard being this high~UGH!!!. Yes, they are cheap. I meant to type you aren't out $100 bucks if he loses it and that is really doesn't change the songs by shaking in our experience. Sorry 'bout that!!!!

ZandersMama replied:
the buttons are pretty small, but i just loaded the music zander could listen to and set it as the only playlist, and all he has to do is turn it on and press play. i think i paid 69 for it.

it also holds pictures, which is pretty cool.

bluebear replied: thanks both of you!!! one last question though, how big are the players? you guys are huge helps!

DVFlyer replied: A person without a job buying a 4 y/o an MP3 player??

What recession....

bluebear replied: I don't see anything wrong with that

MyBlueEyedBabies replied: We started my kids off with their own MP3 players when they were 2/3 and for her 7th b-day my daughter is getting an ipod from her aunt. We have found it all about the playlist then they don't care to change the song they are listening to (though they figured out how pretty quickly) One got a Rio and the other a san disk and they are both pretty basic. the only one I wouldn't recommend is the shuffle because you cant put books on tape on the shuffle and those are big hits here.

mom21kid2dogs replied:
The Sansa Shaker is about 3" tall. It fits easily in the palm of a child. It has a push buttons on/off switch. You change songs by twisting the bottom of it.

bluebear replied: thanks for the help!