Adaptive Path‘s UI team just posted a great idea for a toddler mode for the iPad. In the post, they discuss something that we’ve witnessed quite frequently in working with kids on the iPad: they’re instantly drawn to the tactile Home Button – by far the weakest link in an otherwise kid friendly User Interface. Their proposal:

1. Embed a Toddler Mode Switch in the Settings menu to allow parents to enable/disable specific functionality/content.

2. Slim the Home Screen down to only those apps approved by parents for Toddler Mode

3. Hide all video/music content not approved for kids

4. Abandon single-click functionality for the Home Button in favor of a more complex double-click to prevent kids from inadvertently closing out of their games

This is a brilliant idea and one we’d love to see Apple implement. Click here for the full writeup.