Ipod Touch for an 8 Year Old

She can text / email / face time etc. I would say no at that age. No need for it if she has a smart phone already.

both my girls got IPod touches at 10/11 years old and if I had to do it over again I would NOT HAVE DONE IT.

We had always said no internet in their rooms, but I didn't realize (hubby did) that these are basically mini internet devices that can do all the games, facebook, instagram, twitter and such that any phone can do. My younger daughter (now 11) has downloaded an app so she can use it like a phone. They can text, etc. I thought it was just a more storage capable ipod. Stupid me.

SO, basically you are giving up any control of the internet you had, cause these are small and portable.

If you DO get one make strict rules - I would have chargers only in a room far away from their bedroom and have a "bedtime" for the ipod touch. We are not happy with the electronic obsessiveness that the ipod touch created.

My 7-year-old just won an iPod Touch at a school raffle. She loves it! She really just uses it for games and to store her music (she loves music). My big tip if you do decide to get one is to make sure you DON'T get the model we have (it's one of the 5 series) that has a camera that only takes selfies. It's bizarre to have a camera that only takes pictures of you. There is no outward facing camera. I took it to the Apple store because we thought something was wrong with it and the guy there said that's actually how it was designed. I am normally a huge Apple fan and have been for decades, but I don't get this feature.

She's 8. My guess is just the sense of it being new and being hers alone. If your phone isn't an iphone maybe that's why too. As far as the DS, my kids have other options and they sometimes bounce back and forth but they definitely like to have alternatives.

A smart phone and an Apple product are not necessarily one in the same. The touch screen is a lure, unless like others have said your old smartphone is an old iPhone which without cell service is just an iPod touch.
She may have some friends that have one. She may be discovering music, which is easy to download on an iPod. It's just the evolution of our kids more than anything. The 3DS isn't cutting it ;-)
Our 8 yr old has a DS but she would prefer our iPad over that anyway.
If it's in the budget I see no problem with getting her one.

Depending on what your old smart phone is, there probably is very little difference. I just got an iPhone last week and the only real difference between that and my iPod Touch is the ability to make phone calls.

Although I am a solid Apple customer, in the last 4-5 years I have had 4 iPod Touches. I upgraded one to a new one with more memory, I had one get the black screen of death, I had one with a cracked screen after it got dropped too many times, and my current one has been shutting down apps as soon as they open. They don't seem to have a very long life. But, my husband has had the same one for 6-7 years so maybe it is me.

my son and daughter both have a ipod touch. They do use them but they tend to use my ipad a lot more since it has a bigger screen. My son is now asking for a kindle fire hdx just for the bigger screen and he knows I won't buy him an ipad or an ipad mini so that is his only option at anything of his own with a bigger screen. He will still use the ipod touch though for music though so I don't see it as a complete waste. The other moms have already mentioned whether your old phone was an iphone so I won't elaborate on that.

It seems that most kids have them now - and that is probably a lot of the allure to her. My kids have them and they will be getting upgraded this Christmas. So yes, it will do most of the same things, but will be all hers. I say go for it!

Not crazy at all to be thinking about it - I am almost done shopping!

My 11 yr old daughter got one for her birthday. She uses it to text her friends, face time with her friends, email her friends, go on Instagram, watch shows, play games, listen to music. Most kids love being able to text and face time on it. It's a lot of work for me, though as I carefully monitor her usage. I check her messages and Instagram account regularly.

My daughters like to play games, listen to music, make videos, take pictures, facetime friends/family, and text family/friends. They also use them on long trips to watch movies. Oh and also there is an app that if you purchas minutes their ipod touches can be used like a phone. I have not bought any minutes but my daughter did have some free minutes she used up and thought it was so cool.

They have friends who have Kindle Fires that are now asking for an ipod touch just so they can facetime/text their friends.

As Erica T mentioned... it may depend upon what your "old smarthphone" that she has been using is. If it is an Iphone, then there really isn't any difference to speak of.

For the record, however, we have had 3 ipod touches in our home for several years now. My daughter was first (at age 9 1/2), also for a Christmas gift. She still has and uses hers all the time. No problems whatsoever. Son got his maybe 6 months later? (he was around 13) and his lasted almost 2 years before he accidentally dropped it walking home off the bus from school and cracked the screen. He still can use it, but since I got an iphone, I just gave him mine instead, which I had not had any issues with either. He has been using that one for 6 months--no problems (I had it for over a year, myself already).

I found an application on my phone where my granddaughter was chatting with people. She told a young black man he was sexy so she's off electronics for months or until she gets married...lol.

She has a tablet and a 3DS. She has plenty to keep her occupied.

Your daughter already has access to the internet on devices. She doesn't "need" an IPod for anything that will give her "more" access. So if she's responsible and you keep an eye on what she's doing on it then I don't see any reason for her to not have one.

I bet her friends all have one so that's why she wants one too.

Ask her what she expects she'll be able to do that she can't already do.