Best MongoDB Client for iPad – Recommendations

You can't generally password protect specific apps without some jailbreaking I assume, but you can restrict certain things, a few of which I recommend if you are giving it to a young one. http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4213 Describes the restrictions process, and it lists

You can choose to restrict access to the following applications and features on the device:

Safari, YouTube, iTunes, Ping, App installation, App deletion, Camera, FaceTime, Location, Account changes, Multiplayer games in Game Center, Adding friends in Game Center.

In addition, you can choose to prevent access to specific content types: In-app purchases, Music and podcasts, Movies, TV shows, Apps.

You can also set iTunes restrictions for content via http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1904, but again, this isn't device specific at the time, it is when you are buying or downloading content from the internet.

Setting up via Exchange is my preferred iOS Gmail setup. In earlier iOS versions (I think 3.0) you were limited to one Exchange account. So in my case, that was reserved for my work email. But once that limitation was lifted, I switched Gmail to Exchange and have been quite happy with it.

You get push email, which is the main benefit, but you also get push contact/calendar updates. Depending on if you use Google calendar as your main calendar, push calendar updates and invites can be a huge help to managing one's day.

If you decide you don't need push while using Exchange (or ActiveSync, which is the specific mobile protocol used by Exchange and Google), disabling push is quick and simple. Setting up via ActiveSync also saves a few steps in that you don't have to link your calendar and contacts manually. So I say go for Exchange, even if you don't use push. But it's not a huge deal either way, and as it's so easy to add/remove accounts on iOS, if you pick one and don't like how it works out, you can always switch to the other with minimal effort.