6 Best Smart Watches for Kids and Parents to Keep in Touch
These kid-friendly smart watches will help you and your child stay connected.
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Smart watches for kids have become an essential item for many families. For parents, these devices can be invaluable tools for communicating through calls and texts and tracking their locations. They can also help set reminders or alerts to help older kids manage their busy schedules. Kids love smart watches with cameras, built-in games, and music players, offering plenty of entertainment options.
Here at the Good Housekeeping Institute, our engineers, scientists and parenting pros take extra care when recommending the best kid and parenting products. When rounding up our favorite kids' smart watches, we considered ease of use, durability, fun useful features like GPS and texting, plus any safety highlights like parental controls. Our picks below are inspired by smart watch brands we've tested for adults, or they were chosen due to high ratings and user reviews.
After our picks, keep reading to learn more about how we chose the best smart watches for kids and what you should keep in mind while shopping for one.
Best Deal
Though this smart watch isn't marketed as a children's watch, Apple is consistently a solid performer in our tests so we feel confident recommending it as a smart watch for older children.
Since it's Apple's entry-level watch it has all the features you would want such as GPS, calling, texting, FaceTime audio, and more without paying for features you won't need like fitness tracking or deep water resistance. Not to mention, your child will never be too old for this watch, eliminating the need to get a new one in a few years. However, if you do decide to get a new watch in a few years this can easily be passed down.
With the Family Setup feature, parents can set up their kid's smart watch and specify which contacts your child can interact with, set SchoolTime mode so kids aren't disturbed, receive automatic location notifications and more. Like most phones with GPS, calling, texting and location capabilities, it requires a cellular plan and it's only compatible with iPhones.
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| Calling available | Yes |
| GPS | Yes |
| Suggested age range | Not listed |
| Cellular plan required | Yes |
While you can spend hundreds of dollars on a smart watch for kids, if you're looking to spend less, this option from Prograce is under $20! It's packed with features such as built-in games, a pedometer, alarm, flashlight, and more.
This smart watch can also serve as a digital camera and take pictures and store music to listen to through a headphone jack, but it requires a micro SD card, which is sold separately. This smart watch is best suited for very young children, who will get a kick out of the fun colors and bright designs.
| Calling available | No |
| GPS | No |
| Suggested age range | 4-12 |
| Cellular plan required | No |
If you're not ready to give your child a cell phone but still want to be able to call and text, this smart watch from Spacetalk is a good in-between. With parental controls, parents can manage who they can interact with via calls and texts.
It also has GPS that gives on-demand location as well as alerts if your kid leaves a pre-defined safe zone. Parents can set departure and arrival alerts and get notified if their child does not depart or arrive at the scheduled time.
This smart watch is not connected to the internet and there is no social media access, so your child will have zero distractions. It only operates on the AT&T 4G & LTE networks, so keep that in mind when looking at coverage in your area.
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| Calling available | Yes |
| GPS | Yes |
| Suggested age range | 5-12 |
| Cellular plan required | Yes (AT&T only) |
Our kid and adult testers both loved the Fitbit Google Ace LTE. It's designed for children ages 7 to 12 and combines fitness tracking with communication features.
Built-in LTE connectivity allows for calling and messaging without a smartphone, offering parents a reliable way to stay in touch. But the standout feature is that it encourages physical activity through gamified fitness tracking, making exercise engaging for kids. Fitness tracking tracking has never been more fun!
Parental controls and data privacy measures are integrated into the smart watch to ensure safety. However, to utilize the calling and messaging functions, a monthly subscription plan is required, and communication is limited to contacts set up through the accompanying app. Additionally, the battery life may require more frequent charging compared to other models.
| Calling available | Yes |
| GPS | Yes |
| Suggested age range | 7-12 |
| Cellular plan required | Yes |
Garmin is a brand that consistently does well in our tests, so we feel assured the Vivofit Jr. 3 will follow suit. This smart watch stands out from the rest because not only does it track steps and sleep, but it allows parents to schedule alerts for chores or other tasks that need to be completed. Parents can say goodbye to constantly reminding their kids of their chores! Upon completion of chores or tasks, parents can set up virtual coin rewards that can be redeemed for agreed upon rewards.
To keep kids active, it also has what Garmin calls "active minute goals" that will unlock quizzes, games and app adventures once your child reaches a pre-set activity goal. It has custom watch faces and comes in five colors. However, calling or GPS isn't available.
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| Calling available | No |
| GPS | Yes |
| Suggested age range | 4+ years |
| Cellular plan required | No |
The PlayZoom smart watch is simple to use with animated icons, making it easy for younger kids to navigate. It can take videos or pictures and add frames, making pictures extra fun. Kids will have hours of endless entertainment with over 25 games, including puzzles, fuzzy patterns and deep sea spelling. They can also play music and audiobooks and listen to them with the included Bluetooth headphone set.
This watch and headphone set is available in nine different configurations, from green frogs and blue soccer balls, to teal unicorns and white pandas, so there's sure to be a pattern for everyone. While the brand recommends this watch for ages 4 and up, some reviewers stated that it was most appropriate for their 4- to 7-year-olds.
| Calling available | No |
| GPS | No |
| Suggested age range | 4+ |
| Cellular plan required | No |
How we chose the best smart watches for kids
When choosing the best smart watches for kids we use our experience from previous smart watch testing to recommend brands that performed well, were easy to use, and durable. We also take into account brands that have consistently tested well over the years so we can be confident recommending products that we haven't gotten to formally test yet.
We also look at smart watches for kids that have high ratings and reviews. Additionally, we look for ones with useful features such as GPS, calling, and entertainment. We take into account the recommended age ranges to ensure picks that will suit a variety of ages.
What to look for when shopping for smart watches for kids
As you shop for the perfect smart watch for kids, keep the below in mind to find the best one for you.
✔️ Cellular plan: Some smart watches that have more communication features like calling, texting, and GPS location require a cellular plan which means it will cost more than just the initial price of the smart watch. There are smart watches that don't require a cellular plan, but the tradeoff is that they won't have as many communication features.
✔️ GPS: This feature can give parents peace of mind in keeping track of their child's location. Some smart watches for kids also have alerts if the child leaves a specified area. Just keep in mind these features come at a higher price tag.
✔️ Calling and texting: Some smart watches can make or receive calls or texts while others can not. These can be useful features to help keep in touch with your child. Many also have parental controls so you can manage which contacts your child is allowed to interact with. Be sure to check that the watch is compatible with your smartphone and mobile carrier if applicable.
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
Jamie Kim has been testing consumer products for over a decade, including a host of textiles, consumer electronics and wellness devices. She holds an apparel and textile design degree plus a mechanical engineering degree, making her the perfect person to lead a Good Housekeeping Institute review of smart watches, where form and function are both incredibly important.
Timothy Dahl is an experienced writer and editor covering home improvement, DIY and lifestyle topics for nearly 20 years. With a deep background in hands-on testing and reporting, he has reviewed and worked with hundreds of tools, products and home innovations.
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