Most kids these days see mom and dad sleep with their fitness trackers and they too want one. Kid’s fitness trackers encourage them to get active and earn points. The more the kids move around, the more points they accumulate which in turn unlock various rewards in the real world from their parents.
LeapFrog LeapBand
LeapBand by LeapFrog is a Smart watch plus activity tracker made just for kids. It is somewhat similar to the adult fitness trackers as it has a built-in accelerometer to track movement and walking around. It also awards kids with points and encouragement to stay and be active. Kids really love being encouraged and seeing their progression throughout the day.
It has a very simple four button navigation geared towards 4 to 7 year olds. The 1.44 inch hi-res vibrant color screen displays an energy bar that changes color throughout the day as kids earn points and energy with their movements. There is also a pet nurturing feature where a kid’s job is to take care of the pet that’s going to accompany them throughout this activity challenge. Kids can name and customize their pet. There are formalized activity challenges as well that kids get to hear like “jump like a Kangaroo” or “pop like popcorn” and perform those activities for 10 seconds where they ultimately end up earning points.
The rechargeable battery plugs right into the computer or any USB port with the help of the cord provided. It has parental controls too because if the kid wants to wear this all day, you can shut it off during school time. Like a lot of the LeapFrog things, you can connect it to LeapFrog Connect and you can track what your kids are doing and you can stay in control. Overall it gives you something to interact with your child about which is really kind of fun.
This kid’s tracker is water resistant and it has a strong build as it stands up to a lot of banging and smashing around. LeapFrog also has a downloadable free companion app for both iOS and Android that lets your kids access more games. In addition kids will also be able to get fit facts and being able to make healthy choices around food and activity. Kids can also bring in their customized character into that app and play mini-games and earn more rewards including more accessories and jewels for your pet. Jewels help you level up and unlock even more games. So there is a lot of incentive to want to play these activities because you are earning jewels.
LeapFrog comes in the standard green color and you also have a blue and a pink.
Garmin Vivofit Junior
Garmin Vivofit Junior is the kid’s version of the popular Garmin Vivofit fitness tracker. It is primarily geared towards 4 to 9 year olds and comes with a black/camel band or a purple/floral band. The interface is customizable and it also acts as a working watch along with the calendar functionality built-in. The kids can see their activity level and as a parent you can remind them about their chores throughout the day. Vivofit Junior does all the nagging for you and also rewarding them when they complete their chores. This way it teaches kids about their responsibility, teaches them about their fitness and activity levels and as a parent you can monitor their sleep as well.
Some of the kids activities that you can track are brushing teeth, sharing toys, finishing eating, reading a move bar, lessons or practice, screen time, etc. As a parent you will need to download the free app onto your tablet or phone (Android or iOS) and customize the chores. Once a task is completed your kids win coin rewards for every chore and you can customize what reward that is going to be e.g. a new toy or a pizza night.
Vivofit Junior helps you to be able to accurately track all the tasks and it also reminds your kids throughout the day what those tasks are. The goal for most 4 to 9 year olds is that we want to see them getting at least 60 minutes of activity every single day. The activities include walking, swimming, jumping, running or any activity which involves movement. Garmin can track all these activities using a move bar and encourage them to stay fit and develop healthy habits.
This kid’s activity monitor comes with a watch battery which lasts a year or more without charging. It is also water resistant up to 160 feet so kids can swim with this or take it in the shower.
iBitz Kids Activity Tracker
iBitz by GeoPalz is a lightweight wireless hi-tech pedometer for kids. It weighs less than an ounce and it has an accelerometer that tracks steps on a tri-axis basis. Kids wear the product using the clip that clicks very securely on the hip or shoe and it syncs wirelessly to iOS devices. It’s a great way of integrating the gaming technology with the physical fitness world.
The kids get to download a personal robot called a GeoBotz virtual pet. It’s like a Tamigotchi character that they get to keep alive based on how many steps they’ve taken. They can feed it, they can water it, and they can give it too much food or pizza and the character gets kind of lethargic, gets a little tired. And then the steps actually power him back up. Kids are encouraged to make healthy food choices like fruits and vegetables over pizza and cookies. They will also stay active longer as each step you take has the power to earn points and further unlock over 50 games on the iTunes app store.
The parents however have an aggregate view as their app syncs to all the devices in the family using Bluetooth on iPhone or iPad. They can track individual steps for the child, how many steps per minute they’ve actually been taking, whether they’ve been running or just walking. It’s a great way for the parents to actually motivate the kids to be physically active at the same time. They can send messages that the Geobot actually tells the child like, “hey, I see you’ve been sitting on the couch for the past two hours, why don’t we go outside and play!”
The tracker is extremely durable and water resistant. There is no display on this device and it has a light that glows when you sync the device. You can go out in the rain or puddles but you cannot swim with it. The iBitz has six months of battery life. The tracker comes in different colors and styles. It is suitable for both adults and kids aged 5 and above and we think it’s a great family activity tool.
Pard kid’s activity smartwatch
If you want to monitor your child’s heart rate continuously, then Pard kid’s wearable activity tracker is a good choice. It has a built-in pedometer with goal setting and can also track swimming activities as it is waterproof. The tracker has a touch button to navigate around various screens and can track steps, distance, calories burned, heart rate and sleep. Additionally, it also has many smartwatch features such as vibration alert for calls, sms and push notifications for various social media apps such as Twitter and Facebook.
The tracker has an alarm function and displays time / date on its OLED display using your smartphone. It reminds you to move about through inactivity alerts and can wirelessly sync data using Bluetooth to various Android and iOS devices. The battery life is around 5 to 7 days with a charge time of around two hours.
