Apple Watch for your children

Kids are being exposed to technology more and more, and at a young age too. But what about smart watches? Should my kid wear an Apple Watch? Can it be beneficial, or should I stay away from this?

At what age can my child wear an Apple Watch

The Apple Watch is a smart watch that’s truly designed for adults. It’s not particularly suited for children, and simply not designed for young kids. Apple itself claims that the Apple Watch is for ages 5 and up, but this is highly questionable advice.

The Apple Watch is an advanced smart watch with lots of features and options. Therefore, we can not recommend the Apple Watch for children aged 9 or younger.

• Apple Watch recommended age: 10 years old and up

There are certainly advantages to your kid having an Apple Watch, both for them and for you. For younger children, there may be more suitable smart watches available than the Apple Watch.

To keep in mind

Firstly, Apple Watches are an expensive piece of kit. And they’re not the most durable either. If your child is maybe a bit clumsy or careless, it could be a costly affair to repair or even replace the Apple Watch on a regular basis.

You also often don’t need the latest and newest Apple Watch to have most of the functions you’ll need. There’s also the Apple Watch SE which is a more budget friendly Apple Watch version that still has plenty of features.

How to make your kid wear their Apple Watch

One of the main things that will encourage your kid to wear their Apple Watch every day, is to make it match their personal style. Kids are notoriously picky when it comes to this. If it does not look and feel like something they’d want to wear, they simply won’t. 

It’s highly recommended you pick out an Apple Watch strap together with your child to ensure they like the look of their Apple Watch. Silicone or nylon are great, durable options. They’re the most comfortable and come in lots of colours and prints. 

Benefits of an Apple Watch for children

So what are the benefits of getting a smart watch for your kid? And can it help your parenting as well? Here’s some of the things that will be beneficial:

Encourage healthy habits

Of course the main draw to the Apple Watch is keeping track of your activity, both daily and during sports. If your child is an avid athlete, an Apple Watch can really help keep track of their activities. But even on a daily basis the Apple Watch can help with steps taken, heart rate monitor, sleep monitor, and calories taken.

So you don’t have to lead an active lifestyle in order to get health benefits from wearing an Apple Watch. But certainly, the most health tracking will happen during sports and activities. And of course an Apple Watch can encourage your child to start doing more sports or activities as well.

Sleep monitor

Children really need their sleep. It’s vital to get enough sleep in order to stay healthy. The Apple Watch has an inbuilt sleep monitor that will keep track of time slept, sleep cycles, and activity during sleep. This can help give a clear image of what happens when your child is asleep.

The sleep monitor on the Apple Watch can help you identify sleep issues and make improvements where necessary. It can’t be understated how helpful the sleep monitor can be for children who are not getting a healthy amount of sleep at night. 

Safety

The safety that an Apple Watch provides can be a game changer for us parents. The inbuilt GPS sensor for example, allows you to keep track of where your children are. They don’t need to carry a smartphone for this. It could help your kids be more independent without the added risk.

The Apple Watch can also be used for phone calls in emergencies. If you don’t want to give your child a smartphone, the Apple Watch could give you peace of mind that they can still reach emergency services when in need of help.

In summary

The Apple Watch can be of great benefit to the health of your child. There’s also benefits for the parents, of course. Such as an inbuilt GPS and SOS function. Make sure to pick out a new Apple Watch strap with your child when you are buying an Apple Watch.