Best Fitness Trackers for Kids Worth a Great Deal of your Money

Fitness trackers for kids make it possible for parents to monitor the kind of physical activity that their children are getting. For you to find the best fitness tracker for your child, you need to ask yourself a few questions. Start by considering what your child will find valuable in that tracker.

As a parent, you will need to be on the lookout for a fitness tracker that can easily be customized, one that comes in your child’s favorite color, and one that will fit comfortably in their wrist. This is the only way to guarantee that your child will stick to wearing this activity tracker.

A good tracker is one that can act as an educational device, GPS tracking system, and at the same time be able to function as a watch.

As is the case with all the other purchases you make for your child, or for your family, you need to compare a few devices before settling on one that you think will be the best.

Personal references can also come in handy, as they will help you narrow down on the available choices.

Best Fitness tracker for Kids

Before getting to the features to look for when shopping for a fitness tracker for your kid, let’s now look at some of the most popular trackers in the market.

They include:

Fitbit Zip

Fitbit Zip wireless activity tracker comes highly recommended for parents looking to buy fitness trackers for their children.

The devices are simple to use, and the child can take it anywhere they want to go. It is a simple machine that comes with very many useful features. It has been designed to make life simpler.

Core Features

• Comes with dive display screens, all of which can easily be accessed at the tap of a button
• From the screens, you can find information such as: total number of steps taken, distance covered, total number of calories burned, a clock, and smiley face that changes emotion depending on how the child has performed.
• You can make a comparison of the number of calories burned in a day based on how the child performed on other days of the week.
• Data can be manually entered, in the event that the child was not wearing the device at a certain time.
• The app is able to calculate the total number of calories that the child needs to burn. This will include the total amount of activity that must be performed for this to be achieved.

Pros

• It is easy to conceal it. If the child does not want to be seen wearing it, they can easily attach it to one of their pockets and go about their day-to-day activities with none being the wise.
• It enables the child to set their personal goals. They are, therefore, motivated to work harder.

Cons

• At times it takes too long for the data to be synced with your mobile phone

Garmin

Are you looking for a qualitative wearable device for your child? If so, consider purchasing the Garmin Vivo Fitness activity tracker for kids. The tracker has been designed for use around the clock.

Core features

• It comes with a move bar, which will provide you with a warning if the child has not moved for more than sixty minutes. It helps motivate the child to keep moving.
• The child can come up with a customized goal based on their proficiency and past performance.
• It steadily increased the child’s goals based on how they are performing. The goals are reset each morning, meaning that the child has something to look towards achieving each day.
• It monitors the quality of sleep being achieved by the child
• It comes with a battery that can last for one-year without being charged. Excessive use is, therefore, not an issue.

pros

• It comes with a software that is extremely fast. It makes it easy to adjust settings and check the activity logs without any lag time being experienced.
• The wristband can easily be adjusted.

Cons

• The wearable gadget will feel a bit robust when worn by the child around their wrists.

Unicef kid’s fitness tracker

It is considered by many to be the best device for active children. It is a device that has been able to transform the lives of children around the world by challenging them to become more active. The device is able to benefit their quality of sleep, mood, and health levels. The child is assured of waking up to a new adventure each morning.

Core features

• It comes with many kid friendly features: it is waterproof, and you can be able to access all its services at the tap of a button.
• Literally unbreakable even when smashed against hard surfaces which makes it the best device a parent can get for their child.
• You can sync it with your computer or mobile phone to track how your child is performing

Pros

• Comes with a super cool design making it a child’s must-have.
• It has been made from sustainable, and durable material, which makes it ideal for use in different environments
• Its fabric is flexible, and will feel soft around the child’s wrist.

Cons

• Its control button is a bit big, and this can be tempting for a child to start playing with it.

Leapfrog LeapBand

Intended for ages 4 to 7, there are three colors to choose from: Green, blue and pink

This waterproof tracker, Green, pink blue in color, is best for kids aged between 4 and 7.

Kids can pick one of eight different pets – from unicorns to frogs – and have to do activity challenges to earn points and play games with them. It comes with up to 50 challenges. And the points can be used to nurture whichever pet they have chosen.

There is and additional feature named Pet Chef, which lets kids use their pets to collect food and learn nutritional fun facts along the way.

Fitbit Ace 2

Ace 2 is designed for kids above 6 years. To serve this purpose it comes with a more rugged design than the first generation. It looks more of a smartwatch than a fitness tracker.

It tracks all-day steps and active minutes, sleep, there’s a 1-hour active minutes goal (as per WHO recommendations)

Pros:

• Water Resistance (5 ATM)
• The best Fitbit for younger kids
• Can take a beating
• Large display
• Family accounts in app
• Virtual badges

Cons:

• Poor Battery life- Cannot last more than 5 days
• Limited Features -Only tracks fitness (no games like Vivofit Jr 2)

 KidFit

KidFit by X-Doria is a low-budget activity and sleep tracker for children aged between 5 and 13. It comes in 4 colours – blue, pink, black and yellow with a silicone exchangeable wristband.

Instead of counting steps or calories, a daily activity target is personalized for each kid and scored out of an easy to understand 100 points scale. Parents are encouraged to set goals using the iOS or Android app, which connects to a smartphone or tablet using low-power Bluetooth and provides feedback on a child’s progress.

Pros:

• Affordable
• Simple kid-friendly design,
• Customized daily target
• Snap bracelet for tight fitting
• Good battery life of up to 7 days – it can then be recharged via USB.

Cons: LED indicator (no proper screen), only splash proof, relies on other devices for goal setting.

 Sqord Activity Tracker

Sqord is an activity tracker that aims 8-14-year-olds. It does not only count steps but also motivates active play by awarding points for everyday healthy activities.

This wearable gadget tracks all sorts of movement and converts it all into virtual rewards inside the cleverly designed smartphone app. It lets your kids participate in a weekly leaderboard and in head-to-head challenges with friends. Parents can set goals and create their own, unique awards.

Pros

• Virtual rewards system that motivates play through fun game app
• Water resistant
• Durable
• Long-lasting battery (9 months)

Cons:

Based on Reviews from verified buyers, the app is not straightforward.

iBitz Kids Activity Tracker

It is designed for kids above four years of age and available in 7 kid-friendly colors. The tracker stores 30 days of activity, has a LED light on the device which blinks when syncing, and includes an additional battery.

Parents can set goals, and add in their own real-world rewards. They can also customize things such as screen time and custom adventures. The parent sets up a parent password to access this area.

Pros:

• Low-Cost
• Simple and easy to use design
• Water-resistant
• Durable clip for hip and shoe.

Cons: LED light – game interaction happens on the mobile device

VTech Kidizoom DX2

Kidzoom DX2 is basically a smartwatch for kids ages 4 to 12 that also functions as pedometer and smartphone. It is best for parents looking for wearables that integrate fitness trackers

Pros: Integrates smartwatch functions, camera for videos and pics, assortment of games, great design, price

Cons: May not suit those just looking for a fitness tracker, only splash proof

Kid Power Band

Best for kids above six years of age, this gadget is mainly created to link up wearable technology with social good. It is a product launched by Target and UNICEF.

It encourages kids to become more active while at the same time helping to feed undernourished children around the world. The device works like any standard pedometer to record activity.

Pros:

Budget Friendly

• Helps a worthy cause
• Simple design and functionality
• water-proof

Cons: Battery needs to be charged every 5 days, no fitness gamification functions

Nabi Compete

It works much like a traditional fitness tracker and uses a battery that lasts three months between changes. It comes in the box with two identical bands, which communicate to a smartphone app to report on activity.

With in-built contests and collaborative tasks, this wearable measures food burn and challenges kids to walk, jump, or run.

Pros:

• Inbuilt Head to head contests
• 3-month battery life on a single charge
• Rewards system
• Virtual pets keep kids engaged

Cons:

• Users have reported sync issues
• Mixed reviews on Amazon

Benefits of Activity Trackers for Kids?

Given that there are so many devices in the market to choose from, it can be a bit difficult for you to settle on a single device. This is why this buying guide has been prepared—to help you overcome such challenges. But first, let’s look at why you need to buy your child a fitness tracker.

Tracking and logging the performance of your child

Looking for a fitness tracker for your child? If so, you are likely to enjoy being in a position to log details of each workout session undertaken by your child. One thing you should note is each tracker comes with a unique degree of accuracy.

Additionally, there are certain workouts that may prove a bit harder to log accurately, e.g., swimming aerobic workouts. It is much easier for you to track running and walking activities as opposed to swimming activities.

The good news, however, is that for the activities that you can be able to track, you will find that all these details will be stored in a central location. This means that you can easily log into your computer or smartphone and checkout what your child has been up to the whole day.

Some of the fitness performance details that are easily monitored by the fitness tracker for kids include:

• Average heart rate maintained for each workout
• Distance by the child
• Time taken to cover this distance
• Pace that your child was able to maintain throughout that exercise

Your child will find these performance logs to be a great motivator for the goals that they have set for themselves. This is mainly because they are able to track all their progress in real-time.

Heart rate monitoring

For your child to be able to achieve their fitness and health-related goals, they need to be able to maintain the right heart rate during these workout sessions.

Failure to work hard means that the child will not be able to record any progress in the coming months. On the other hand, working extra hard could cause the body to undergo permanent damage, or it may be stressed too much.

A few years ago, one required to have access to expensive and complicated machinery for them to be able to track their heart rates, as well as those of their loved ones. In many cases, one needed to have access to a gym to be able to do so.

But thanks to technological advancements, all you need to-do to track your child’s heart rate is to fit a fitness tracker into their wrist, and press a single button.

With this being said, it is essential that you read the reviews provided by different manufacturers pertaining to their gadgets. Each model will provide you with a varying accuracy degree in terms of monitoring your heart rate.

But all in all, many are able to perform an excellent job in terms of providing you with basic information pertaining to the child’s heart rate.

You can, thus, use this information to come up with workouts that are more productive for them.

Ability to track the calories burnt by the child

Is your child interested in losing weight? If your child wants to become fit and do away with all the extra weight, then they need to be able to track the total number of calories that they get to shed in each workout session.

Today, you will notice that many trackers come with access to software or applications that enable you to input food logs. Logging the calories will provide both you and the child with a detailed log of how much weight has been lost. You also get the opportunity to make adjustments to the calories being consumed by the child.

Distance traveled and steps taken

For children that have been inactive in the past, they can start their new fitness regimens by coming up with a single goal pertaining the number of steps that they will need to take each day. Currently, almost all fitness trackers are able to automatically assess the total number of steps that have been taken on a single day.

You could use this option to track the steps taken by your child, and determine whether they are accomplishing their goals or not. In addition, you could use the included feature apps to pull in other family members. This will help you all remain motivated while working out.

Tracking sleep and rest patterns

If your child is to achieve optimal fitness goals, they need to be able to track their wellness goals. It is something that is not possible when a child is not getting enough sleep.

This is because their workouts are likely to be impacted negatively as they will find it harder for them to move their bodies. Quality sleep is required as it provides the body with enough time for it to repair the damage that it underwent when the child was working out.

The total length of time that a child gets to sleep gets to impact their overall progress. The good news is that many popular trackers are today able to monitor the child’s sleeping cycle.

When the child wears the device at night before falling asleep, they get to wake up in the morning to a detailed chart displaying the length of time that they were asleep, and the overall quality of the sleep that they received.

Monitoring the body’s hydration levels

Hydration is an essential part of the body’s well-being. Traditionally, it is not possible for one to consume as much water as is recommended.

However, maintaining the right hydration levels helps in ensuring that the body will be in a position to perform well when working out.

It also protects the immune system as you start pushing yourself beyond your normal comfort zone. Tracking the water consumptions levels of your child makes it easier to know how much water the child’s needs to take to remain healthy.

Considerations when buying

Having gained some knowledge on why your child needs a fitness tracker, it is time to look at some of the features that you should look for in aa tracker.

What goals does your child want to achieve?

You need to know the goals that your child hopes to achieve before you can go out and get them a fitness tracker.

If all they need to do is become a little bit more active, all you will need to do is get them a basic tracker. This is a tracker that will track all the steps taken by the child. But if the child’s hope is to become an athlete, you may need to look at a tracker that has more noteworthy features.

Which activities do you want tracked?

Here, you will need to look at the kind of activities that the kid will be taking on. As mentioned earlier, it is a bit hard to track swimming activities. But this does not apply for all gadgets as some are very good at this role.

If the child will be taking part in water-related sports, then aim to get them a device that is waterproof.

What kind of toughness should the tracker have?

Depending on how old your child is, you may need to consider getting them something that can withstand wear and tear, being dropped on all kinds of surfaces, and one that can withstand all weather conditions. Consider the kind of wristband that comes with the gadget.

A good device needs to have a wristband that is durable, and one that can easily be worn or taken off.

Does the tracker have any gaming elements?

Fitness trackers for kids have been known to come with certain gaming elements to help keep the children motivated. You can expect to find mini-games, animated pets, and cute graphics.

With all these, the child will not need to be pushed to work out as they will do it without your pushing. Some trackers come with family chores and challenges already set up. All a child has to do is choose the one they want to participate in, and once done, they will be provided with a reward.

Therefore, if you believe that the child will find it fun combining their exercises with such games, be sure to find them a tracker that is filled with such extra’s.

How does it look?

All kids want to own something that they will like. If they like how their fitness tracker looks like, the more often they will want to use it, as well as show it off. Luckily for you, you have a number of kid friendly trackers to choose from. You also get to work with numerous customization options.