Your child’s bedroom is a safe place. It’s where they rest and dream, play and imagine. While the traditional bedroom consisting of a bed, blinds, and toys are often more than enough, there’s a way to take things just a bit further. Turn the bedroom into a smart one! Provide smart home gadgets that will enhance the quality of living for you as a parent and for your child.
How are smart gadgets good for your children? For one, you’ll never have to worry about their boredom levels. Second, they can easily adapt to tech which they think are only meant for the grownups. Third, all their nighttime worries can easily be soothed.
The great thing about smart gadgets and apps is that they’re now more accessible to parents. They’re arriving in more varieties as well, making it easier to make points of comparison. If you’re thinking of turning your kid’s bedroom into a smart hub, then you’ve come to the right place. We’ve gathered the best smart gadgets and apps that can be worth your time and money.
Sleep Trackers
You’re probably no stranger to this situation – your child wakes up from a nightmare, wakes you in your bedroom, and either sleeps beside you or asks to be accompanied back to their room. So much for that good night’s rest you were hoping for.
Luckily for you, there are sleep trackers that can help you study your child’s sleeping habits. While trackers don’t usually provide immediate soothing solutions for your child, they can give you detailed tips on how to change their habits.
Hello Sense Sleep System – Charcoal (Previous Generation – 1st)
The Hello Sense Sleep System, for example, is a great sleep tracker. If your child is hyperactive or needs more time to drift off to sleep, the system has “Sleep Sounds” that play calming ambient noises.
These sounds also mask disruptive noises throughout the night. It’s “Sleep Monitor” learns the bedroom environment so it can improve how your child sleeps, and it’s “Smart Alarm” allows them to wake up in a great mood.
For $54.99, this tracker is already a great deal.
If you’re looking for more tracker options, these gadgets are also great:
Smart Lighting
Most children are afraid of the dark. Well, the fear is not exclusive to children. Still, they aren’t always expected to deal with their fears sensibly, even more so if you have drab lighting.
What your child needs is a subtle nightlight – something that gives them a faint glimmer of brightness just as they drift off to sleep, or when they unexpectedly wake up in the middle of the night. Nightlights can easily be programmable, and you don’t need any fancy software to do so.
With just your smartphone, you can set up the timers for bedtime and wake time. If your child is a reader, they’ll know when it’s time to sleep if you’ve programmed the light to dim at an exact time.
Pop Smart Button
The Logitech Pop Smart Button is perhaps not the most smart-looking piece of smart tech in the market, but it works wonders. It’s just a square that can stick to any smooth surface, but it provides one-push control over lighting, music, and everything else that has Bluetooth connection. It only needs a POP app or a HomeKit scene to allow multiple devices to connect, and it’s most positively reviewed for setting nightlights and smart locks.
The button is retailed at $39.99. The Pop Smart Home Button Kit or the one with the Pop Add-on Smart Button are also good choices.
Aside from smart lights, this button can also be used as a remote control for Harmony and other Apple Home gadgets.
Smart Entertainment + Musical Expression
Another great benefit that your child can enjoy from smart tech is all the potential play, creative stimulation, and learning. Many gadgets and apps offer seamless leisure, and the plus side is that you don’t have to worry as much about accidents or things breaking.
If your child is the musical performer – or just the one who begs to listen to the same pop song all day – then you’ll love the Creative Halo. It’s a portable Bluetooth speaker with its own programmable lightshow. It offers an impressive 16.8 million colors – who would’ve thought there are that many – and 12 halo effect patterns. It is controlled via the Xpectra Lightshow Control app and it is perfect for young ones who love pushing buttons (it has chunky ones that are super tactile).
Creative Halo
The halo is sold at $69.99. If you have an older child, however, chances are they’ll think this gadget isn’t that cool. Don’t worry, as the Creative Muvo 2 is sure to win their favor. It’s simpler, water-resistant, and it might just respond to the classier and cooler taste that your child has.
Fire 7 Kids Edition
The Fire 7 Kids Edition , meanwhile, is a good alternative to your old iPad. It works just like the old Fire 7, but it’s now a tablet that gives a 1-year “FreeTime Unlimited” access to over 15,000 popular games, videos, apps, books, and educational content. At $99.99 plus a monthly subscription of $2.99, this gadget is worth the long-term fun/learning investment for your child.
Smart Tech for Kids: Risky or Good?
The digital world is a promising place for children. But some tech is considered by experts as “too controlling”, even when not intended to be. The main concert about smart technology and children is the eventual replacement of “imagination” as they are easily given so many gadgets to distract the mind.
Others argue that integrating classic games/learning to smart tech is the solution. This is sampled by Minecraft appealing to a child’s creator/builder instinct, and Pokémon Go appealing to the inner adventurer/collector.
Finding the right balance between supporting and overwhelming your child with technology is a constant work in progress, and we hope the info here will help you continue to enrich the lives of you and your young ones.