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Best headphones for kids in 2024
Looking for kid headphones? These picks provide essential features parents value, like volume limits, durability, and comfort
Finding the best headphones for kids is no small task. Truth be told, there's an abundance of sub-par gear out there marketed to children. While a lot of top brands are constantly improving their headphone tech, you don't always see the same innovation applied to kid-friendly options. But parents aren't picky, right?
Nickelodeon puts out quite a few games, some paid, some free, but almost all tie into some intellectual property they own. This time is no different. Llama Llama Spit Spit is a tie-in game for Nickelodeon's show Game Shakers. Touted as a sitcom, Game Shakers looks to be about kids who start a gaming studio with some rapper. A completely normal premise to be sure. Luckily, Game Shakers is neither here nor there, as the show does not really matter in the scope of this game whatsoever.
The Play Store has a crap-ton of content, much of which you might not want your kids to access. Google is aware of this, and at I/O 2015 the company has announced a new set of tools specifically designed to help parents find age-appropriate content, plus a few extras to help kids engage with the content itself. It's all being introduced to the Play Store under the "Family Star" label and logo.
Toddlers deserve teardowns too! Ok, maybe teardowns are still for grownups, but let's do something for those little ones that haven't learned to read xml yet. The YouTube Kids app has only been available since late February, so it's fair to expect a lot of changes and new features in each release. Last week's update brought immersive mode and better voice search, but a look inside revealed that there are some extra toys in the future. To begin with, it looks like Chromecast support is right around the corner. However, the really cool addition appears to be a built-in recording mode to capture your little one singing along to The Wheels On The Bus.
Google plans to roll out a new Google Play program that places an emphasis on family-focused (i.e. kid-friendly) apps and games. This initiative will display pre-approved content under an experience the company is calling "Designed for Families." The goal is to point parents in the direction of software from the likes of Crayola and PBS Kids without exposing them to the flood of less age-appropriate content on display in the Play Store.
It's pretty impressive how quickly LEGO has transitioned from a conventional toy (sorry, versatile interlocking brick system) manufacturer into a media powerhouse, with entries touching every part of pop culture. Their latest game for Android is actually a port of an existing browser game, made using the ubiquitous Unity engine. LEGO Creator Islands lets players log into their LEGO ID account to continue play across the web and Android platforms, or just go it alone on mobile.
Tynker made waves back in March when the developers released the teaching app on the iPad. It introduces children (or anyone, I suppose) to the basic principles of coding and programming. Tynker was available on the web before that, teaching extremely basic programming with a puzzle-style visual interface and pre-made tools. The Android app is only available on tablets, which makes sense given the format, and it costs $4.99 with no in-app purchases.
If you've been on the Internet for the last month, you've probably heard of LeVar Burton's Reading Rainbow Kickstarter campaign, which appealed directly to parents to bring the beloved reading-focused kid's program to the web. The campaign has just under six hours left, and at $5.1 million pledged, Burton & co. now have the resources available to meet their goal of bringing the upcoming experience to Android, as well as game consoles and set-top boxes.
For the uninitiated, Skylanders is a series of kid's video games that use collectible (read: expensive) real-world toys to unlock and enhance the power of the digital characters. The games have been smash hits on consoles, but so far Activision's only concession to the Play Store has been Cloud Patrol, a basic turret shooter that leaves a lot to be desired. The new Skylanders Battlegrounds, a more conventional action-RPG, should make much better use of the property.
When I was a kid, "robot" meant something that you had to wind up (or if you were rich, something you plugged into your Nintendo Entertainment System). Startup company Play-I wants to change that with Bo and Yana, a pair of toy robots that use a tablet or smartphone as both a controller and a programming tool. The company's crowdfunding campaign started yesterday and has already hit almost 80% of its quarter-million dollar goal.
Kids these days have it so easy. When I was a rugrat me and my sister shared a 100Mhz Windows 95 machine that Dad scrounged out of spare parts, and we were happy to have it. If you feel like irresponsibly trusting your child with an expensive electronic gadget of their very own, Samsung is happy to oblige with the Kids edition of the 7-inch Galaxy Tab 3. This ruggedized tablet with kid-specific software goes on sale on November 10th at the usual retailers, plus Toys 'R' Us, for $229.99.
Welcome to the latest entry in our Bonus Round series, wherein we tell you all about the new Android games of the day that we couldn't get to during our regular news rounds. Consider this a quick update for the dedicated gamers who can't wait for our bi-weekly roundups, and don't want to wade through a whole day's worth of news just to get their pixelated fix. Today we've got a high-end tower defense title, a throwback to old handheld LCD games, and a sickeningly cute puzzler. Without further ado:
We like to feature at least one or two kid-friendly games in our biweekly roundups, but this one looks so good that we had to give it its own post. LEGO DUPLO is the famous company's line of brick sets for kids age 5 and under, with easy formations, bright colors, and big, swallow-proof pieces. The Android DUPLO game focuses on the branded train sets.
This may shock some of you, but there's a surprisingly small amount of overlap between tech bloggers and fantasy sports players. (Careful, gentle readers - you don't want to become over-gasped.) So it was with some confusion that I found a new official NFL fantasy football app, when there are already two published in the Play Store. The latest, NFLRUSH, is something of a toned-down, kid-friendly version of fantasy: instead of carefully picking your team at the beginning of the season and trading with your league-mates each week, NFLRUSH allows kids to pick a fresh roster after every game.
[New Game] Kingdoms & Lords Arrives On Android, Is Half-Sim, Half-Strategy, All Medieval Action
Apparently simventure is quickly becoming its own genre. Today's latest entry into this crossover category is Kingdoms & Lords from Gameloft, which
Apparently simventure is quickly becoming its own genre. Today's latest entry into this crossover category is Kingdoms & Lords from Gameloft, which has finally hit release after being announced back in June. Part of the game will take place in a simulated kingdom (spoilers, I know). You'll spend your time managing your economy "on a daily basis", as the description on the Play Store is quick to point out. Hopefully this won't be the Farmville-ian style where, if you cease to play for a few hours, your kingdom dies. After all, plants may need watering, but these peasants ought to be able to fend for themselves.