We just got our 9 year old an apple watch for her birthday. She doesn't do much on it but it's been helpful since she's able to walk to friends house and we've started letting her stay home alone a little bit. Recently, she was home alone and someone unknown knocked on the door. It was comforting for us and her to be able to call from her watch and let us know.

She asked for a gizmo, but for similar pricing, Apple seemed like a better product.

It's disabled during school and she only has contact info for parents, grandparents, and couple of friends' parents in the neighborhood for emergencies. She also likes to ask it questions.

I was against it at first but it's been a pretty good purchase so far.

My 7yo's friends who have older siblings have their hand-me-down ones now that the older siblings are getting phone (so my 7yo wants one too). I'm holding out on it; I don't know until when (if ever, based on the feedback here and the speed of changing tech, we might skip ahead to something else altogether when she's older), but I just don't see a need for it right now.

DH and I don't even have Apple Watches!

My 6 and 8 year olds have them. PP is correct that they are kind of garbage and the tracking isn’t great, but it allows them to text or call me reliably when they are ready to come home from a friend’s house and that’s what we mostly use them for. Or I call to tell them I’m heading to pick them up to go to practice, come home for dinner, that sort of thing. They like the freedom to call and see if friends are around to play, or call their grandparents to say hi. They don’t fiddle with them when playing with friends because honestly there’s not much fun stuff on there, and I have quiet hours set up so they can’t use them at school. There are a couple kind of boring games on a tiny screen they played the first few days they had them.

On the other hand, their friends with Apple Watches seem to spend more time on them. They are way better, but my kids are just too careless for me to spend the money at this point. My niece got one for her 9th birthday though, and is obsessed. Most of their friends have one of the watches at this point and they spend lots of time meeting up to play at the closest soccer field/playground/basketball court and it is much easier for parents who are at home but still logged on working.

No to an apple watch at 7. I liked ours. But, zero chance I'd let a 7 year old bike or walk around alone.

We got our now 5th grader one last year and it's perfect, especially since he's taking the bus independently to school this year. It let us track him, call and message each other, and he can call friends. It's simple enough not to be a distraction, and is letting us delay getting him a phone for several years. But I see no point for one at age 7.

We got a kids watch (Tmobile Sync) at 9. I think 8 would have been OK too. It only permits contact with a preset list of people, and no free form texting. My kid likes taking pictures with it but otherwise it's not a distraction and it's in "school mode" during school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t waste money on Gizmo. Go straight to Apple Watch.

At 7?

Yeah, because the Gizmos are garbage. They aren't that sturdy and the technology doesn't work that well. Our first gizmo shattered after my kid accidentally hit it against some playground equipment. Then we learned about Gizmo screen protectors, but they kept falling off. And we often had a hard time getting them to sync. Getting the lowest budget Apple Watch that has a cellular line isn't that much more expensive than a Gizmo and will last years longer.

Anonymous wrote:Don’t waste money on Gizmo. Go straight to Apple Watch.

At 7?

Anonymous wrote:Don’t waste money on Gizmo. Go straight to Apple Watch.

This but not until she’s wandering the neighborhood unattended. 7 is too young imo. Just got one for my 10 year old. Most of their friends got them around 9.

My DC got a gizmo at 10. They had some friend who got it around 9 but no one in our circle was getting their 7 year a phone/watch. DC got an apple watch right before 12. We really liked the Gizmo but it is designed for little kids. The main problem was it doesn't have a screen lock and we had so so many "pocket" dials.

We are considering an airtag band for our son. Also Garmin makes a watch too for gps tracking. We are also looking into Angelsense. It’s strictly gps and has no screen.

Don’t waste money on Gizmo. Go straight to Apple Watch.

Just say no

For tweens and young teens it's a great way to delay needing a phone. I don't think it makes sense for a 7 yo.

For tweens and teens, who are more independent and stay home alone, they do need a way to communicate with parents and call 911. A watch is a minimal screen option.

My DD is 7 and wants a Gizmo watch. I see the appeal of the device, especially if they are biking around the neighborhood or going to places without parents, but it feels like a gateway to a phone. I have also had her friends over for playdates who have them and they spend the entire time fiddling with the device - it is a huge distraction.

Any thoughts on these?