Friend of my 10 year old has an apple watch. I wouldn't want my kid to have one. The friend texts in class a lot according to my kid. I also don't love the idea of fitness trackers for teen girls.

We are getting my 10 yo an apple watch. I know some of you think it's too much for a 10 yo. She doesn't have a phone, but apple has this new family plan thing where the watch doesn't need a phone to work. It's meant for kids without phones and parents manage it -- you set how much access they have to call or text or use other apps.

There is also the gizmo and we looked into it. You can use it without Verizon (which we don't have) but it's more expensive for the plan per month. DH calculated that with increased monthly costs for two years, we were nearing the price of an apple watch. We're hoping that this will be a good way to keep in touch with her and that we can hold off on phones until she's 12. We also figure she'd be more willing to use the watch as she gets older as the gizmo definitely looks a little more kid-ish.

That was our thought process. Obviously you can choose differently for your 10 yo.

Just make sure to get apple care, totally worth it

OP here. Thank you for all the responses. You all are really helpful!!!! No, she doesn't have an iphone, so I guess it wouldn't work after all. Nobody in the family had the Apple watch, so wasn't that familiar.

I certainly wouldn't get a new one. I might consider a used one if I could get it for a good price.

If your 10 yo has an iPhone (which you need with the watch) then you should be communicating just fine already. As far as fitness, I do monitor my workouts, steps, etc. with my Apple Watch but that's a bonus and not the reason I wear it. If I was focused on tracking fitness, a Fitbit or Garmin are probably better options.

We had a gizmo for 3-5th and really liked it. You don't need a verizon plan and its $5 a month with a verzon plan, $15 without. I would do a handy down apple watch not new but it has to be one that has a phone in it or they need a phone too. We planned to get a phone in 6th but with school out with covid we are waiting till there is a need. But, you could also for same/less just get an older apple phone if you don't have a handy down.

Nintendo switch

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Verizon Gizmo. Don’t need to have verizon

you need Verizon if you want it to function

I didn’t have a great experience with my gizmo but we got a pretty cheap Verizon plan, so I don’t think that should hold people back.

I just Googled the Gizmo, reviews do not seem to be great

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Verizon Gizmo. Don’t need to have verizon

you need Verizon if you want it to function

I didn’t have a great experience with my gizmo but we got a pretty cheap Verizon plan, so I don’t think that should hold people back.

Anonymous wrote:Verizon Gizmo. Don’t need to have verizon

you need Verizon if you want it to function

We have our 10yo an old Apple Watch after we upgraded ours. It was much better for than gizmo because she can actually choose what she wants to text us, rather than only using emoji or pre-set messages like “I’m hungry” or “can you come pick me up.” I also wanted her to be able to text friends (and in two years of looking through her text messages I haven’t found anything objectionable).

So I don’t think it’s crazy if you can afford it, especially if you find a used one.

insane to get that for a 10 yo

Verizon Gizmo. Don’t need to have verizon

That seems wildly overkill for a 10 yr old.

Maybe a basic FitBit kind of thing like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Letsfit-Activity-Waterproof-Pedometer-Smartwatch/dp/B0856VDFNY/ref=sr_1_12_sspa?crid=130T8TK4RFNR0&dchild=1&keywords=fitbit&qid=1608663890&sprefix=fiitbit%2Cdigital-text%2C163&sr=8-12-spons&psc=1&smid=AP7ZCPRBBY481&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzMlFSNk9aQlNWUlZTJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTk5NTYwMlNPS1VNRDFQQTQyOSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMTM2NDg1MzBGQUFIM1lEOUpCViZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX210ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=


$40, hardly tragic if she loses it or it breaks.

Is that too young? Would help communicate with her for pick up/drop off? Also trying to get her into fitness. Are there better alternatives to Apple? If Apple, what is the most basic watch I can buy?