Maybe your kid is a music fan, or maybe they want to listen to audiobooks or podcasts — but you’re not quite ready to give them a phone just yet. What is the best music device for kids? We’ve curated some phone-free choices, as well as a kid-friendly option you can use with a phone or tablet. Read on for our top picks.
Which specific device one is best for your child will depend on your priorities. If your child is young and you want something simple and easy for them to use independently, the Jooki or the Yoto might be the best fit. If price is a priority, then consider the budget-friendly Yoto Mini. And if you don’t want to add a new device to the mix, but want to make sure your child’s listening experience is age-appropriate, downloading Spotify Kids on a device you already own may make the most sense.
Price: $65.99 on Amazon
Best for: Older kids who can maneuver a device and want some independence.
Why it made the list: The Luoran MP3 Player is a personal favorite of the BrightCanary team. It comes with Spotify, Audible, Pandora, and Amazon music already installed. You can transfer files through both USB and WiFi, and it supports a wide range of audio formats. It’s also Bluetooth-compatible, so your kid doesn’t have to be tethered to wired headphones.
Price: Starts at $112.99 on Amazon
Best for: Younger kids, screen-free listening, durability
Why it made the list: The Jooki is super sturdy, making a great choice for young hands. It’s also easy for kids to use. Parents load playlists onto tokens, and the child simply places the token onto the device to start the playlist. One drawback is that it comes with no pre-loaded content. But the lack of a screen is a definite plus for families looking to minimize the screens in their child’s life.
Price: $119.99 (Yoto), $69.99 (Yoto Mini)
Best for: Younger kids, screen-free listening, pre-loaded content
Why it made the list: The Yoto and its smaller sibling, the Yoto Mini, are the rare digital tools that try to do a lot and actually do it well. Yoto is a music player, podcast player, mini-radio, and storybook reader all wrapped up in a rather adorable, retro-ish device. It works by inserting a small card into the top. You can purchase cards with curated kid-friendly content or buy a blank card and create your own playlist.
The larger Yoto also works as a Bluetooth speaker, and it has a night-light function and a digital clock. The smaller Yoto Mini is tiny enough to carry in your pocket. The controls can take some getting used to, but with a bit of adult help in the beginning, your little digital native will be off and running on their own in no time.
Price: $59.99 on Amazon
Best for: At-home listening, minimal set up
Why it made the list: The Echo Dot Kids is designed to work with Amazon Kids+, a subscription service with hundreds of hours of kid-friendly content. Your children can use voice commands to access ad-free radio stations, music, and hundreds of Audible books. Setup is a breeze, particularly if you already have an Alexa. Built-in parental controls mean when kids use this device to ask Alexa questions or request content, it will only provide kid-appropriate responses and filter out explicit songs. Parents can also set daily time limits and review activity in the Amazon Parent Dashboard.
Price: $119.99 on Mighty
Best for: Portability
Why it made the list: This tiny-but-mighty device is reminiscent of the iPod shuffle. It can stream music, podcasts, and audiobooks from your Spotify Premium and Amazon Music accounts and store 1000+ songs for offline listening. If your kid wants to listen while riding their bike or walking to school, this is a perfect choice, but younger kids (at least if they’re like mine!) might have a hard time keeping track of it because of its small size.
Price: $16.99 monthly subscription
Best for: Use with existing devices
Why it made the list: Sometimes, you just want to use what you already have. If your child has access to a phone or a tablet, you can equip it with Spotify Kids, an ad-free service available exclusively with a Spotify Premium Family subscription. It features kid-friendly content specifically curated for the youngest listeners. Spotify Kids features music, audiobooks, and more and allows parents to view and manage their child’s content.
The best music device for your kid depends largely on your needs and budget. Regardless of your choice, it's crucial to actively monitor the media your child engages with, both on their devices and through their online searches. Whether they inadvertently come across an inappropriate song or venture down a Google rabbit hole that begins with their favorite artist and leads to non-kid-friendly content, supervision is key. BrightCanary is a monitoring app designed to oversee your child's Google and YouTube searches, promptly alerting you to any concerning material they may encounter — so you can talk about it together.
