Every parent wants their kid to be as healthy and active as possible. With the rising rates of childhood obesity and lifestyle diseases, the wearable tech industry is sitting up, and we are starting to see an emergence of devices and gadgets to stimulate kid’s minds and get their bodies moving.
LeapBand
Leapband is a cute fitness tracker for kids with a screen that displays cartoon animals to encourage play. It looks like a large children’s watch and talks to the child through a built-in speaker, with the intention of keeping them moving.
Using elements of gamification, the band’s screen displays a personalized virtual pet (a cat, dog, dragon, monkey, panda, penguin, robot or unicorn), which guides the child through a series of activity challenges and games. The more active they are the more points they win and the more games they unlock. The product is aimed at four to seven year olds the Leap-band comes in green, pink, blue and orange. Get yours from the Cenhealth shop
Sqord
An activity tracker which allows kids to gain points for being active; every run, leap and jump clocks points. The more active they are, the more points they earn, which keeps spurring them on.
To capitalise on competitiveness, children can play against other Sqord users. Users can chart all the activity points they earn, so they can see when they are moving. The Sqord for Groups feature allows them to use Sqord with others, in a class, team, and clubs, and introduces a social networking element and they can tag what they were doing when they earned points.
Safety trackers
The fear of child abductions and kidnapping mean that parents welcome the ability to track their child’s whereabouts at any time. Various makers of GPS watches have come on to the scene, including hereO, Filip and Lok8u.
Aimed at kids, these watches come in bright colours and sturdy materials such as rubber. Parents can create “safe zones,” such as school and home, and receive a text message when the child enters or leave the area.
Some of the watches have features of mobile phones, such as the ability to send and receive test messages. These devices work best for kids under the age of 12, who don’t mind their parents knowing where they are at every moment.
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