The best children’s smartwatch to encourage kids to stay active

Are you searching for a smartwatch for your young child? This is the perfect first smartwatch as an introduction to the world of tech. With many incorporated educational features and of course, fitness tracking which allows for active play challenges and step tracking, it’s an ideal multi-functional watch for young kids. One customer who bought this for their child said: "Bought for a four-year-old, she loves it. She's very quickly got used to navigating the menus and watch faces. She loves taking pictures and applying the simple funny filters. She's had some fun with the built-in games, but also has time to grow into them more. Battery life is good and touchscreen is accurate and responsive."

NickWatch has all the features of a connected kids’ smartwatch: GPS tracking, two-way messaging, calling and a camera. It is also colourful and uses Nickelodeon characters and icons throughout the whole experience and in all the games in the smartwatch. Plus the watch straps are interchangeable to suit your little one's style. **One reviewer, Ceri, said: "**The concept of this watch is wonderful. It allows your child to experience some aspects of the online world whilst keeping them within safe limits! It’s super easy to receive and respond to messages on the watch meaning as parents you can text the watch and await a reply. Your child can also make phone calls from the watch but I’d like to add that these contacts need to be set up on the app or linking the watches. Again keeping it safe! There’s several other features to keep young minds busy such as design, listen to music or playing games. I love that the watch comes with two straps to enable you to switch up the look of the watch. I will say the straps took a minute to work out but once we’d worked it out it made sense. This watch is brilliant however it will not work without the subscription so you need to buy this in addition to the watch, so you need to consider whether you’ll continue the upkeep of the subscription or it’ll make the watch redundant."

From taking pictures to receiving calls, is there anything this kid's smartwatch can't do? If you're little (or big!) one needs to contact you in an emergency, they can directly click on the SOS location on the home screen. It will automatically call the first two numbers in the phonebook, which you can programme. Plus it includes 16 different games as well as music, camera, alarm clock, puzzle games, calculator and torch. One user who purchased this for their son commented: "My son is over the moon with this. He loved it so much. Very easy to set up. He's 8-years-old, and I didn't want to buy him a mobile yet, but with the homeschooling happening from time to time, I needed him to have a way to contact me easily when I need to go out for the school runs. Even when we are out and about is always peace of mind to know he has a way of contacting us or asking for help if something happens. So with all this in mind, this smartwatch is great!! Very safe for their age as there are no apps or messages, just calls to the numbers you choose. Perfect!"

How about a toy version for your baby or toddler? With two interactive buttons, colourful lights and realistic smartwatch sounds, tiny techies will love the Laugh & Learn Time to Learn Smart Watch! There are so many fun activities packed into this interactive smartwatch. From dialling up their good pal, Puppy, to rocking out to fun songs or clicking on the buttons and pressing on the side toggle. A reviewer, impressed with its sturdiness said: "The watch is nice and chunky which makes it easier for little hands to hold and is not too complex either, just the right amount of functions for babies and young toddlers to enjoy using it, the music played was catchy and the lights made it very attractive. The music is one that sticks to your head. The downside is that the strap isn't adjustable so you can't allow them to use it properly as a watch. The switch and the winder are such a bonus."

Read our full Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Time to Learn Smart Watch review here.

A great smartwatch for sport fans, it features a fitness tracker which monitors kids’ heart rate and tracks blood oxygen, as well as monitoring how long children sleep each night. For sports there are 100+ sport modes including running, riding, basketball, football, and even swimming. Your little one will then get unique awards when they reach their sport goals. The smartwatch will also remind kids to wash their hands, drink water and stand up to walk. It can also log adolescent girls’ menstrual cycles. One reviewer, Libby, said: "I had bought and returned 3 watches before trying this one. It is everything you need in a smart watch! Simple and easy to understand but also thorough and informative. Alarm, sleep tracker, step counter, everything is great and the Very Fit app is better than glory fit which most budget smart watches use. Highly recommend!!"

A great watch for kids who love water play or rainy weather! You can put the watch into 10 M deep water for up to 10 minutes. Plus it has a reassuring SOS key to call family numbers for help. With 5 learning games, a camera, calculator and stopwatch, your little one will love this watch. One reviewer who got this for their daughter said: "I didn’t want my daughter having a phone just yet at the age of 10, so this was the next best thing. She can call me when at her dads, with no internet etc for me to have to worry about. It’s a great little watch. Happy daughter and mum!"

If your little one is a fan of Star Wars, they'll love the Garmin vívofit jr.2. It features a bright orange Star Wars design band and there is a corresponding mobile app that motivates kids to achieve goals that unlock adventure, games and icons featuring Rey, Kylo Ren and other Star Wars characters. You can also set reminders for tasks such as homework and brushing their teeth. One customer said: "Bought for my 8 year old at Christmas. He loves it, and it does more than I thought it would. Great for seeing how active he's been each day and how much sleep he's had. I can set chores and give reward coins and he saves them up for a treat. Each 60mins activity gets a move on the game on the app too."

The ideal smartwatch for any PokéMasters in the making. It comes with an alarm clock, a camera and a voice recorder. There are 10 different Pokémon-themed faces for your little one to customise their view, plus Pikachu, Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle are featured on the strap. A reviewer said: "This is a great watch. I like that it has an analogue face display to reinforce learning the time. My son likes it because it has a camera and video for recording! He loves Pokemon so anything Pokemon is always a hit. The strap is soft and fits well. It’s rechargeable which is better than messing around with batteries. The calculator is a useful feature too."

The myFirst Fone R2 combines the functionalities of a phone, GPS tracker, music player, camera, clock, and fitness tracker into one convenient device for your little one. Plus it has a durable design which is useful for young children. One reviewer, David, said: "This watch has numerous functions, and my child's friend has one, so I bought one for her. I may now call my child without requiring her to have a smartphone. You may also send video calls, text messages and emoji messages to the watch. That's awesome! She can also add people to her friend list."