Delay That First Smart Phone Purchase With The Garmin Bounce Smartwatch For Kids!
These days it seems that kids get cell phones younger and younger. This might age me a bit, but I didn’t get my first real cell phone until I was 18. This cell phone was purchased and paid for monthly by myself after getting a job. And it wasn’t a smartphone, it was a razor flip phone.
My son is nine years old and has been asking for an iPhone for about a year now, which is definitely not happening. There are days when he’s playing at his friend’s house or playing outside and I need to get in touch with him.
Sometimes I think that it would be nice to be able to call or text him, so the phone for him would really be for my benefit. I have been seeing that Smartwatches are becoming more popular and seem like a much more age-appropriate device for younger kids.
After researching, I found that the Garmin Bounce Smartwatch For Kids seemed like a great option for us!
The Garmin Bounce Smartwatch For Kids is the perfect way to communicate with your kids and keep tabs on them. But that’s not all, this watch is durable, has a colorful display, is swim-friendly, and the battery life can last up to 2 days.
No need to change phone providers either, Garmin manages your LTE subscription. The Garmin Bounce allows you and your child to text and send 2-way voice messages to each other. You can also keep a real-time location of them, remind them to check in with you, and set location boundaries.
This smartwatch also allows kids to keep track of their activity, steps, and chores, and to check the weather. The features list is amazing and has everything you would look for in a smartwatch.
About Garmin
Garmin makes products that are engineered on the inside for life on the outside. They do this so their customers can make the most of the time they spend pursuing their passions.
Features (Hold on tight, there’s a lot!)
LTE CONNECTIVITY
Delay that first smartphone purchase with LTE connectivity on your kiddo’s wrist, which lets you easily communicate with and locate your child. No need to switch phone providers. Garmin manages your Bounce smartwatch subscription. Choose the plan that’s right for you.
REAL-TIME LOCATION TRACKING
See your child’s whereabouts through the Garmin Jr. app, and receive notifications when they enter or leave a parent-defined area.
TEXT MESSAGING
You can use the Garmin Jr. app to send text messages to your child’s Bounce with an active subscription. Kids can respond with customizable preset messages, emojis or sound emojis to parent-approved contacts and in family group messages.
TWO-WAY VOICE MESSAGING
Use the Garmin Jr. app to send voice messages to your child’s Bounce1 and receive voice messages in response.
CHECK-IN REMINDERS
Your child can “check-in” at their location, which sends a notification to the Garmin Jr. app. You can also send a notification to them, reminding them when it’s time to check-in.
ASSISTANCE
If your child needs help, rest assured that family contacts will be sent a message with a LiveTrack link to your child’s live location if the Assistance feature is activated.
MANAGE UP TO 20 CONTACTS
Use the Garmin Jr. app to assign parents or guardians with full permission to contact, locate or manage your child’s Bounce. An assigned caregiver can send voice or text messages and see the location from their Garmin Jr. app. Assigned friends can send voice or text messages from their own Bounce smartwatches to your kid’s Bounce.
TRACK SPORTS AND ACTIVITIES
Preloaded sports apps use built-in GPS to let your child track run, walk and bike activities. They can also record laps while swimming or can log other activities.
COLOR DISPLAY
Even on bright, sunny days, kids will be able to see everything on the color display. And you can help them customize it with fun watch faces.
KID-FRIENDLY WEATHER
Kid-friendly weather updates with basic forecasts and “feels-like” temperature1 help guide kids to wear weather-appropriate attire.
NO DISRUPTIONS
Use the Garmin Jr. app to turn on school mode or do-not-disturb to keep your child’s Bounce from distracting them during school hours or at night.
STOPWATCH AND ALARMS
Your kid can use a stopwatch right on their wrist or set alarms and timers to help remind them when it’s time to do homework or when piano practice time is up.
PLAY FUN GAMES
Your child’s Bounce smartwatch also has fun games during parent-approved times. They’ll get a kick out of the puzzle slider and math flash games, but they’ll love showing you up during Toe-to-Toe™ timed step challenges.
ACTIVITY UNLOCKS ADVENTURE
With you as their travel buddy, your child will unfold educational adventures, learn about famous sites and uncover mysteries as they explore everywhere from ancient Greece to Mount Everest using the Garmin Jr. app.
QUIZZES AND GAMES
Not only does 60 minutes of daily activity unlock adventure, the more active minutes kids log, the more chances they’ll get to take pop quizzes, learn fitness moves and play tap challenges and matching games in the Garmin Jr. app.
COLLECTIBLE GEMS
Meeting their daily activity goals also rewards your kid with colorful gems. They can use gems to reveal pictures in a scrapbook that features memories of all their adventures.
FITNESS CARDS
With coaching from their travel companions, your kid will learn basic exercise moves from fitness training cards, including jumping jacks, downward dog, mountain climbers and more.
MONITOR ACTIVITY
Parents can view activity, responsibilities, sleep, chore data and more in the Garmin Jr. app.
CHORES AND REWARDS
Assign tasks and chores from the Garmin Jr. app, and designate a reward virtual coin value. Kids can check off finished chores on their Bounce smartwatches. And the in-app coins they earn can be redeemed by your kiddos for agreed-upon rewards.
FRIENDLY REMINDERS
When you assign chores and schedule alerts, your kid’s smartwatch will let them know with an icon that shows what needs to be done. These can be set up to recur weekly or even daily.
STEP CHALLENGES
With Toe-to-Toe step challenges, kids can sync with nearby friends’ Bounce smartwatches to compete in timed step competitions. Parents can get in on the fun, with the Toe-to-Toe app downloaded on their compatible Garmin wearable.
STAY ACTIVE TOGETHER
Link up with your kid’s friends and connect with other families in the Garmin Jr. app. Interact with them, and compete in multifamily weekly step challenges.
KID MODE
Enable Kid Mode in the Garmin Jr. app to give your kid limited access to monitor and check off their own chores and to view the latest mission in their app adventure.
My Thoughts:
The Garmin Bounce Smartwatch has the most amazing features in a kid’s smartwatch. My son rides the bus and I have peace of mind knowing exactly where he is. I can see his location when coming home, and it notifies me when he arrives at school each day.
I love that I can set the watch on “school mode” so he can stay focused in school. On “school mode,” he can check the time, the weather and contact me in case of an emergency, but all other features are disabled.
Another one of my favorite features is the chores list. I have set chores that I would like him to complete such as feeding our dog, clearing the table, and simple tasks like brushing his teeth. He receives virtual coins when completing these tasks and I let him decide what his rewards are when he reaches his coin goal. It’s such an amazing incentive to keep him focused each day.
My son plays outside a lot and though he’s not too far from home, I like to know where he is and be able to communicate with him. We can text or send a 2-way voice message to each other, and I can send a request for him to check in with me which sends me his location.
I can set location boundaries and it will notify me when/if he has gone outside those boundaries. Another great safety feature is being able to control his contacts. I can add family or friends that are able to text him and see his location.
The only feature I wish it had was a calling feature, but all of the other great features make up for this by far. Overall, my son and I are very happy with the Garmin Bounce Smartwatch for Kids.
Why You Need It
If you are a parent that is trying to delay the purchase of a smartphone for your children, the Garmin Bounce Smartwatch is such a great alternative. You have the peace of mind of knowing where your child is and being able to contact them at any time.
With tons of features, you didn’t even know you wanted, you will be extremely happy with your decision. Your child will feel so cool having this awesome watch and it will encourage them to stay on track with any tasks they’re given.
It’s a simple product that gives both child and parent a sense of trust and allows each to feel safe. The watch does require an LTE connectivity plan, which is managed directly through Garmin, so no need to worry about phone carriers being involved.
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