Do you have an Amazon Alexa at your house? These “smart speakers” are in 39-million homes and the newest version of the voice assistant, the Echo Dot Kids Edition, was designed to entertain and educate your little ones with music, answering questions, telling jokes and telling stories.
According to PopSugar, the new kid-friendly Alexa will even promote politeness by encouraging kiddos to say “please” and “thank you.” This version has basically the same software as other Dots, but the kid one comes in three colors - red, green, blue, and it’s got a durable case, just in case.
But possibly the greatest selling point for parents is that this device won’t let a kid shop with their voice or place phone calls outside the house. Kids might not appreciate that feature, but moms and dads will, especially any who have had to cancel a credit card order for 16 dollhouses their kid ordered by mistake.
Parents also have control over the Dot, so they can schedule when it’s locked, set daily limits, and review every single request on an “Amazon Parent Dashboard” app, so they’ll know exactly how the children are using their technology. And voice-operated technology could mean less screen time for kids, which we can all probably agree would be a good thing.