If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED
Best Overall
Amazon Echo Dot Kids (5th Gen)
Best for Young Kids
Tonies Toniebox
Best for Older Kids
Yoto Player
Best for Toddlers
Timio
Giving a speaker to your child opens up a world of exploration through music and audiobooks. They can listen to tunes while playing, share their favorites with friends, and hold dance parties in their bedrooms. Stories and podcasts will take them to new worlds, both real and imagined. And when it’s time for bed, they can drift off to soothing sleep sounds, lullabies, or sleep stories. I’ve tried a string of different speakers with my kids over the years and found them fun, helpful, and a great way to cut down on screen time. These are our favorites.
Check out our guides to the Best Bluetooth Speakers, Best Smart Speakers, Best Kids’ Headphones, Best Wireless Headphones, and Best Headphones for $100 or Less for more.
Updated February 2023: We added the Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition (5th Gen), Timio, Voxblock, JBL Clip 4, Zenimal Kids+, a new advice section on staying safe, and updated all prices and links.
Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you’d like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.
-
Photograph: Amazon
Best Overall
Amazon Echo Dot Kids (5th Gen)
This Alexa-powered smart speaker covers all the bases, with support for music and audiobooks alongside a world of kid-friendly extras included in the free year of Amazon Kids+ (usually $3 per month). Sound quality is solid, Alexa is responsive, and you can connect your music streaming service. This Kids version comes painted as a tiger or panda, and Kids+ provides age-appropriate games, Audible books, and educational skills. The parental controls are great, and I appreciate extras, like the ability to broadcast when it’s dinnertime. You can configure everything by visiting the Amazon Parent Dashboard in your web browser or the Amazon Kids+ app (you must sign in using your Amazon account details).
There’s a physical button to turn the microphone off, but you still might be uncomfortable with the idea of letting kids loose with a smart speaker. The content filters worked just fine, but if you want to be certain your kids won’t access something you don’t approve of, you must micromanage. If you’re a Prime subscriber and your kids have Fire tablets, this speaker is easy to recommend, but you can also use it as a regular Bluetooth speaker and stream any content from your phone. Older kids will be better served by the standard fourth-generation Echo (8/10, WIRED Recommends), which offers superior sound quality and still supports parental controls.
-
Photograph: Tonies
Best for Young Kids
Tonies Toniebox
Designed for ages 3 to 7, the durable Toniebox is a squishy cube with ears that double as volume controls. It’s built to withstand tumbles, spills, and hugs, and you can leave your kids alone with it without worry. The Toniebox plays stories and songs connected to different characters or “Tonies,” triggered when your child places the relevant figurine on top of the speaker. There are many Tonies to choose from and tie-ins with familiar favorites like Paddington Bear, Disney, and Pixar movies like The Lion King and Cars, and many popular kids characters.
It is Wi-Fi–connected, with content downloaded to the speaker when a character is placed on top, but there’s no danger of your child accessing anything they shouldn’t, and there is an offline mode. You can also buy Creative Tonies to record up to 90 minutes of your own audio or have grandparents read stories to your kids. The hand-painted figurines are super cute, but they’re expensive, and you can expect tears if any go missing. Kids have the capacity to listen to the same thing over and over, and Tonies don’t offer a great deal of content. They are generally less than an hour and can be as short as 16 minutes. The lack of additional content or Bluetooth connectivity limits the appeal.
-
Photograph: Yoto
Best for Older Kids
Yoto Player
The Yoto Player (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is similar to the Toniebox, but some important differences make it more suitable for older kids (it’s aimed at ages 3 to 12). It has a cute pixelated clock display on the front, with a day or night image that tells kids at a glance whether it’s time to get up yet. Content is a bit more mixed, and kids can play different books by inserting cards into the slot on the top. There are audiobooks from popular authors like Julia Donaldson and Roald Dahl, and prices are similar to Audible. You can also buy a pack of 10 blank cards and record your own content.
What elevates the Yoto Player is the inclusion of kid-friendly radio stations and a daily podcast. There’s even a sleep mode that plays a mix of lullabies, classical music, and sleep sounds, and it’s easy enough to use that your child can switch it on themselves if they wake in the night. It does need an internet connection, though you can play any content that has been downloaded (it has 16 GB of storage) when the Yoto Player is offline. The speaker comes with a circular wireless charging base, so there’s no need to fiddle with cables. The additional Bluetooth support gives the Yoto Player a little more versatility. The newer Yoto Mini ($70) is a smaller, more portable version that offers all the same features, but we have not tried it yet.
-
Photograph: Timio
Best for Toddlers
Timio
With a lovely mix of music, stories, and sounds, all available in eight languages, this speaker successfully combines fun and education. It is durable, has its own handle, and is simple enough for toddlers to operate. Timio is for kids aged two years and up. There’s no need for a screen, app, or internet connection, as your child can play content by selecting one of the plastic discs and slotting it on top. You get five discs in the box covering classical music, farm animals, vehicles, lullabies, and bedtime stories. Each disc looks like a clock face with pictures at each hour, and kids simply press the one they want. Additional sets of discs are $22 (£15) and cover all sorts of topics, from dinosaurs to learning colors.
The speaker sounds surprisingly good, and there’s a 3.5-mm audio port for kids’ headphones. Timio is a great way to introduce your kids to other languages or for multilingual households (you can press and hold the language button to switch between English, Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Chinese, Italian, and Portuguese). There’s also a quiz mode, with prompts like find the police car, identify numbers, or select a specific shape. Timio does require three AA batteries, and when you screw open the back panel, you will also find the SD card that holds the content. We recommend rechargeable batteries, as you will change them often if Timio proves popular with your kids. Although they are large and you get a bag to keep them in, there is a risk that discs will go missing.
