Kid-Friendly MP3 Players
by Jeremy
Thanks to the success of Apple's iPod family and other MP3 players, we're able to take our entire music collections just about anywhere we go. But what if your child isn't quite ready for an iPod? Don't worry,there are a number of kid-friendly music players on the market. In this article we take a look at three kid-friendly audio players: the PLAYSKOOL Made for Me Digital Music Player (ages birth and up), the Fisher-Price Kid Tough FP3 Player (ages 3 and up) and the SanDisk Sansa Shaker (ages eight and up). These three players can help your child, and you, enjoy the benefits of digital music. At least until they're ready for something a bit more sophisticated.
As children start listening to their own music, particularly through headphones, it's important to take steps to protect their hearing. With that in mind, we also took at look at the iHearSafe Earbuds, which feature a built-in volume limiter to ensure that music is played at safe levels.
How I Tested
Kid-friendly players call for kid's music, so I used The First Almost Real Not Live CD (Or Tape) by Arthur and Friends to create files for my test. Where possible, I used existing MP3 files from my collection, but if the player came with software, I installed it and used that to create test files using the default settings.
I listened to the test songs and any pre-installed songs to evaluate sound quality and try the basic functions of each player. Finally I turned the players over to our 17-month old daughter to see how they fared. She may not be part of the target audience for all of the players, but she's very good at "stress testing."
Note: None of the players tested supports DRM (Digital Rights Management)-protected audio files purchased from common online music stores, like iTunes or Yahoo Music.
About the Author
Jeremy is part of the SNHParents team and a frequent poster to the SNHParents Blog. A self-professed geek dad, he is interested in the way technology is impacting families and is always on the lookout for gadgets and programs that will help him spend more time with his own family. He welcomes your questions in the forum or at .