Every entry says what it is bad at, because a recommendation with no stated downside is an advert. Nothing here pays us, and the honest answer is usually that you do not need to buy anything. Work out what you want to do in Decisions first.
A locked-down phone, watch and home router with heavy monitoring built in, for families who want maximum control in one package.
Device plus a monthly plan
Downsides. This is surveillance, and worth naming as such. Constant monitoring buys short-term safety at the cost of trust, and a kid who knows they are watched learns to route around it rather than to self-regulate.
A tablet with a paper-like display and no colour video, aimed at reading and writing rather than watching.
Around $730
Downsides. Costs as much as a laptop and is a niche purchase. For most families a library card and a paperback do the same job for nothing.
Starter phones and a wrist device with no browser and no social media, which solves the logistics problem most families are actually trying to solve.
Device plus a monthly plan
Downsides. Requires a monthly plan. Location tracking is worth thinking about carefully, because a habit of constant visibility is hard to unwind later.
A line of mostly wooden outdoor toys designed by two Dutch fathers who thought childhood had moved indoors.
From about $10
Downsides. Small, cheap and easily lost in long grass. Treat them as consumables rather than heirlooms.
A camera that prints, so a photograph becomes an object on a wall instead of the ten-thousandth file in a roll nobody opens.
Camera around $80, film about $1 a shot
Downsides. Film is a running cost and it adds up quickly with an enthusiastic seven-year-old. Buy film in bulk and set a per-week limit before it becomes a source of conflict.
A phone that makes calls and sends texts and does close to nothing else, for a teenager who genuinely needs to be reachable.
About $800, plus a plan from roughly $25 a month
Downsides. Expensive for what it does, and the lack of a group-chat experience is a real social cost for a kid whose friends coordinate that way. Maps and music exist but are deliberately basic.
A circuitry kit that turns fruit, playdough or anything conductive into a game controller, invented by a father who teaches this stuff.
Kits from around $60
Downsides. It needs a computer to work, so this is screen time with a purpose rather than time away from screens. Worth being honest with yourself about that.
An ordinary feature phone with real buttons, for a teenager who needs calls and texts and nothing more.
Around $90 outright
Downsides. Texting on a keypad is genuinely slow, which teenagers notice immediately. It also still has a browser, so it is less locked down than it looks.
Another Scandinavian outfitter for weather, with hand-me-down durability and a long-running resale market.
Outerwear from roughly $80
Downsides. The same price problem as any good children's outerwear. The resale value is genuinely high, so factor that in.
Wooden blocks that play music and stories when stacked, aimed at the youngest end where a device with buttons is already too much.
Sets from around $80
Downsides. A small catalogue compared with Yoto and Tonies, and firmly for toddlers, so it is outgrown quickly.
Scandinavian outdoor clothing built for children who are outside in bad weather, which is most of the point of this site.
Jumpsuits from roughly $100
Downsides. Expensive for something outgrown in a year. Buy secondhand, which is easy because the clothes outlast the child.
A screen-free audio player using yarn figures and cards, with more interactive and quiz-style content than its rivals.
Player around $100, figures and cards extra
Downsides. The interactive content nudges toward a subscription, and the extras cost more than the Yoto or Tonies equivalents.
A wifi landline for the kitchen wall, so a child can call approved friends and family without anyone owning a mobile.
About $10 a month
Downsides. It is a landline, so it does nothing outside the house. That is the point, and it will not help you reach a kid who is out on their own.
The same idea as Yoto for younger children, with figures instead of cards, which suits hands that cannot yet read labels.
Box around $100, figures from about $15
Downsides. Figures are licensed and pricey, and the catalogue leans heavily on brand tie-ins. Best paired with a library card.
Audio without a screen, controlled by physical cards a child can choose from a shelf, which keeps the choosing analog.
Player around $100, cards from about $10
Downsides. The card library adds up fast. The device is a screen-free win, but it still creates a small collecting habit worth watching.
Camps, classes and after-school activities searchable by age and area, useful in the school holidays.
Varies by provider
Downsides. Listings quality varies and coverage is strongest in US metro areas.
Filtering and screen-time limits across a family's devices, for households that have decided they want a technical backstop.
Subscription, from roughly $8 a month
Downsides. Filters are a backstop, never a substitute for the conversations. They also break, get worked around by determined teenagers, and can push use onto devices you do not control.
Tracks daily screen use and rewards staying under a threshold with brand discounts, aimed at teenagers who respond to a target.
Free, funded by the brands offering the rewards
Downsides. It swaps one incentive for another and pays kids in vouchers, so it teaches that attention has a price rather than that time has a value. Read the reward partners before signing up.
A membership that bundles access to local classes and activities, for families who try a lot of different things.
Monthly membership plus per-class credits
Downsides. Only worth the membership if you use it often, and availability is concentrated in a handful of cities.
A phone plan that pays you back for using your phone less, founded by Andrew Yang.
Monthly plan with cash back for lower use
Downsides. It is a plan rather than a device, so it does nothing about what the phone can actually do. Useful alongside a limited handset, not instead of one.
Live online classes on almost any subject, long a favourite of homeschooling families and of kids with narrow, intense interests.
Per class, typically $10 to $25
Downsides. This is screen time, and plenty of it. Worth it when a child is learning something they could not otherwise reach, less so as a default afternoon.
Finds and books in-person classes and camps nearby, and lets local instructors list their own.
Varies by provider
Downsides. Coverage is patchy outside larger cities. Also worth remembering that a packed schedule fills time as effectively as a screen does.