VTech’s Kidizoom is Kid Approved for Road Trips and at Home

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about kids and their toys, it’s that while they like their own toys just fine, what they really love is someone else’s toys. As a blogger, I’m constantly attached to my camera and my smartphone, and my kids are just dying to have their own too. Well, it’s going to a long (long) time before either of them is ready for a smartphone, but a fun “smartwatch” is definitely doable and photography is a valuable skill to learn! VTech’s Kidizoom line is perfect for kids wanting to play games, take pictures, record videos, and enjoy tech toys like mom or dad, but without the hefty price tag or safety concerns.

Kidizoom Action Cam 180

We took the Kidizoom™ Action Cam 180 (MRSP $59.99 CAD/$49.99 USD) with us on our recent family vacation to Vancouver Island. Tee was really excited to help me out with some photography on our trip! Here we are on the iconic Long Beach in Tofino, British Columbia, at low tide.

We wandered along the beach, looking out across the Pacific and watching the surfers come in. This is Tee’s shot of the beach and what we think might have been a seagull.

Tee was playing around with the built-in effects and frames and took this one too. I’m not sure why she picked the skate park frame, but she liked it, so why not?

This Kidizoom Action Cam 180 is a sturdy little camera with a unique lens that you can rotate a full 180 degrees from front to back for photos, selfies, and all the angles in between.

It comes with three simple games that Tee enjoys playing, but I find somewhat unnecessary in a camera. The camera itself has 128 MB of internal storage (about 600 0.3 MB photos or 6 minutes of 160X120 video), but you can easily expand that up to to 32 GB with a microSD card. With the microSD card in, you can set the video quality to 640×480 which is surprisingly decent for a kid’s camera. When it comes to photo quality, it isn’t comparable to my camera or phone, but honestly, Tee doesn’t care. She just loves having her very own camera that won’t break when she drops it and that she can mount on her bike.

The Action Cam comes with a great assortment of accessories right out of the box: a water-resistant case for taking photos up to six feet underwater, a wrist strap, an adhesive mount (with double-sided tape) for sticking it to a helmet, and that bike mount I mentioned. When we got home from our trip, we strapped that bad boy on Tee’s bike so she could make videos of herself taking the ramps in our cul-de-sac.

The Kidizoom Action Cam 180 is available at Amazon, Toys “R” Us, HBC, Indigo, Mastermind Toys, and Walmart.

Kidizoom Smartwatch DX2

When Tee got the original Kidizoom Smartwatch from her uncle for her 5th birthday, she was over the moon about having a real watch. I’m pretty sure that’s how she learned to tell time, actually. And now there’s the newest version, the Kidizoom® Smartwatch DX2 by VTech® (MRSP $69.99 CAD/$59.99 USD), which has been redesigned and improved with a new, sleeker look and double the storage (256 MB vs 128 MB).

This time Kay got a watch too, and both my girls love their big kid Kidizoom Smartwatches! To be clear, despite the name, these watches are not connected so there’s no worry about supervising Internet access. What they do have is a ton of fun apps and activities at the touch of a finger.

Kay is learning to tell time on the digital/analog display with the help of the Time Master Owl who leads lessons in reading time.

We took our Kidizoom watches on the road with us to Vancouver Island too, and what a great idea that was!  The girls amused themselves on the long drive by taking pictures and videos, recording and modulating short voice clips, playing the touch screen games, and playing around with sound effects. Fun filters and photo effects a la Snapchat kept the kids amused longer than I would have thought. There’s even a pedometer that runs in the background so they could track their activity level throughout the day.

Each watch is equipped with two cameras – one on the watch face for selfies, and one on the top edge that the kids can use to take sneaky spy pictures and videos on the fly. The kids can personalize their watches from dozens of watch face designs or make their own custom watch face from photos.

The Kidizoom Smartwatch comes preloaded with all sorts of goodies: 55 watch faces, alarm/timer/stopwatch/calendar functions, and six games. With 256 MB, there’s plenty of internal storage for up to 1600 photos or 11 one-minute videos at 320×240 resolution. You can also add more clock face themes, camera effects, themes, and apps/games from the VTech Learning Lodge. Most of these are free, though they do offer character themes (e.g., Dora the Explorer, Paw Patrol, etc.) for $2.99.

But my favourite feature is the handful of activity apps that use the motion sensor. Instead of just sitting around, the kids are up and moving. My girls like to race each other and compete over who can get in more steps or jumps or crazy dance moves. The new Smartwatch DX2 is a hit, and a great choice for 4 to 9-year-olds.

The Kidizoom Smartwatch DX2 is available at Amazon, Toys “R” Us, HBC, Indigo, Mastermind Toys, Best Buy, and London Drugs.

Win a VTech Kidizoom Camera

Let your kid capture all their fun family memories with a Kidizoom camera! One lucky reader will win their own. Enter in the giveaway widget below. This giveaway is open to residents of Canada, 18+. All the winner’s entries will be verified.

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Disclosure: I received sample items to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are completely honest and my own. Your experience may differ. This post contains affiliate links. This West Coast Mommy is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. I will receive a small commission if you purchase through my link, at no additional cost to you. This income helps pay for the operating costs of my website – thank you for your support!