Fitbit for kids - Which Fitbit is best for children?

Fitbit activity trackers are a great tool to help keep track of your health and activities. Fitbit also makes some activity trackers that are designed for children. Are activity trackers like Fitbits good for kids? In this blog we’ll explain in depth about all the advantages and disadvantages regarding Fitbit for children.

Jump to chapters:

1. Benefits of using Fitbit for kids
2. Choosing the best Fitbit for kids
3. How a Fitbit helps to keep your child healthy
4. Tips to get the most out of your kids Fitbit
5. Improve your child's sleep
6. Difference of kids Fitbit vs adult Fitbit
7. Fitbit for kids with special needs
8. The future of wearables for kids

The benefits of using a Fitbits for kids

Using a Fitbit for kids can certainly have some benefits, especially since children are busy all the time! It’s a great tool to keep track of their activity and health, just as it is for adults. It can help monitor your child’s activity levels, monitor their sleep, and encourage healthy habits as well. Here’s a few benefits of using a fitbit for children:

1. Keep track of your kid’s activity

The main goal of an activity tracker is of course to keep track of your activity. It’s right there in the name! Kids are bursting with energy and activity, so a Fitbit for your kid can really help to keep track of everything they do. A few activities you can monitor are:

• Keep track of heart rates
• Keep track of blood oxygen levels
• Keep track of steps, distance, and calories burned with GPS

2. Monitor your kid's sleep

Sleeping is super important for children! Having a good sleep schedule is vital for a kid’s growing body. A Fitbit for kids can therefore really help to keep track of their sleep schedule. Fitbits are a great tool to monitor your sleep activities, it’s something they’re well-known for. 

With a Fitbit you can easily see how long your kid sleeps, how deep their sleep is, and if they wake up during the night. You can also make an overview of the time they sleep. This could help you diagnose issues in their sleep schedule as well.

It could be, for example, that your kid sleeps very poorly if big events are coming up. They may get anxious for their birthday party for example, or when an important day at school is coming up. With a Fitbit for children you can easily see these differences and make improvements to your kid’s sleep schedule. 

3. Encourage healthy habits 

Playtime and staying healthy is really important for kids. It’s vital that they get their daily activities in order to stay healthy and happy! New research suggests that childhood obesity is on the rise. A Fitbit for kids can certainly help encourage healthy activities and habits. 

There’s a lot of fun ways in which a Fitbit can help your kids stay healthy. So much so that we’ve dedicated a topic to this later in the blog. Keep reading if you want to know how a children’s Fitbit can give your kid a healthy and happy lifestyle. 

Choosing the best Fitbit for your kids

There’s many different kinds of Fitbit watches suitable for kids. It could be hard to know which one you should choose. There’s also a lot of factors to keep in mind, such as the age of your kid, the features you’re looking for, and the price range that you’ve got in mind. 

Keep in mind that children can be very picky, and probably won’t wear the Fitbit tracker if they don’t like how it looks. It’s recommended to look at a new Fitbit strap when choosing your activity tracker, to match your child’s favourite colour. 

Best Fitbit for kids comparison:

What age is appropriate for a Fitbit?

There’s of course no hard limit on this, but it’s recommended that your child be at least 6 years old when wearing a Fitbit. The Fitbit Ace is especially made for kids, and suitable for the younger children. Fitbit Ace straps come in cute colours and with extra protection from bumps or scratches.

Other Fitbit activity trackers, like the Fitbit Charge 6 or Fitbit Inspire 3 are suited for kids over 10. Creating an account for a child under 13 requires parental consent, after that, the child is eligible to manage his or her own account. Through a family account you can have control over your child’s Fitbit account.

Fitbit for young kids: Fitbit Ace 3

The Fitbit Ace 3 is especially designed for children and suited for kids ages 6 and up. The design is quite simple, and the build quality is strong and robust. This means you don’t have to worry about your child breaking the Ace 3. The straps are especially designed to fit smaller wrists. 

It’s fully waterproof and has a long battery life, up to 8 days. It lacks a heart rate monitor, but does keep track of steps, active minutes, and has a sleep monitor as well. In the Fitbit App, your kid can earn trophies for hitting their activity goals. 

The Fitbit Ace comes with a family view option which means parents and child get different view modes to access the data. The price point of the Fitbit Ace 3 is around £ 50,-.

Fitbit for older kids: Fitbit Inspire 3

For ages 10 and up, the Fitbit Ace 3 might be a bit childish to wear. The Fitbit Inspire 3 offers a great update. This adult tracker is still small enough to be worn by your kid. It’s a basic activity tracker with features such as a heart rate monitor, sleep monitor, and activity tracking options.

The Fitbit Inspire 3 is quite affordable at around £ 70, with cheap replacement Inspire 3 straps being sold as well. The Inspire 3 comes with 20 exercise modes as well, which can be very useful if your child practises some sports as a hobby. 

The sleep monitor on the Inspire 3 is a bit more sophisticated than on the Ace 3 and shows different sleep stages during the night. It also gives a sleep score to rate the quality of your child’s sleep at night. The Inspire 3 can also be worn while swimming.

The next step up: Fitbit Charge 6

The Fitbit Charge 6 is the most sophisticated activity tracker offered by Fitbit until you start going into full-blown smartwatch territory. The Charge 6 is the newest addition in the line-up as of October 2023. The Charge 6 has a bunch of features including a built-in GPS module. It starts at around £ 110.

The Fitbit Charge 6 is suited for ages 10 and up, but might me the best choice for teenagers. It includes a stress-management index as well, which can be very useful if your teenager experiences anxiety from school. 

It’s the perfect companion for working out, and features an in-built GPS module for keeping track of your journey while cycling, walking, or running. Of course there’s also an advanced sleep monitor. The Fitbit Charge 6 straps come in two different sizes, so make sure to order the correct size for your child. 

How a Fitbit for kids helps to keep your child healthy

A Fitbit activity tracker can help promote a healthy lifestyle for your kid, in a fun way of course. Being active is a natural impulse for kids, and it’s vital to stay active and healthy in order to grow up properly. Promoting a healthy lifestyle in your kid can sound complicated, but it’s not that hard. A Fitbit for kids can be the perfect tool to help you do this. 

Create a healthy and active routine 

A Fitbit for kids can help promote a healthy routine thanks to the badges and trophies you can earn for staying active. It’s a great opportunity to make going for a walk or doing an activity fun for your kid. 

A Fitbit can help turn chores into fun tasks. Let’s say you want to go grocery shopping with your kid. The walk to the store itself can turn into a fun activity thanks to your kid’s Fitbit watch. This way, your kid can build up healthy habits while having positive reinforcement in the Fitbit app as well.  

Keep track of your kid’s sports and hobbies. 

It’s vital for your kid to have some type of sports in their life. A team sport can help not just with a healthy lifestyle but also teach them how to work in a group, and learn from friends their age.

A children’s Fitbit is great to help keep track of their activities during these sports. You can show them how long they’ve been active and show stats about their sports as well. Did you know the average football game includes over 15.000 steps? 

Group challenges 

Using a Fitbit Family account, you can compete against each other in daily challenges or weekend challenges. There’s also a Family face-off, a 5-day challenge where the winner gets a virtual trophy.

The group challenges are a great tool to keep each other motivated and healthy. Kids can also add their friends to compete together. Who they connect with can be controlled by the parent. This way you are sure your kids are only competing with those who you approve of.

Tips to get the most out of your children’s Fitbit watch

Once you get a Fitbit for your child, it’s important to know how to get the most out of the watch. That’s why we’ve put together a small list of tips on how to best use your children’s Fitbit watch. This way you can set up the watch for your kid in the most optimal way to keep them motivated and healthy.

Setting goals

The goals within the Fitbit app are very elaborate, and we don’t have time to touch on all of them in this blog. We’ve selected a few goals that we think will help your kid get and maintain a healthy lifestyle in a fun way.

1. Daily activity: This includes anything from steps, active minutes, calories burned, or distance travelled. It can be a great way to get your children to exercise more, even if it’s just going for a walk or taking more steps per day.
2. Sleep: This can help set goals regarding sleep, such as hours slept and R.E.M. time. 
3. Water: Set your child’s daily water consumption goals. A study by Harvard suggests almost all kids drink too little water. A great way to get healthier!
4. Mindfulness: This can especially help teenagers who live busy lives and have to do lots of homework. Let them have some time where they can relax and be away from screens.

You can always set one of these goals as your Main Goal in the Fitbit app. To add or change goals, go to the Today tab in the Fitbit App. Next, tap your profile picture. Select ‘Activity & Wellness’ and tap the goal you want to view or adjust.

Get your own Fitbit watch

A great way to help get the most out of your Fitbit watch is to get one as well. This not only helps you use the watch better through using it, it can also be used to set up a family account as well.

Through a family account, you can compete with your child for goals and through competitions. You’ll earn virtual badges and trophies by doing this. It can all be set-up through the Fitbit App. Certainly a great way to motivate your kid, and give them a competitive drive as well.

Show the stats to your kids

This may be a no-brainer, but share the stats with your kids! It’s great fun to see them and also explain to them what everything means. If you’ve got your own Fitbit watch you could even compare the two together. 

To get an accurate reading of the stats, it’s of course necessary to wear the Fitbit as much as possible. Wearing it correctly is also a point of concern with kids. Make sure it’s on tight and that the sensors can read everything correctly. If you want to monitor your child’s sleep, the Fitbit must be worn at night as well.

The stats can be viewed in the Fitbit App or even on the website of Fitbit. To view your stats, go to the Today page. Here you’ll see all your stats including steps, distance, calories burned, and more. Below this you’ll find more stats such as sleep, active minutes, and weight.

Improve your child’s sleep

Sleep is important for all of us, even if we don’t like to admit when we have an unhealthy sleep schedule. But for children, sleep is essential to a healthy lifestyle. It is not only vital for their physical health, but also a time for the information they’ve learned throughout the day to be processed correctly. 

How much sleep should your child get? With a Fitbit for kids this is very easy to monitor. Below is the recommended time your child should sleep, based on their age:

• Children 6-12 years old: 9 to 12 hours of sleep
• Children 13-18 years old: 8 to 10 hours of sleep

Your kid’s Fitbit can easily be used to monitor the amount of sleep they get at night. Of course, they’ll have to wear the tracker at night. This could help identify problems in their sleep schedule, which you could try and improve upon. Sleep is one of the most important things to make sure your child grows up healthy.

How to monitor sleep on a Fitbit?

Your children’s Fitbit will automatically detect when they go to sleep. This means, as long as you keep wearing the watch at night, everything will go automatically. It’s important to wear a snug Fitbit strap while asleep so that the tracker can keep its sensors in contact with the skin at all times. 

What sleep information is tracked?

There’s quite a lot of information that gets tracked to indicate how well your child has slept. Their sleep pattern is tracked, which means time spent awake, restless, or asleep. A restless sleep indicates a lot of moving while asleep. If you’ve got a heart rate monitor, such as on the Fitbit Charge 5 or Inspire 3, it will also keep track of sleep stages.

Sleep stages indicate what type of sleep your body is in. There’s a few different kinds of sleep cycles that you go through throughout the night. You go from light sleep to deep sleep a few times a night, in different stages. This will all be visible in the Fitbit app.

How to view sleep information

Here’s the steps on how to view your sleep information on the Fitbit app:

1. Navigate towards Fitbit Today
2. Click the sleep tile. If you don’t see the sleep tile, activate it in the Settings.
3. You’ll see sleep patterns, time spent in sleep cycles, and sleep history of the past week.

Average sleep stats, or the history of your sleep cycle, includes: Hours slept, sleep score, sleep schedule, and sleep stages (cycles). 

Now that you know how to view sleep information on your kid’s Fitbit, you can help improve their sleep schedule in order to hit the recommended amount of sleep per night.

Is a Fitbit for kids different from a Fitbit for adults?

Fitbit is one of the only manufacturers that design activity trackers especially for kids. The Fitbit Ace 3 is a great example that’s designed for younger children. But are these Fitbit for kids different from a Fitbit for adults? In this chapter we’ll explain the differences between a children’s Fitbit and adult Fitbits.

Designed for kids: Fitbit Ace 3

The Fitbit Ace 3 is the only Fitbit watch truly designed for young children. There’s a few differences to this watch that make it more suitable for children. Other activity trackers, that are both available to adults and kids, can have differences in regards to the software.

The first difference is of course in the size and the design of the watch. The Fitbit Ace 3 is designed for small wrists, and also comes with a small Fitbit Ace 3 strap. The colours are also more kid-oriented, and the size of the watch is a bit smaller.

The main difference is in the software of the watch. The Fitbit Ace 3 uses a children’s account, which needs to be linked to an adult account because of regulations. The data that’s gathered by the Fitbit is also tuned to the kid's behaviour and body. Be aware it may be tricky to use one of these watches as an adult or teenager, as it’s truly designed for younger kids.

The Fitbit Inspire series or Charge series are much better suited for ages 13 and up. These smartwatches are for teenagers and adults alike. The account can still be linked to a family account, however. Smaller straps can be purchased if the regular strap is too large for your kid’s wrist size. 

Kid steps vs adult steps taken

It’s no surprise that a step that a kid takes is often a lot smaller than a step that an adult takes. There is therefore a difference between the step counters and distance counters between an adult Fitbit or a Fitbit for kids.

To change the steps and distance counters so they correctly count for your body, you can change your weight and height in the settings. The ‘Stride’ setting will also influence the distance walked in relation to how many steps you’ve taken.

Make sure to correctly set up your children’s Fitbit so that these counters are giving you the right data. Keep in mind that a Fitbit is about 95% accurate for data like this, so if you’ve taken 10,000 steps, it could actually be anywhere between 9,500 to 10,500. Also make sure your kid always wears the Fitbit on the same hand for the best data.

How Fitbit helps kids with special needs

Getting a smartwatch can truly help those with special needs as well. A Fitbit for children with special needs, such as ADHD or autism can have a positive influence on their lifestyle as well. This in turn makes them happier and healthier. 

How a Fitbit for kids with ADHD can help them

Growing up with ADHD can be very difficult, and this condition can often result in unhealthy lifestyles as well. A Fitbit for kids with ADHD can help them lead a healthy life easier, and can help you as well in determining what care they may need.

One mother on the Fitbit forums describes how a Fitbit watch for her two kids with ADHD can help them maintain a healthy calorie count, as they lead very active lives. It’s also helped her kids get a visual idea about their lifestyles and heart rate as well, as their medication can have an effect on their heart rate. 

Getting enough quality sleep for children with ADHD can be tough. If you want accurate sleep data from your children’s nights, consider getting a watch with a heart rate monitor. The Fitbit Ace 3 unfortunately does not come with a heart rate monitor, but the Inspire 3 or Charge 5 does. 

Fitbit for kids with autism

Children on the Autism Disorder Spectrum can also have a lot of issues with sleep. It’s therefore a good idea to purchase a Fitbit with a heart rate monitor to get the best sleep data possible. This can help identify sleeping issues, and deal with exhaustion that kids with autism often have to deal with. It can of course also promote mindfulness and help reduce anxiety.

Keep in mind that wearing something around your wrist all day can be a sensory issue for kids with autism. Sometimes, a clip can be purchased for the Fitbit watch. But this results in less health data. Make sure to choose a Fitbit strap of a material that matches your kid’s needs and wants. 

The future for wearables for kids

There’s been a lot of advancements made in wearables in the last few years, but there’s still a lot of growing up to do. We believe the children’s market for wearables is too often ignored. There’s a lot of potential for this market to grow. So what kind of wearables or features do we see on the horizon?

More meaningful tracking

Right now, the Fitbit for kids that have been designed are essentially adult smartwatches adapted for kids such as a smaller strap size. In the future, we expect to see wearables designed especially for children from the ground up, with features that help them grow up in a healthy and happy way.

A lot of the data that comes out of your Fitbit is based on algorithms. Those algorithms in turn are based on data gathered by adults. To get more accurate data for children, these algorithms have to be re-designed with children’s bodies in mind.

We also hope to see more sensors to gather different data. Body temperature sensors have been up-and-coming in the last year, and we think this could be a great sensor to add to a children’s smart watch as it can be a vital health indicator. Perspiration sensors can also add crucial data to a child’s vital bio-signs. 

Wearables in the classroom

Just like how smartphones have started to play a crucial role in our lives, and eventually made their way into the classrooms as well, wearables could start doing the same. There’s more than 750 million educational apps being downloaded every year, so it’s just a matter of time before smartwatches start playing a large role in the classrooms.

Smartwatches can also help to tailor-fit the education to the student. It could track when they have the most energy in a day for example, or if they’re too anxious or exhausted to take a test. 

As wearables get more mainstream amongst kids, they’ll also start competing with their friends in sports and activities. This helps give them a competitive mindset around sports, and gives them fun virtual data and trophies for competing.

Fitbit for kids: In summary

So is a Fitbit for kids a good idea? Yes, absolutely. A Fitbit for children can help promote a healthy lifestyle and motivate them to live more actively. This in turn makes sure they grow up happy and strong. A Fitbit for kids is a valuable tool to help with raising them and keeping them active.

There’s a few different models of Fitbit to choose from. We recommend the cheaper models, since the functions on those are plenty for your children. And let’s be honest: Kids love to break anything they get their hands on. So what’s the best Fitbit for kids? We recommend the Ace 3 for kids aged 6-13, and the Inspire 3 or Charge 5 for kids 13 and up.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best Fitbit for a kid?
We recommend the Ace 3 for kids aged between 6 and 13. For teenagers aged 13 and up, the Inspire 3 or Charge 5 are great Fitbits for kids.

What age is Fitbit Ace 3 recommended for?
Fitbit recommends kids aged 6 to 13 years old to use the Ace 3. It’s especially designed for younger kids and features a smaller strap as well.

Can a 6 year old wear a Fitbit?
The Fitbit Ace 3 is a smartwatch designed for kids aged 6-13 years old. It can help your 6 year old stay healthy and active.

Can a child use a Fitbit without a phone?
Absolutely, a child can use a Fitbit alongside a parent’s phone. Here, you can see all the data and statistics. Your child does not need their own smartphone.

Is a Fitbit a good idea for kids?
A Fitbit smartwatch can help your kids to grow up healthy and stay active. It also helps to monitor sleep, a crucial part in staying healthy especially for children.

Are Fitbits suitable for 10 year olds?
There’s certainly Fitbits suitable for younger children aged 10. The Fitbit Ace 3 is designed for kids ages 6-13. The Inspire 3 is recommended above age 13, but you can use your own judgement as well.

Can an 11 year old have a Fitbit account?
You can make a Fitbit Kids account for your 11 year old, which can be tied to an ‘adult’ account for supervision.

Last edit: October 20th, 2023: Now includes a recommendation for the new Charge 6, instead of the older Charge 5 model.