Have you noticed the difference between your tween and you when you were their age? It is soo there and so loud at that. Or am I the one who is old? During our tween years, we like literally spent them outdoors and had to be summoned for food during lunchtimes, yeah we had to be reminded that it was dark for us to get in! Where did those days go?
With this new generation and most especially the tween age (9-12 years) you have to remind them that it’s daylight so that they can go out (often grudgingly at that). Do we blame technology or the times that we are in (as if there is any difference)?
You will be a lucky parent if your tween is into sports and they are loving them. Then you will be sure they are exercising and keeping healthy. But where do we go? We that our tweens are glued to the screen (be it telly or phone) and only walk when it is very necessary, like rushing to the washroom or the kitchen for a snack.
Exercising is very important for your kid and you as it will help keep fit and healthy. And we have the technology to thank for it has designed fitness trackers or smartwatches that we and our children can use to get engaged and challenge ourselves to get more actively pursuing a healthy life.
Trust me; fitness trackers are the best option that we got to ensure our kiddos get out there and get active. What’s more, they come with a screen, one more thing that will fascinate your tween. So, just tie the two together!
The fitness-related accessories have metrics that can count steps, exercise (create daily movement goals), and even monitor your child’s sleep. Some are even GPS-enabled, meaning you can keep track of your tween while out in the field. How cool can it get?
They generally come in themes that are designed for kids and in fun colors for your tween to choose from. The best part is that most of them have extra games and reward systems to make exercising fun for your tween.
What Is A Fitness Tracker?
A fitness tracker is a wearable device that is meant to gather exercise and activity-related data for the user. Fitness trackers come in various forms, such as; necklaces, wristbands, and clip-on accessories you can put on clothing.
That said, you must ensure you get the best bang for your buck when getting your tween their first fitness tracker.
Features Of A Good Fitness Tracker For Tweens
Selecting the best activity tracker for tweens will solely depend on what you want it to accomplish for your teen and their lifestyle.
- Water Resistance/Water Proof
A good fitness tracker for your tween will need to be water-resistant. This way, they can wear them all time even when they swim. A jog in the rain will also be in order and they can also help in the house chores like washing the dishes while they have their fitness tracker on.
- Quality And Durability
A fitness tracker that is durable is one that will serve your teen for a long time. When you buy quality, you are sure to get a durable product.
- GPS Enabled
A cool Fitbit for tweens will need to be GPS Enabled as this will help you keep track of your child’s walks, runs, or cycles. It will also help you know which activity your child is doing and at what time. This way, you can help your tween to up their game or go slow on a certain activity.
- Sleep Tracker
Your tween’s quality of sleep will directly affect their mood and health. Some kids’ fitness trackers will help monitor their sleep duration and quality: this will help schedule their sleep timings, ensuring they get quality sleep as they need it for their development.
- Call And Text Alerts
It is soo tech-savvy that these fitness watches can be synced with phones. This way, your tween leaving their changing bag that has the phone is not a problem as they will be notified of an incoming call or text.
- Tracking Calories Burnt
One of the primary reasons we need to get our tweens out there is that they can exercise and in so doing, burn calories that at this stage of growth they love. Getting them a fitness tracker that can take up this task will be a quick and easier way for them to maintain their weight or lose it. Burning calories is beneficial in maintaining vital body functions.
- 24/7 Heart Rate Monitor
With this feature up your child’s fitness tracker, it will give clear insights into how their heart is responding to their daily routine and workouts. The higher their heart rates during their workouts, the more calories they are burning, which is good.
- Touchscreen Display
This is a feature that is sure to inspire your tweens to take up an active lifestyle. You should pick one that allows your tween to read it and has an auto-adjusting feature helping it to adapt to ambient lighting.
- Long Battery Life
This is a very important feature for your tween’s Fitbit. You need one that has a long battery life with a single charge. This will ensure that it operates when your tween is exercising and when they sleep.
- Silent Alarm
This feature will sit well with most tweens as they hate being woken up by loud and noisy alarm tones. Get them a kids’ fitness tracker that will wake them with a quiet vibration instead of the buzzy tones.
- Weather Alerts
Cool feature, right? This will enable your tween to plan well for their afternoon in regard to their routine. They will get to know when the rain will pour to avoid it. Or better still, plan when they will go swimming.
- Work Out And Exercise Tracking
A fitness tracker that has a cardio fitness feature will be perfect for your tween. It will help calculate the amount of oxygen used by their bodies as they perform different activities, showing how their lungs, heart, and other organs use oxygen to function.
5 Best Fitness Trackers For Tweens
Do you want to get your kid off the couch and on their feet? We have researched to put together 5 of the best fitness trackers to buy your tween currently on the market.
Disclosures: We are participants in the Amazon Associates Program and other affiliate programs that earn us a commission if a qualifying purchase is made.
1. Fitbit Inspire 2
There are several different Fitbit models, but we think this is the best Fitbit for tweens. This Fitbit tracker is made of a durable elastomer material and fastens with a peg and loop will motivate your tween to do their weekly workout activities thanks to its unique features like active zone minutes, challenges, earning badges, and celebrating goal milestones, thus building healthy habits.
It features a 24/7 heart rate tracker that records calorie burn, resting heart rate, and heart rate zones during workouts. It also has a free one-year premium trial ensuring your tween gets personal guidance, step by step fitness and nutrition programs.
It supports over 15+ exercise modes, tracking activities like steps, distance, hourly activity, and activity minutes, storing your heart rate data at 1-second intervals during exercise and 5 seconds intervals during other activities.
It will also track your tween’s time in light, deep, and REM sleep providing pointers to improve their quality of sleep. It has a 10-day battery life and is compatible with the most popular devices and operating systems.
We love it because:
- 24/7 heart rate monitor
- 10-day battery life
- Waterproof to 50m
- Durable
What could be better in the Fitbit ace 2 activity tracker:
- Some users have reported continual vibrating with wrist movement while not exercising
- On the pricier side compared to other Fitbit models
2. Fitbit Ace 2 Activity Tracker For kids
This Fitbit Ace 2 Activity Tracker is ideal for your younger tween. It brings a fun experience for children motivating them to do physical activities with its unique features. There’s a lot to love with this dedicated tracker that’s durable, waterproof, and comes in fun colors.
It is made up of a tough silicone band that is durable and adjusts on your tween’s wrist, leaving them feeling comfortable. It has reminders for your tween to get moving and has a cool reward system to keep your tween motivated.
Its bedtime reminders, sleep tracking, and silent alarm ensures your kid gets the quality sleep they need. This tracker is also swim-proof, water-resistant, and with 5-day battery life. It also tracks steps and total active minutes, including a 1-hour active minute goal and it syncs all the data collected wirelessly to a phone.
Its app has two views: a parental view and a kids’ view. This means that your child can view their steps, badges, and other basic info, while the parent view allows you to set up more than one child.
We love it because:
- It has swappable bands that are in fun colors
- Durable and waterproof
- Its silicone bands help protect the screen
What could be better in the Fitbit Ace 2 activity tracker:
- It has a short battery life
- It has no games
2. Fitbit Ace 3
The Fitbit Ace 3, as you might imagine, is that little extra step up from the Fitbit Ace 2. It features a swim-proof build, an impressive 8-day battery life, better-than-average parental controls, and a sleep tracker. This tracker counts your child’s steps and sleeping habits and monitors how long they are active.
It’s an easy-to-use tracker, which is comfortable and motivational, making things much more interesting for your tween. It comes set with a 60 minutes activity goal and a 10,000 daily step goal. It is also swim-proof and water-resistant to 50 meters.
Fitbit Ace 3 has an excellent display with an animal-changing clock that displays your tween total steps of the day. It has swappable bands that are small enough to fit even the tiniest of wrists. It’s also compatible with the most popular smartphone devices.
We love it because:
- Swimproof /waterproof
- 8-day battery life
- Almost 30 watch faces to choose from
What could be better:
- A bit on the pricey side when lacking some of the features of the Fitbit Inspire 2
4. Garmin Vivo Jr.2
Looking away from the Fitbit brand for your tween? This is the second generation of the Vivofit by Garmin that includes generic color bands that have fun and inspiring designs, making exercise fun.
It’s a waterproof tracker that tracks steps and sleeps quality, recording their active minutes to help them form positive habits. As each fitness goal is attained, your tween can move into a more complicated game on the device, thus keeping them active and engaged.
Through its manual sync, parents are able to connect and monitor their tween’s activity. It also gives you the option to send customized alerts, homework, and chores list to the device and has over a year’s worth of battery life.
We love it because:
- It has games as well as being a fitness tracker
- One year battery life
- Task timer feature
- Fun-themed boys and girls’ designs
5. BiggerFive Fitness Tracker
This is a waterproof tracker that is slim and has a lightweight design that is simple and comes in three mature color schemes. It smartly records the number of calories you burn, the steps your tween takes and the distance covered in a particular day.
It has a 7-day battery life and can be charged by any USB adapter and is compatible with most phones. It links up with veryfitpro app for further tracking and interactivity. It has a sleep-tracking feature and a silent alarm.
What we love:
- Compatible with smartphones
- Convenient sleep tracker
- Less charging, more battery shelf life
- Great price point compared to the bigger known brands
Distinction Between Fitness Tracker and Smart Watch
Is there really a difference? Yes, while the two – a fitness tracker and a smartwatch – tend to overlap, they each have their intended purpose.
The fitness tracker is primarily designed to keep track of your health and exercise. However, some more advanced trackers can also display texts and app notifications on your wrist like a smartwatch, but their intended purpose is to focus on your health and daily activity monitoring. They will generally also have a digital watch function.
A smartwatch not only keeps track of your health and exercise but also keeps you connected by delivering notifications and updates on your wrist. You can find our detailed guide to tween smartwatches over here.
In a quest to find your tweens a fitness watch, I hope you have finally found one in the above compilation. These watches have great features and functions that will help your tween get the best out of their activities.
Looking for more inspiration for your sporty & active tween?
- Also check out our guide to the best gifts for sporty tween girls
- Come over here to find the best gifts for your active and sporty boys
