The Amazon Echo Dot is a great way for anyone to bring the power of Alexa into a home. But any parent might want to look at the Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition for their children to use.

We'll take a closer look at the Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition and help you decide if it's worth buying, even with the extra cost.

What the Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition Can Do

An Amazon Echo Dot is a low-cost way to bring the voice assistant into your home.

Related: Ways Alexa Can Manage Your Kids' Routine

The Echo Dot Kids Edition will do pretty much everything an Echo Dot will do, with some Alexa responses tailored toward children. Like the regular edition, the Echo Dot Kids Edition is ball-shaped and has a flat base to prevent rolling off the table-top. Its anti-roll design is helpful, considering it's designed for children's areas.

Here are some basic things you can do with either the Echo Dot or the Echo Dot Kids:

  • Play music.
  • Call and message your household and approved contacts.
  • Use household communication features such as Drop-In and Announcements.
  • Get kid-friendly answers to questions.
  • Ask for kid-friendly jokes.
  • Play games.

A Closer Look at the Echo Dot Kids Edition

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Image Credit: Amazon

The Echo Dot Kids Edition is $59.99, $10 more than the Echo Dot. But that extra money does unlock some unique features.

Unlike the regular edition, the Echo Dot Kids includes a cloth exterior with a cute animal design: a tiger or a panda. If you ask your kids, this design alone may make the extra cost worth it.

For privacy, just like on the Echo Dot, you can press a button on the Kids Edition to disconnect the microphones.

The Echo Dot Kids version includes a two-year warranty. This is an excellent idea for an electronic device in a child's bedroom, as it will even cover damage your child causes. Just let Amazon know, and the company will send you a new one.

Also included is a free, one-year subscription to the Amazon Kids+ service.

How the Amazon Kids+ Service Works

Kids+ strives to provide a great experience for kids using Alexa. It includes ad-free content such as children's audiobooks, games, movies, and TV shows.

It also features kid's radio stations and playlists, kid's skills, and character alarms. If you have trouble waking your child in the morning, try having Sully from Monsters University wake them up. Or perhaps Olaf Frozen.

The Echo Dot Kids Edition bundles some nice subscription savings. Without buying the Kids Edition, Kids+ costs $2.99 per month for a single child with a Prime membership and $4.99 per month for non-Prime members.

If you have more than one child, it's $6.99 per month for up to four children with the Prime membership, and $9.99 per month for non-Prime members. Prime members can also pre-pay a full year for $69, and non-Prime members for $99.

This may make the extra expense worth it if you look for tons of educational and entertainment value for your kids.

Parental Controls Abound in Kids+

The Kids+ service includes parental controls, so you can filter entertainment content for your kids. You can set screen time limits, including content you add from your personal library. You can also set educational goals.

Parents can also manage web browsing and content usage based on parental preferences. If you're concerned about your kids purchasing things through Alexa, you can turn off their ability to do so. This way, you should never return home to find 50 Olaf dolls delivered to your front porch.

If you're curious about how your kids use the Kids+ service, you can review the parental control dashboard usage activity.

The Echo Dot Kids Edition: Bringing Alexa to Children

While it might cost a bit more, the Echo Dot Kids Edition is definitely worth it if you're already in the Alexa ecosystem and like what the Kids+ service offers.

With Kids+, your child can access tons of content, games, and activities with just a simple voice command. And the two-year warranty makes the Echo Dot Kids Edition even better.