Kids Headphones

What are kids headphones?

Kids headphones are smaller in size to fit on a child's head or in children's ears. They come in kid-friendly designs, including on-ear and over-ear with soft foam cushions and comfortable headbands that provide a snug fit, as well as in-ear buds that some kids might prefer.

Most importantly, most kids' headphones feature volume limiting technology so kids can't crank the volume higher than 85 decibels (85dB), the level considered safe for young ears by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and others.

What types of kids' headphones are available?

Kids headphones come in the same core types as adult headphones, including on-ear, over-ear, or in-ear. They can be wired headphones with a 3.5mm connector, more commonly nowadays, wireless via Bluetooth. Some offer passive noise cancellation through over-ear cups that fully envelope the ears to physically block out surrounding noise or buds that plug snugly into your ear canal. Others include Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) technology that further blocks out ambient noise and can be turned on or off with a switch.

Design-wise, kids' headphones come in bright and bold colour options, fun designs, and with pop culture themes or characters, like superheros, Frozen, Paw Patrol, and Pokemon. Some unique designs include soft fleece headbands with earbuds built-in, built-in microSD card slots, or built-in FM radio.

Audibly, while sound quality isn't the primary focus for kids' headphones, you can find ones from reputable audio brands that offer high quality audio for a premium listening experience.

When would you need kids headphones and which should you get?

There are a number of ways kids can, and will, use headphones. They come in handy while doing schoolwork so kids can focus and block out surrounding noise at school or at home, like their siblings or the vacuum. They're also good for learning from home, so multiple kids can listen privately while in the same room. That goes, by the way, for entertainment, too, whether it's watching TV shows, movies, or music videos, chatting with friends, or playing games.

Noise cancelling headphones for kids are ideal when traveling to block out sounds like the hum or the airplane or train engine. Kids can listen to music or watch a movie, or even just use ANC to create a quieter environment to catch some sleep. Find a pair that folds nicely for transport; bonus points if it comes with a hard case, too.

While there are kids' earphones as well, including ones that pop into a child's ears and others that also have hooks that wrap around the ears, you might want to reserve these for older kids. Younger kids and toddlers would probably be most comfortable with over or on-ear headphones they can easily put on and take off. And consider going wireless. While you'll have to recharge kids' wireless headphones, young ones will appreciate being able to move around freely without being tethered.

For more information on how to choose the best headphones for your kid, check out this blog post:
https://blog.bestbuy.ca/tv-audio/headphones-tv-audio/how-to-choose-headphones-for-kids