Have you ever thought what you would have done with a GPS kids watch when you were growing up? I know I have. It probably would have been on of the coolest things in the world to be able to know that your parents could know at any minute exactly where you were, all thanks to that wonderful GPS kids watch on your wrist.
I remember that when I was in Kindergarten being at church one Sunday with my spiffy Thunder Cats kids watch. I thought it had this special power that when I pushed a certain button it would call my brothers and we could chat with each other during Sunday School. I even tried it a few times believing that I could actually hear them and talk back. We were having our own little secret communications.
Well, those childhood thoughts are now a present reality. A kids GPS watch is able to do exactly what my childhood mind fantasized about. At the click of a button, a parent or child will be able to communicate with the other through the modern marvel of GPS cell phone technology. All I wanted to do with my Thunder Cats kids watch was to talk with my brothers, but now in the case of an emergency a parent can activate the watch and communicate directly with their child. The peace of mind that this can afford a parent is pretty fantastic.
They will know that if there ever were an earthquake, hurricane, tornado, flood, or other natural disaster while they were at work and the child at school that they would be no more than a click of a kids GPS watch away from talking to their child – providing the calming voice of reason that a parent should be. Sure, this type of peace of mind could be available on a cell phone, but chances are younger children could be irresponsible with a cell phone or it could be lost or not on their person when the emergency strikes.
If they are out on the playground, their kids GPS phone won’t do them much good when it is in the classroom in their backpack. The children won’t be able to return to get their backpacks and will be taken directly to the safest place for them to be – either in the multipurpose room or the playground away from buildings. With a GPS for kids watch you won’t run into this problem as the device that allows you both to contact your child and to let them know that everything is going to be okay will always be attached to their wrist.
There is some potential danger when it comes to this type of kids GPS device – namely ridicule. GPS kids watches can be a little bulky and offer some useful but cumbersome wrist lockdown technology that will prevent your child from taking off the watch (or in the worst case scenario, a predator from taking off the watch). Both of these combined may make the GPS tracking watch stick out with your child’s classmates. Any problems with this can easily be avoided if you take some very proactive steps with your child.
The first step is to teach your child about GPS. They need to know a little bit about how it works in order for it to make some sense in the way that they look at the world. An older child can obviously handle a little more of the technical information, but a little child needs to know more about the basics and safety that they can feel when wearing it.
Let your kid know that their watch is like a child locator that lets mommy and daddy know exactly where they are if something were to happen. Tell them that if they needed help all they would have to do it touch that button on their GPS kids watch and they could hear mommy’s or daddy’s voice that would be able to tell them exactly what they should do. Also tell them that their GPS tracking watch can be used by you to know exactly where they were, so if they ever felt scared or lost they wouldn’t have to worry as long as they had their watch on because you could always see where they were because the watch knew how to tell mommy and daddy exactly where they are.
This will help let your child know that their kids GPS makes them safe.
Then you can embellish things a little and give them the fantasies that I had when I was a little kid and that you might have had too.
Build up the power and mystery of the watch and make it into this great peace of adventure that they can experience every day. Let them know that the watch is like a small kids tracker that you have put on their wrist to always be able to tell exactly where they are. This will help keep them safe as we have already discussed, but it is also about helping them have amazing adventures with their GPS .
One day, make a log of what activities they do when they are out in the world and you are at work. After your child and you come home make it your goal to go over the map that you made using your child’s GPS kids watch with your child. Let them know how much you love them and have a ton of fun talking with your child, giggling, asking them questions about their day, and making them feel so special to you. Your child needs you before they need any GPS for kids.
After they feel special because you are giving them your time and effort, reinforce the GPS tracking watch that they wear by letting them know that you were able to record their adventures today like you did because of that watch. Tell them that that child locator has the power to tell mommy and daddy exactly where they are every single day while they are at school and on the playground and in the lunch room and on the bus home from school. Let them know that the watch provides GPS tracking for kids to mommy and daddy and that mommy and daddy like this very much.
This will help make your child like to wear the GPS kids watch and if they like thier GPS kids watch they will be able to deflect any criticism that might come their way at school. If they don’t like it and someone makes a joke about it they will be less able to deal with the emotional problem this brings up. They will feel ashamed and not like wearing their kids tracking device.
But if they like it, when someone makes a joke about it they can respond with confidence and assert just how great their watch really is. GPS is nothing to be ashamed about, especially because of the safety and peace of mind that it provides. No school yard teasing should come in the way of that.
If you are interested in more ideas on how to help your child appreciate their GPS kids watch we have two articles on this subject at GPS For Today. The first is Getting Your Child To Wear Their Kids GPS Tracking Watch – The Power of Fun and it is about one way to draw your child in to loving their GPS tracking watch. The second is GPS Kid Tracking Tip – Adventure is King which explores the potential that tapping into your child’s love for adventure can do for getting them to wear their GPS kids watch.
Image by Matt Honan