Protecting Little Ears with SonicGear Kinder-1 and Kinder 2

Today I’m here to talk about kids headphones!

I started thinking about headphones for the kids a while ago because, with a baby in the house who needs to nap, there are times (many, many times) when I wished the house was quieter. Alas, a volume switch does not exist for children. However, at least when it comes to their activities, I thought that with headphones, some of the noise that they generate could be reduced.

And behold, as though they read my mind, the good folks from SonicGear approached me to review their Kinder series headphones, which were specially designed for children. Perfect timing, I thought.

Well, we’ve had these headphones for a few weeks since and they have really filled in the gap where I never knew there was one!

When looking for a pair of headphones for my kids, my requirements were simple. I wanted headphones that would appeal to my children, that they would be happy wearing, and would be child-safe. (ie. not something that would blow out their ears!) After testing them out, I was happy to find that the SonicGear Kinder-1 and Kinder-2 series headphones were designed to meet these requirements.

Design: Each of these headphones come in two colours/designs, which I believe should appeal to most kids. The Kinder-1 headphones come with monster googly eyes in blue and kitty cat ears in pink, while the Kinder-2 headphones have their ear covers emblazoned with cute rainbows and unicorns on the pink set, and astronauts, stars and rockets on the blue set. You know it’s a go when your kids take one look and immediately want to put them on! Mei was instantly sold on the kitty cat ears and claimed that set for her own. Both headphones are corded and come with a cord of approximately 1m which with a 3.5mm gold plated audio jack.

Fit: Both the Kinder-1 and Kinder -2 are designed for kids from 3 years of age and are meant to grow with your child. For this purpose, I actually found the Kinder-2 covers a surprisingly large age range. At their smallest setting, they fit my 1-year old baby and when extended, they fit my 9-year old with some room to spare. The extra wide top band sits nicely on top of their heads and the ear cushions cover the ears for a comfortable fit. For this reason, the Kinder-2 is a favourite with my kids from the nearly 1-year old to the 7-year old and 9-year old. The Kinder-1 on the other hand is marginally larger than the Kinder-2 but with slightly smaller ear cushions, and would be more appropriate for older kids. It fits my 7-year old at the smallest setting but would probably be a little too big for a younger child. Both the Kinder-1 and the Kinder-2 are very comfortable to wear. I know because I too managed to try them myself!

Volume Limiting: The most crucial factor for parents looking for headphones for their kids is the fact that they are safe for kids. Studies have shown that prolonged exposure to sound levels above 85 decibels may damage a person’s hearing. It is with that in mind that the Kinder-1 and Kinder-2 headphones were designed to limit the maximum sound output to 85 decibels and minimise the risk that children being exposed to sound levels that might cause hearing damage, possibly on a permanent level. I compared the sound output with that from regular headphones and found that the sound levels on both Kinder series headphones were certainly reduced though I personally think that the max volume is still too loud for me! I was glad that even with a lower volume, the sound quality remained decent — certainly clear enough for everyday use.

Additional features on the Kinder-2: While the technical specifications for both the Kinder-1 and Kinder-2 are essentially the same, the Kinder-2 also features:

These additional features on the Kinder-2 were much appreciated. The splitter came in handy when both kids wanted to watch the same video or listen to the same music, which happened fairly often! Instead to having them fight over who got to use the screen/gadget, I could easily get them to share by using the audio-sharing jack so both could hear at the same time.

Here are some of the things we’ve been using our headphones on!

1. E-learning — With two kids in Primary school this year, they both been using the laptop a bit more to visit online learning sites, and for Noey to do a little research. I try to limit their screen time (with decreasing success over the years), hence the enthusiasm for e-learning! I only have one laptop so the headphones have come in very helpful for ensuring that the person using the computer is not distracting the other!

2. Listening to Music — My kids love downloading and streaming music on my phone, and this is something I enjoy with them in the car most of the time. Usually they take turns to play what they want and we all have to listen to it, whether we like it or not! This is still our regular practice since I feel it helps us all to learn to bond, share and also breeds tolerance. With the headphones now however, I am able to allow them short periods of listening to what they like on their own. Sometimes they still choose to listen to the same thing, and that’s where the Kinder-2 audio-sharing jack comes in handy! I admit it: I appreciate the fact that I get a break from listening to Try Everything over and over…

3. Enjoying to Audiobooks — The kiddos like to play audiobooks in the afternoons. Often, just when Nate decides to take a nap. Having headphones means they are able to listen to the stories they want in the afternoon without disturbing Nate’s sleep.

4. Piano practice — My digital piano has a 6.5mm headphone port. I just needed to purchase an adapter and we were good to go! This really makes a difference during the times when Mei has to practice when Nate is sleeping or when it gets a little late and we don’t wish to disturb our neighbours.

5. In-flight Entertainment — Ok, this we have not tried, but I’ve purchased a couple of airplane headphone jack adapters so that we put these headphones to use on the flight during our next holiday in June!

Overall, the headphones have been a positive addition to our home. I would only add that while these headphones are deemed child-safe, it is up to us as parents to ensure that our children are not practising good habits by listening to headphones at an appropriate volume level and are not wearing them for too long. What the SonicGear Kinder-1 and Kinder-2 headphones do provide however is some peace of mind while allowing our full household to do the things that it needs to do.

*The SonicGear Kinder-1 retails at $24.90 and the Kinder-2 at $29.90. Thanks to LeapFrog Distribution for providing these sets for our review!