The 12 best smart home holiday gift ideas of 2022

• Price: $59
• Tech specs: Tap gestures | Temperature sensor | Eero built-in | Parental controls | 1-yr Amazon Kids+ | 3.9″ x 3.9″ x 1.7″

If you have kids and an Amazon Echo device in your home, then you’re probably already appreciate having a smart voice assistant with children. 

My kids love asking Alexa and Siri questions and jokes — especially asking them turn on “party mode,” which triggers our living rooms’ lights to change colors while playing the Trolls soundtrack. This new Echo Dot Kids with parental controls is perfect for that.

Why they’ll love it

The 5th-generation Echo Dot Kids is a visually attractive speaker, with an Owl or Dragon character on the speaker, and it’s the perfect addition to a playroom. Visuals aside, kids will also love Alexa capabilities. 

The Echo Dot Kits comes with a one-year subscription to Amazon+ Kids, which offers access to kid-friendly Audible books, interactive games, and educational Alexa skills. Plus, the voice assistant can even help them with homework.

You’ll love The Echo Dot Kids for its parental controls, too. Alexa can intelligently filter explicit songs and ensure kid-friendly responses. The Parent Dashboard can also control daily time limits, see recent activity, and lock emergency contacts for the kids to call in an emergency. 

This device works as a smart voice assistant, an Eero wifi extender, and as an electronic educator for children. Your kids can ask Alexa questions and jokes, buying you 20 minutes to read this article, among other ZDNET gift guides.