Alexa Skills for Kids and How We Use Our Echo Devices

This post was sponsored by Amazon as part of an Ambassador Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own

Hello 2019! It’s a new year and we’ve gots lots of new resolutions and goals set for the year ahead. At the heart of all of them is our one big, main goal: spending more time together. Isn’t that really what all families want most? That’s why we all work so hard, so we can enjoy the time we spend with our favorite people.

Did you guys see the 5 rubber band tricks for kids post over on All For The Boys? My son has been pretty obsessed with learning them all and showing them to everyone he sees.

Organizing Our Family Calendar and Daily Life

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Remember when I told you guys we got a few fun new devices around the holidays? We’ve been learning new ways to use our Echo Dot Kids Edition and Echo Show and now that we’ve mastered a few skills I can’t remember what life was like before Alexa. Alexa is pretty much a part of the family now, she’s our own personal assistant and we LOVE how much easier and more fun she makes everyday life.

How to Use Alexa Skills

Let me just give you a rundown of our average day and all the ways we interact with Alexa:

Alexa is our alarm clock and wakes everyone up in the morning. While I’m getting the baby fed and changed Alexa plays my five-year-olds morning playlist and reminds him to brush his teeth and take his vitamins.
Alexa tells us the weather so we know how to dress for the day.
My husband finishes the last of the milk so I tell Alexa to add milk to our grocery list.
While my son is eating breakfast he asks Alexa to tell him a joke. Jimmy Fallon pops up on our Echo Show and gives us a few corny jokes. My son thinks they’re hilarious and asks for more.
Alexa shows me my daily calendar so I know what we have planned and any appointments we need to keep. We’ve got an appointment to see the pediatrician in the morning and in the afternoon I need to drop off a package at the post office.
While Brady is at preschool I’m home with the baby. After a few diaper changes I realize it’s time to move up a size so I ask Alexa to order diapers from Amazon.
It’s baby’s nap time so I ask Alexa to play lullabies while I rock and bounce him to sleep.
While he’s napping I try to knock things off my todo list. Alexa pulls up my list of reminders and I try to tackle a few. Write a blog post, send thank you notes, order a birthday present for Brady’s classmate. I ask Alexa to look up horse toys for girls and find a present that’s perfect for his friend. Alexa orders it and thanks to Amazon Prime it will be here tomorrow.
I’m working on adding meditation into my day so I use Alexa Skills to guide me with Guided Meditation.
Alexa also reminds me I need to drink water so I head to the fridge and pour myself a glass.
Brady is home from school and while I work on dinner he entertains himself with FreeTime Unlimited Skills. Sometimes he uses Alexa skills to play a game or listen to a story. Or we have a family dance off!
Dinner is over and it’s time for bath. After he’s squeaky clean Alexa plays a toothbrush timer to make sure he brushes his teeth well. Then it’s off to bed!
His Echo Dot Kids Edition plays a bedtime story and then a few of his favorite sleepy songs. Soon enough he’s asleep and off to Neverland!

How Does Alexa Work?

It’s so easy! You simply ask a question and Alexa responds. Say “Alexa play music” or “Alexa, read the news” and Alexa will respond instantly. There are tons of interactions you can try with Alexa. I love the convenience of having a device that will respond to my voice. No need to search down my phone, especially when my hands are hardly ever free as it is. We can listen to music, control our smart home devices, set alarms and timers, listen to the news, get weather alerts or look up movie times all within seconds.

You can even ask the Echo Show to take a selfie!

Echo Dot Kids Edition and FreeTime on Alexa

The Echo Dot Kids Edition is made for kids. It gives kids the Alexa experience with parental controls. Parents can select what services and skills kids have access to through the Parent Dashboard. The Echo Dot Kids Edition comes with an Echo Dot plus a whole year of FreeTime Unlimited, a kid-friendly case and Amazon’s two-year worry free guarantee.

FreeTime Unlimited on Alexa gives kids access to over 1000 children’s books! Plus they can enjoy kid-friendly, ad-free radio stations, character alarms and tons of fun Alexa skills.