Skip to main content
Tech Radar TechRadar the technology experts
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
RSS
Asia
flag of Singapore
Singapore
Europe
flag of Danmark
Danmark
flag of Suomi
Suomi
flag of Norge
Norge
flag of Sverige
Sverige
flag of UK
UK
flag of Italia
Italia
flag of Nederland
Nederland
flag of België (Nederlands)
België (Nederlands)
flag of France
France
flag of Deutschland
Deutschland
flag of España
España
North America
flag of US (English)
US (English)
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of México
México
Australasia
flag of Australia
Australia
flag of New Zealand
New Zealand
  • Phones
  • Computing
  • TVs
  • AI
  • Streaming
  • Health
  • Audio
  • VPN
  • More
    • Cameras
    • Home
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Opinion
    • How to
    • Versus
    • Deals
    • Coupons
    • Best
Tech Radar Pro
Tech Radar Gaming
Trending
  • Amazon Prime Day
  • Back to school
  • Nintendo Switch 2
  • Best VPN
  • ChatGPT
  • NYT Wordle today
  • Best laptop
  • Best web hosting
Recommended reading
A young boy hugs his father from behind while they look at a laptop.
Pro Essential tips for keeping your child safe online
Man using tablet to control smart lights in kitchen while holding child
Smart Home Welcome to TechRadar's Smart Home Week
Couple arriving home to find smart lights illuminated
Smart Home Think smart home tech isn't for you? Here are 5 easy ways it could change your life
Two children outdoors using laptops.
Software & Services Best parental control app of 2025: tested, ranked and reviewed by the experts
Father and son using a tablet to control a smart light in a kitchen
Smart Home Not ready for a full smart home refit? Here are three simple smart home hacks to make every day easier
happy girl with tablet pc computer writing to notebook at home
Peripherals & Accessories The best kids' desks 2025: top children's desks for study and play
Person using smartphone app to control various smart home devices
Smart Plugs 11 great uses for a smart plug: upgrade all the 'dumb' devices in your home for an easier life
  1. Tech

How to smarten up the kid's room

How-to
By Jenneth Orantia published 9 November 2015

How to upgrade your child's room with the latest tech.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

How to smarten up the kid's room

How to smarten up the kid's room

Smart home gadgets aren't just for the grown-ups. You can use these devices to benefit the kids as well, whether it's keeping tabs on them while they're in and out of the house or helping them with their homework.

Page 1 of 5
Page 1 of 5
Smart safety at home

Smart safety at home

For kids that are too young to need their own privacy, installing a smart security camera like the Belkin NetCam HD+ offers multiple benefits.

Once it's in place, you can quickly check what the kids are up to from another part of the house by opening the NetCam app on your smartphone or tablet and checking out the live video feed.

The night vision mode also works a treat for checking up on sleeping babies and toddlers, switching to a high-visibility monochrome view courtesy of the 12 infrared LEDs that circle the camera lens.

The Belkin NetCam HD+ can perform a few other tricks, too. Using the built-in two-way intercom, you can tell your kids to come down for dinner or stop fighting with their siblings without having to yell up the stairs like a crazy person.

If you catch your kids doing something particularly adorable (or naughty), you can snap photos or videos from the NetCam app, which are saved to your mobile device.

Since it works over both a Wi-Fi and 3G/4G data connection, you can also set it up as a 'nanny cam' when you've got a babysitter over to check that the kids have gone to bed on time.

Page 2 of 5
Page 2 of 5
Location, location, location

Location, location, location

But what if your kids are too old to have a video camera playing big brother in their bedroom?

You can still keep tabs on them without stepping over the line using a smartphone solution, and since this works both in and out of the house, it's actually a more complete solution than the stay-at-home IP camera.

For Apple-only households, the new location-sharing features available since iOS 8 will keep track of where your kids are at any time. To set up family sharing, go to Settings > iCloud and tap 'Set Up Family Sharing'.

You'll need to confirm that you're the family 'organiser' – which essentially means that everyone that you sign in as part of the family will be able to use your credit card to make iTunes and App Store purchases.

Once you're set up as the organiser, you'll need to invite other family members to join the group. This is done by going to Settings > iCloud > Add Family Member, however this step assumes the person already has an Apple ID. For kids that are too young to create one, you can set one up on their behalf by going to Settings > iCloud > Family, tapping the small "Create an Apple ID for a child" at the bottom of the screen, and going through the rest of the prompts.

After your kids have accepted the Family Sharing Invitation and opted to share their location, you'll be able to see their location at any time by downloading the Find My Friends app. From here, you can also set up notifications so that you get an alert whenever that family member arrives or leaves a particular location.

If you wanted to set this up for his school, for instance, tap on 'Notify me', tap 'Leaves' and tap the 'Change location' link to change the location to their school.

Google doesn't have an equivalent feature in Android, but for non-Apple households, Life360 is a decent third party alternative that works across iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

Page 3 of 5
Page 3 of 5
New age note taking

New age note taking

Modern kids may be used to lugging laptops and tablets around, but as convenient as these devices are, they may not be the best tools for helping with their schoolwork.

Numerous studies have found that handwriting, as slow as it is compared to typing on a keyboard, is better suited for learning, as the effort of having to summarise what the teacher is saying into written form (as opposed to speedily typing everything out) helps cement that material in their memory. Essentially, noting things down by hand engages the part of the brain that is associated with memory formation more so than typing it out on a keyboard.

Up till now, tablet manufacturers like Microsoft and its Surface Pro 4 have tried to recreate the handwriting experience on a touchscreen, but these still lag significantly behind the manual process.

The same can be said for Bluetooth styluses that are designed to work with iPads. This is where a device like the Livescribe 3 Smartpen comes in handy.

It works much like a regular pen, in that you write things down on paper (albeit specially printed Livescribe dot paper), but everything is then wirelessly transmitted to an iOS or Android device over Bluetooth, and from there, you can convert your handwriting to text (provided your scribbles are neat enough), send it on to schoolmates as a PDF, or share it with popular note-taking platforms OneNote or Evernote.

The steep up-front price of the pen isn't the only thing you'll need to factor in, though. You'll also need to buy special Livescribe notepads, as the digital recognition doesn't work when you write on regular paper.

The good news is that the notepads aren't too expensive, and if you're really skint, you can print Livescribe dot paper for free using a laser printer.

Page 4 of 5
Page 4 of 5
Upgrade your paperbacks

Upgrade your paperbacks

Reading books on paper is for amateurs. Switching to a digital solution will not only save money (popular classics that are out of copyright can be downloaded for free on most e-reader platforms, such as A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Othello by William Shakespeare, and The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde), but you can do more with the text while you're reading it.

Using the Kindle app (available iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Windows 10 and Mac), you can tap and hold on any word to see its definition in a dictionary or Wikipedia, and even translate the word to a different language.

You'll never lose your page in a book again, as it automatically opens to the last page you were reading, and you can also search for specific terms in the book, which is handy if you're studying a text and need to find a quote or theme.

Another nifty feature for studying books is X-Ray, which shows you where key people, places and terms appear throughout the book.

Page 5 of 5
Page 5 of 5
Jenneth Orantia
Read more
A young boy hugs his father from behind while they look at a laptop.
Essential tips for keeping your child safe online
Man using tablet to control smart lights in kitchen while holding child
Welcome to TechRadar's Smart Home Week
Couple arriving home to find smart lights illuminated
Think smart home tech isn't for you? Here are 5 easy ways it could change your life
Two children outdoors using laptops.
Best parental control app of 2025: tested, ranked and reviewed by the experts
Father and son using a tablet to control a smart light in a kitchen
Not ready for a full smart home refit? Here are three simple smart home hacks to make every day easier
happy girl with tablet pc computer writing to notebook at home
The best kids' desks 2025: top children's desks for study and play
Latest in Tech
ICYMI graphic
ICYMI: the 8 biggest tech stories of the week, from Prime Day deals to Samsung's shiny new foldables
Two men holding the all-new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Z Fold 7
Samsung's big folding phone redesign is a breath of fresh air in a sea of AI-first phone launches
The Mac mini M4 on a blue background with text saying Price Cut.
Shut up and take my money! The Mac mini (M4) is the only Prime Day deal I’m personally interested in
A Nintendo Switch 2 next to hands holding the Sigma BF and a B&O Bluetooth speaker sitting on a table
The best tech of 2025 so far – the 17 finest gadgets we've tested this year
The Xbox Series X Digital next to the new Dyson Airwrap and Nothing Headphone (1)
ICYMI: the week's 7 biggest tech stories from Spotify's suspected AI band to Nothing's first over-ear headphones
Collage of tech deals from the Best Buy 4th of July sale
Best Buy's massive 4th of July sale ends soon – here are the 32 best deals I'd buy before it's too late
Latest in How Tos
LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 12: Wimbledon tennis balls sit ready on the Queens Club practice court at The Queen's Club on June 12, 2025 in London, England.
How to watch Sinner vs Alcaraz Wimbledon on BBC iPlayer (it's free)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 11: Carlos Alcaraz of Spain plays a forehand volley against Taylor Fritz of United States during the Gentlemen's Singles semi-final match on day twelve of The Championships Wimbledon 2025 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 11, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
How to watch Alcaraz vs Sinner online: live stream Wimbledon 2025 men's final
Amanda Anisimova of the United States celebrates her victory with her nephew Jackson after her victory against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the Quarter-Finals of the Ladies' Singles Competition
How to watch Wimbledon women's final on BBC iPlayer (it's FREE) today
Owen Farrell in training for British & Irish Lions.
AUNZ Invitational vs Lions FREE streams: How to watch British & Irish Lions tour live online from anywhere
Three members of staff wave towards a red helicopter in Billion Dollar Playground
How to watch Billion Dollar Playground season 1 for free online from anywhere
Jofra Archer in practice for England cricket.
How to watch England vs India 3rd Test: Live stream cricket online – India need another 135 runs to win, England want six wickets on Day 5
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. 1
    Self-destructing internal SSD goes live with a one-click unstoppable data destruction promise - even if the power supply is cut
  2. 2
    Next-gen PCIe 6.0 SSD to reach 512GB in capacity and 28GBps in performance, almost 2X faster than PCIe 5.0, but I can't see it reaching my desktop PC before 2030
  3. 3
    This gorgeous minimalist computer monitor is powered by a single cable — but don't call it a portable monitor
  4. 4
    Chinese vendor launches first workstation PC with Intel's fastest CPU and up to two Arc Pro B60 GPUs, possibly with 48GB of RAM each
  5. 5
    This addictive Netflix games app might not be for you but your kids are gonna love it

TechRadar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Web notifications
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...