With today’s tech it’s great to be able to stay in touch with our kids no matter where they are or where we are.  Sometimes you don’t necessarily want them to have a full-blown smartphone. Kid’s smartwatches have been around for a while. There are some good options for parents who want to be connected with their kids.  The TickTalk 3 is one of the newest.

The Tick Talk 3 is the first Tick Talk smartwatch to include a camera.  Some may have security concerns with a camera on your kid’s wrist but it lets parent video chat with those little ones.  You’ll have to use the Tick Talk app on your phone to make a video call with the watch. That means only Mom and Dad can video chat with the kids.  In my testing I thought video quality was OK, pretty much what I expected from a video call on a kid’s smartwatch but certainly not the quality you get from an Apple Facetime call.

The features from the previous Tick Talk watches are also still packed in.  You can call people who Mom and Dad pre-select via the app. Same with receiving text messages.  Finally, the Tick Talk 3 also gives kids the option to send messages back. Parents have the added benefit of being able to set up reminders to pop up on their child’s phone.

The most important feature, in my mind, is that you can locate the watch at any time.  You can also look at the location history to see where your child has been. This is clutch for any parent who wants peace of mind.  

Tick Talk 3 is designed to work with a pay-as-you-go SIM card.  Plans are as cheap as $10/month that covers a decent amount of talk, text and data.  

The newest Tick Talk 3 is a bit chunky.  On the tiny wrist of a child, I think it looks a bit big.   Otherwise, it’s a great option for any parent who wants to keep in touch with their kid without handing over a full-featured smartphone.

The Tick Talk 3 sells for $170 at myticktalk.com