Leap introduces LeapBand: the first wearable fitness tracker for kids

If you’re a geek parent, you’ve probably given your kids a LeapPad at some point in your life. For those know know nothing about it, Leap’s LeapPad is an inexpensive tablet for the little people, and it’s pretty damn good. But would you plonk a toddler-friendly fitness tracker on your children’s wrists? Leap hopes so, hence all the build-up I wrote before this sentence.

This is the LeapBand, a R500 (US$50 give or take) activity tracker available sometime September in the colours of green, pink, blue or orange. Did I mention that it’s cute as hell? Just look at it.

Fitness trackers are everywhere, but does this mean kids should get in on the game? Well yes, of course. Childhood obesity is quite real, and rather dangerous.

Yet kids bore easily, well I did. So the LeapBand sorts this out by making a game of it all. LeapBand’s core is a virtual pet, which can be rewarded with cool stuff from accrued activity points. The more active the kid is, the more points they can earn to spend towards their little virtual pet (cat, dog, dragon, monkey, panda, penguin, robot or unicorn).

LeapBand’s fairly immune to destruction and as such, it’s water-resistant. Bonus feature: it doubles up as an analogue and digital watch.

And here’s what Leap says of it.

LeapBand is a great way to get kids up and active and help them develop a strong foundation for healthy lifestyles. LeapBand takes inspiration from the growing trend of adult fitness wearable technology and makes it perfect for kids by bringing the fun and play of physical activities to life with their very own virtual pets. One of the best parts of the LeapBand experience is that kids will have so much fun playing they may not realise all of the physical exercise they are experiencing and the healthy habits they are learning.

Fun!

There’s local multiplayer as well, and kids can compete, Pokemon-style with the Petathlon Games iOS/Android/LeapPad app. We’ll get a hands-on before release, but by the sound of it, the LeapBand has the potential to turn kids into fitter, healthier mini-geeks.