Give your kids an Amazon Echo, and they can do more than just play their favorite music.
Thanks to Alexa, Amazon's voice assistant, you and your children can use it to manage their routines as well. By adding Alexa skills, you can further improve its usefulness to your kids. And with the Alexa app, these features work on the move as well.
Here are just a few ways both you and your kids can use Alexa to manage your kids' routine.
1. Alarms
If your kids keep forgetting to set their alarm clock, Alexa can do it for them. Just use a command like, "Alexa, wake me up at 7 a.m.," and it will set a one-off alarm for them. Alternatively, your kids can say something like, "Wake me up at 7 a.m. on weekdays," and Alexa will set up an ongoing alarm for every Monday to Friday.
To cancel alarms—like during vacations—you just need to ask "Alexa, cancel my alarms this week."
2. Timers
Want your kids to read for a certain amount of time every night? Or need to set a limit on how long they watch TV? Use Alexa to set a timer. Just say, "Alexa, set a time for an hour," or whatever amount of time you want to set. It will then count down and set off a reminder when the is time up.
As with alarms, you always ask Alexa to cancel timers whenever you like. Just say, "Alexa, cancel my timer."
3. Reminders
Between school, homework, clubs, and chores, kids can have a lot to remember. And as a parent, you have to remember things like doctor's appointments and scheduled school closures.
That's where Alexa can come in handy. Your kids can ask it things like, "Remind me to do my math homework on Friday." And you can also do something similar to be reminded of important dates.
You might also be able to enhance this functionality with a skill. For example, the Dog Data skill can help kids remember to feed and walk their canine friends.
4. Lists
Alexa can make lists of just about anything. That's helpful for things like shopping lists, but it can also be useful for your kids. They might, for example, need to take out certain books from the school library, and Alexa can maintain that list for them.
With Alexa, you or your kids can create a variety of lists with different names. And then adding items is as simple as saying something like, "Alexa, add Hamlet to my school book list."
As well as being able to access their lists by asking Alexa, your kids can read them in the Alexa app for iOS or Android. So they could add items using an Echo at home and then pick up their lists at school.
5. Bedtime Stories
Need help convincing your kids to go to bed? You can entertain them with 0ne of the many bedtime story skills in the Alexa store. One of the most popular is Short Bedtime Story. It reads out a story, personalized to whatever name you choose. So, for example, you can ask, "Alexa, tell a bedtime story to James," and the central character in the story will have that name.
Like many Alexa skills, it uses the standard voice, though, which is probably a bit too robotic to be soothing. But your kids might enjoy the novelty of being in their own story.
6. Sleep Sounds
As well as bedtime stories, Alexa can play a variety of sounds to help get your kids to sleep. You can, for example, ask for rain sounds or just white noise. Just like dedicated white noise machines, this will drown out audible distractions with a uniform, predictable sound. You can also use Alexa to play relaxing music from whichever music accounts you have linked.
If you don't want Alexa to play music or sounds all night, you can set a time limit. Just say something like, "Alexa, play rain sounds for four hours." It will then automatically switch off when it's finished.
7. School-Specific Skills
Alexa skills are relatively easy to create, so you might find your children's school has one of its own. There are already a few of these in the Alexa store, offering a variety of information, such as calendar information and announcements. And there are a few that say what particular schools have on their cafeteria menus for the week.
If your children's school does have a skill, it might be worth checking out. Just search for the school in Alexa Skills, and see what comes up.
8. Weather
Will your kids need an umbrella for school this week? If you live anywhere with unpredictable weather, getting the latest weather forecasts is a must. Just ask, "Alexa, what's the weather like this week?" It will then reel off the forecasts for the week.
Your kids can also just ask for the day's weather so they can make their own decisions about what to wear.
9. Calendars
Using the Alexa app, you can link your calendars to Alexa. In the settings of the app, you can connect Google, Microsoft, and Apple accounts. Then you can ask things like, "Alexa, what's on my calendar this week?" If your kids have anything scheduled, Alexa will let you know.
Everyone can add to their calendars through Alexa as well. Just say something along the lines of, "Alexa, add band practice to my calendar for Thursday."
10. Alexa Routines
Another way Alexa can help with routines is with Alexa routines. These are groups of actions, which can be initiated with a single command. There are many uses for Alexa routines, some of which could be useful for kids.
You could, for example, set up your child's Echo with a routine for "Alexa, I'm going to bed." That could turn off the lights, mute all notifications, and play relaxing sounds to help get them to sleep.
Or your kids could say, "Alexa, I'm going to school," and get the day's weather and a run-down of what's in their calendar.
Making Alexa Part of the Routine
You might want your kids to use Alexa to manage their own routines instead of taking care of it for them. Using Alexa is a great way to help them become better organized.
While Alexa can certainly help your kids with their routines, it can't perform miracles. Yes, it can remind them they need to empty the trash. But, no it can't make them do it, sadly. And beyond creating a routine, there are numerous skills that let kids be themselves and have fun.
