Recording Devices With Microphones for Kids

Karaoke-Style Microphone Devices

• For kids who want to emulate their favorite pop idols, a range of karaoke-style microphones is available. These devices look like a real microphone and some even come with a few songs installed. These songs play through the microphone while the child can sing along. Kids can also use these devices to record their own voice and play it back. The karaoke-style microphones are often branded, such as the "Hannah Montana: The Movie - Rockin' Concert Microphone" and "Barbie Pink Recording Microphone." Karaoke-style microphones like the "Okideoke" come with children's songs for the young ones to sing along while recording their voices.

Voice-Changing Devices

• Voice-changing devices allow children to record their own voices or any other sound and then make changes to it during playback. The speed and pitch of the recorded sound can be modified for amusing results. Some of these devices also have presets like "robot" or "alien" to which voices can be changed. The recording capacity of these devices is usually limited to only a few seconds. The "Yada Yada Yada voice recorder" and "Fisher-Price Tuff Stuff Tape Recorder with Voice Warp" are examples of voice-changing devices for kids.

Plush-Toy Microphone Devices

• Plush toys are very popular among young children and some even contain a concealed microphone for recording short snippets. These voice recordings can then be played back or erased and re-recorded. The advantage of plush-toy microphone devices is that all the electronic parts are inside the toy. Unlike other devices, they don't break easily when dropped and there is no danger of the child getting his hands on electronic parts. The "Chatimal" plush toys come in a variety of different animals like a hamster and meerkat. There are many cheap variations of this kind of recording device.

Music Players with Microphone

• One of the traditional recording devices with microphones for kids is the music player. These devices used to work with tapes and allowed the playback of music while kids sing and record themselves. Newer models work with MP3s and can be connected to a computer in order to download new music. Since these devices are generally more fragile and contain more buttons than some of the other devices, they are best suited to older children.