Calm Tech Certified™ for Kids: Our Newest Cohort
- Amber Case
- 1 hour ago
- 8 min read
At the Calm Tech Institute, we believe children deserve technology that supports their development rather than hijacking it. Today, we're proud to announce seven newly Calm Tech Certified products designed specifically with kids in mind. Each one was evaluated against our rigorous 81-point framework for attention-aware design.
When a product earns this certification for kids, it means it has demonstrated, at every level of our framework, principles of Calm Technology®: inform without overburdening, make use of peripheral attention, communicate without speaking, and don't increase screentime.
LittleHippo MELLA | Ready To Rise Children's Trainer
MELLA is an all-in-one children's sleep trainer, alarm clock, night light, and sound machine designed to help toddlers and young children understand when it's time to sleep and when it's okay to wake up.
MELLA solves a very real problem: children who cannot tell time still need to learn when to wake up and when to stay in bed, and it does so with a face and a color rather than a screen full of data.
Rather than relying on numbers, which younger children might not yet be able to read, MELLA uses facial expressions and gentle color changes to communicate: eyes closed at sleep time, a yellow glow in the pre-wake window, and a bright green smile at wake time. It also offers three soothing sound options and six adjustable night light colors.
MELLA is a strong performer on our evaluation because it replaces abstract digital information with human-readable signals that a toddler can genuinely understand. This is calm technology at its clearest: the right amount of information, communicated in the simplest possible way, precisely when needed.
MELLA is crafted from child-safe ABS and silicone and complies with FCC, CE, RoHS, CA65, REACH, and CPSIA standards.
Makedo
Makedo makes an open-ended cardboard construction system consisting of safe, affordable, and reusable tools.
In this launch, we've certified the Fold-Roller and the Safe-Saw ($9 each), aimed at ages 5 to 12.
Makedo is what we mean when we talk about tools that amplify human capability. The technology is almost invisible: what you see is a child building a spaceship out of a cereal box and figuring out structural engineering as they go.
With a Makedo kit and a pile of recycled cardboard boxes, children can build forts, costumes, vehicles, creatures, and anything else they can imagine. The system has no instructions, no required projects, and no prescribed outcome. It simply gives children the physical means to realize their own ideas.
Makedo passes our evaluation because it embodies several of the core principles of calm technology simultaneously: it requires the smallest possible amount of attention (just pick up a tool and start), it amplifies the best of what children can do without substituting for their creativity, and it works entirely in the physical world: no screens, batteries, or software.
Makedo reusability means the tools can be used thousands of times, building sustained creative habits rather than providing a single dopamine hit or becoming e-waste. Makedo is also independently safety-tested to international standards, including ASTM F963 and EN71.
ChompSaw by Chompshop
ChompSaw is a kid-safe power tool designed for cutting cardboard, built for children ages 5 and up. Rather than using sharp blades or spinning parts, it operates with a rapid, contained up-and-down punching motion that can cut through cardboard, craft foam, and fabric without posing any risk to small fingers.
Created by graduates of the Integrated Product Design program at U Penn, ChompSaw is currently used in STEAM classrooms, makerspaces, summer camps, and home workshops all over the United States.
ChompSaw represents everything we want to see more of in children's design. It hands a child a real capability and creates a pass-through technology that allows a kid to safely play (with a power tool!) while creating new concepts on their own. There’s a tactile feel and feedback from cutting and shaping the cardboard with the saw. It’s a truly hands-on piece of technology where kids control how the material is shaped. It truly is a kids bandsaw. This is alongside technology that hopefully gets kids into careers of future making.
ChompSaw is both a toy and a tool. It has no notifications, attention-holding lights, or digital engagement loop. Children must bring their own imagination to it. The experience is entirely open-ended: you supply the cardboard, the child supplies the vision. This is exactly the kind of technology our framework rewards: minimal in its demands on attention, and maximal in what it enables. ChompSaw meets ASTM F963, CPSC, CPSIA, and CA Prop 65 safety standards.
As with any power tool, safety glasses and earplugs are recommended. It's understandably loud, and it's far more comfortable to use with ear protection. Starting that habit early is a good idea, too!
Time Timer® Home MOD Protect Case Bunny and Tread Covers
Our newest certification rewards the modularity of the Time Timer® Home MOD line. Each cover is silicone, kid-safe, and easy to swap out. These new, even more kid-friendly shapes can pop onto any timer to make it more fun and far more durable.
Time Timer® was invented in 1994 by Jan Rogers to help her young child understand transitions between daily activities.
It works through a patented colored disk that visibly disappears as time elapses — making the abstract concept of “how much time is left” immediately concrete and legible.
The Time Timer® MOD Home Edition operates silently, with an optional audible alert when time is up, and requires no digital interface whatsoever.
Time Timer has been Calm Tech Certified™ since our earliest cohorts. It continues to earn its certification because it is one of the purest expressions of Calm Technology™ principles: the device communicates time remaining through the periphery of a child's awareness rather than demanding their focus. Research consistently shows it reduces time-related anxiety for children, adults, and neurodivergent individuals alike. Time Timer is a trusted tool in classrooms, therapy rooms, and homes around the world.
We certified the Time Timer® Home MOD in our first class of Calm Tech Certification as a standout example of Calm Technology®.
Mighty 3 (2026 Edition)
The Mighty 3 (2026 Edition) is a screen-free, portable music player that downloads and stores Spotify and Amazon Music playlists – including songs, podcasts, and audiobooks- for completely offline playback. Roughly the size of a large postage stamp, it clips onto clothing and works entirely through physical buttons. Parents curate the playlists; children use simple physical buttons to play, pause, and skip. The 2026 edition offers improved software stability, 8-plus hours of battery life, and enhanced Bluetooth performance compared to its predecessor.
For kids, the Mighty 3 provides access to music and stories without access to everything else -- something that has become genuinely rare.
It's important to note that this device works only with Amazon Music or Spotify Premium. Due to the nature of these services, the device must be resynced every 30 days to keep working. While useful for refreshing playlists and downloading new collections, this is something required right now to keep the devices working.
We consider this an in-between device that offers some advantages of the current era as well as the past. Once the device is paired, authenticated, and a playlist is downloaded, there's only music, physical buttons, and no screen to get lost in, and we think this screen-free, button-forward approach is a great step in the right direction.
Mighty 3 2026 WAVE
The Mighty 3 2026 WAVE is the fully waterproof variant of the Mighty 3, rated for swimming and submersion.
For active families, the WAVE screen-free listening to more environments. WAVE is a fully waterproof Mighty 3 2026 model, making it suitable for pool days, beach trips, and the inevitable bathtime request. It carries all the same features as the Mighty 3 2026, such as offline Spotify and Amazon Music playback, screen-free physical controls, and parent-curated playlists.
Returning Certified Products
Time Timer® MAX
Recently certified, the Time Timer® MAX is an ideal timer for groups. MAX's extra-large size is visible across the room, making it useful for big spaces and activities such as gymnasiums, cafeterias, auditoriums, and large meeting rooms.
MAX is also eight timers in one – with customizable durations and changeable timer faces, the MAX can countdown as low as 5 minutes or as high as 24 hours. The Time Timer® MAX includes 3 double-sided timer faces – 5/15 minutes, 30/60 minutes, and 120 minutes - and a Dry Erase Board timer face, allowing maximum flexibility and customization.
HiRO (Norwegian-Language Kids Player)
HiRO is a Norwegian-designed screen-free audio speaker for children ages 18 months to 8 years. Children can operate it entirely on their own by tapping small physical HiRO cards to it — each featuring stories, music, podcasts, and audio experiences. There are no logins, menus, scrolling interfaces, of screens of any kind. Once content is downloaded via a companion parent app, HiRO functions completely offline, anywhere. The physical card interaction is intuitive enough for toddlers to master independently.
Children have full agency over what they listen to through a physical gesture, without any of the addictive interface patterns that digital platforms layer on top of content. The parent controls the content library, and the child controls the experience. This division of responsibility is a thoughtful, age-appropriate design at its best. Originally part of our Pre-Certification program, we're excited to bring it officially to Calm Tech Certified™ status!
Aura Carver and Aspen Frames
Aura frames provide a family-friendly experience for everyone, across distant homes, without needing to constantly look at a phone to share photos with one another. One of our earlier certifications, we're pleased to be adding them to this list.
Research shows that family photos in the home environment provide psychological advantages. A study conducted by researchers from Tulane University and Murfreesboro City School found that children surrounded by personal photos experienced a 37% boost in observable self-esteem behaviors in five weeks.
During our product testing phase, we found that the experience of these frames felt like they lived in the real environment, not inside a portal to cyberspace.
A good technology is a pass-through one, in that it makes digital information feel like part of the physical environment. This distinction matters because most digital displays demand we focus on the screen, engage with the screen, and process multiple streams of information at once.
What's Next?
We're so excited to announce the first class of Kid-Friendly Calm Technology®, and we look forward to discovering and certifying future products! Do you know of a kid-centered product that is making a difference in the world, or have you and your kids found something amazing? Let us know!