8 best walkie talkies for kids for sleepovers and outdoor adventures

I’ve never really thought of walkie talkies as particularly aesthetically pleasing, but these stylish devices from The ZooFamily are undeniably cute and take the top spot as the best walkie talkies for kids. It was love at first sight for my six-year-old (who swiftly bagsied the unicorn unit). The soft silicone finish, fox and unicorn designs and child-appropriate sizing got the instant thumbs up from all of us, as did the lanyard attachments, which were a very welcome addition when we took these out on a long walk.

With a choice of eight channels, and simple left and right buttons to flick between them, these walkie talkies were so easy to use. With a maximum range of 3km in the open air, they have the joint longest range (along with the Science Mad! Digital Walkie Talkies) and I was so impressed with how far these stretched and the clarity of sound quality. We even tested them out when one child was in the car and the other at home, and they stretched a surprising distance before we lost connection – not bad!

While the built-in flashlight isn’t as powerful as the others in the round-up, it’s still a handy add-on. They may be towards the pricier end for walkie talkies (the second most expensive in my round-up) but these are robust, exceptional quality and cute without being babyish, meaning they should last you many years. I love that the company plant a tree for every product sold, too.

They may appear basic, thanks to their one-button design, but these bargain Groov-e cuties walkie talkies really impressed us all. For a start, they are incredibly simple to use, with a sliding on/off button on one side and a push-to-talk button on the other. This, paired with the colourful dinosaur design (they are also available in a unicorn print), make them a perfect choice for very little kids.

Despite their diminutive size, these walkie talkies have a 500m range, and we found the reception stretched from a hiding place inside to the garden without a dip in sound clarity. They are lightweight enough to carry around easily, but also have a belt clip if needed.

For less than £14, I think the Groov-e models are the best budget walkie talkies for kids and a brilliant first set for little kids. I’m also happy to report that these are way more durable than expected, having survived quite an epic drop from the top of the climbing frame, completely unharmed!

These Sciene Mad digital walkie talkies have been a firm favourite in our house for years now. Compact and slim, with just five buttons to contend with, they are so simple for children to get to grips with and I think they’re excellent value for money.

Like The ZooFamily devices, the Science Mad digital walkie talkies boast a range of up to 3km and we’ve found this to be a fair estimate when outdoors in open fields (and good weather). The sound quality is hard to beat, and my nine-year-old tester liked the traditional design, which felt quite grown up.

While they do have a detachable belt clip, it would have been even better if the walkie talkies came with a wrist strap or lanyard – but I’m just being picky. Overall I think these walkie talkies are a brilliant all-rounder and a worthy pick as the best walkie talkies for older kids.

In bright neon coral and turquoise – excellent for spotting when one gets lost down the back of the sofa FYI – the Com_Creator video walkie talkies are the only ones in my round-up to offer video calling. And not just video calling; there’s also a range of effects you can add to your live image (think hipster beard and bunny nose/ears). It was a feature that had my testers in fits of giggles every time they played with these.

You can also use the walkie talkies in audio mode and, while the sound clarity wasn’t up there with the likes of The ZooFamily, it was clear enough for my testers to communicate. They get extra points for the voice changing effects, in particular the baby voice which went down a treat with my testers.

I love that these can be recharged using the USB-C cable included, saving me from having to dig out yet more batteries. After a month of testing, we’re still operating on a single charge, which is pretty good going. While they are expensive, the video element is a big pull and I think older kids in particular will have great fun with these.

Over my many years reviewing kids’ toys, I’ve often been a little disappointed with the quality of character-branded products. Not so with these Paw Patrol walkie talkies. They absolutely hold their own against some of the best kids’ walkie talkies we tested, offering great sound quality, impressive range and a surprisingly powerful built-in flashlight.

My two testers are out of the Paw Patrol-obsessed years now (sob!) but even they could appreciate the Chase and Rubble themed handsets, in bright blue and yellow. We also all loved the VOX setting (the only walkie talkies in this list to offer this function) where they can be used hands-free, automatically transmitting when you speak. It’s a bit of a faff to activate, so it’s best for an adult to change the settings.

With nine buttons per unit, it can get a little confusing for kids – my testers stuck with the talk button and light. Just let them know to avoid the zig-zag arrow which starts scanning through all the channels. I found it a little tricky to stop it at the right time to synch channels again.

That said, it’s a great set, particularly for the £25 price point. I also like the fact both units are rechargeable via the USB-C cable included and there’s a clear battery level indicator for kids to keep track.

If you’re concerned about privacy, these VTech walkie talkies are a good pick. Instead of tapping into radio channels, they operate on an encrypted digital connection that no one else can access.

The handsets themselves are quite chunky; definitely the largest and heaviest out of all the walkie talkies we tested. While my nine-year-old had no issues, it was a two-handed job to navigate all the buttons. And there are a lot of buttons! With loads of additional features to access, I thought it would be tricky for my kids to work out which buttons did what, but they both figured it out within minutes and with zero guidance from me. Kids these days, hey?

As well as working as traditional audio walkie talkies, you can send ‘greetings cards’ and ‘wishes’ between the devices – you have to blow into the microphone to open the ‘wish’, which I thought was a cute touch. However, without a doubt, the thing that had my two testers in hysterics was the voice changing effects, which they came back to again and again.

The handset also includes four games, which you can play independently or against someone on the other walkie talkie. While the kids enjoyed these, I wasn’t so keen on the additional screen time. Regardless, these walkie talkies proved very popular with both my six- and nine-year old testers.

Whether it’s for exploring the campsite on holiday or playing a game of secret agents around the house, the Science Mad FM walkie talkies certainly do the job. These are rather basic, with no digital display – don’t be fooled, it’s actually just a sticker on the front panel. That said, there’s nothing wrong with basic when you’re simply after an affordable walkie talkie set that kids of all ages can enjoy.

Personally I found it impossible to get the stiff belt clips off to insert the batteries, but I managed to get them up and running with these still attached. Once the walkie talkies were on, my two testers set about pushing the 120m range to the limit as they played hide and seek at home. At no point did the signal cut out and sound quality was decent, so no complaints there.

These really are very lightweight – definitely the lightest of the bunch – so a good choice for little kids. And, with just the power, talk and call button (the latter to alert the other walkie talkie holder that you want to talk) they are super-simple to operate.