I recently got to borrow some Air Drives safe headphones for kids. They are incredibly lightweight headphones which hook over your child’s ears. They are “open” headphones as opposed to “closed” which means that you child will also be able to hear what is going on around them. Both the earpieces as well as the cord feel sturdy, and I doubt your kids will be able to break them any time soon. The plug is very slim so, for example, it has no problem connecting to my iPhone.

Traditional headphones can be fine for adults, but children are more likely to damage their hearing by turning the volume up too high. The earpieces are adjustable — think Gumby — and do not go inside the ear. Air Drives headphones are designed to keep the volume at a safe level and away from direct contact with the ear.

I tried them on my 3, 5, and 5 ¾ year old boys and for each, their first reaction was giggles. (The picture is of my 3-year-old, and he’s a pretty small guy.) It was fun for them not to have their head smashed by huge, heavy headphones. There was no “plug” that they had to make sure didn’t fall out of their ear. They could even lie with their ear on a pillow and feel comfortable. I was able to have a conversation with them while they listened to music (Talking Heads, if you must know), and I liked not having them cut off from the world by their headphones.

These would be a great gift for a child you know is getting a game system, iPod, computer, or CD player this year. The kid will love the gift, and the parents will appreciate that these headphones help avoid hearing damage in their children.

Where to buy

Air Drives are available direct from AirDrives.com as well as at Amazon for $70. A slick version for adults is available as well.

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