[Foreignborn]

Has anyone built a screenless music player for their kids, or perhaps other projects that allow safe, independent exploration without a phone?

I'm interested in creating something for my children to discover music beyond my own collection. My kid doesn't have a phone, and so doesn't really have any autonomy in finding and playing music (as the article points out).

I recall DIY projects with NFC-enabled printed albums or perhaps using eink tags (though expensive). Maybe I'd hook it up to some api like Bandcamp (or *arr apps if need be).

[janetmissed]

The most practical/cheap option would probably be an old phone with parental locks and access to a streaming service. It'd be much more functional and cheaper than any dedicated screenless device, and it gives a kid much more autonomy. It's understandable to want to protect kids from predatory algorithms, but music streaming services are probably the least predatory out of all the "big" apps. Also they never stopped making cheap mp3 players, if you want to have complete control over their music discovery

[bruceboughton]

Yes, Yoto! It’s not just for (kids) audiobooks, they have music cards too. And you can upload your own MP3s to their blank cards, or use it as a Bluetooth speaker.

[doublerabbit]

Yoto! looks interesting. My nephew got a Voxblock [0] for Christmas and loves it.

Practical and easy. It's not interactive and you can buy an wide collection of audio books (made with recycled cardboard) and listen to it with headphones

[0] https://voxblock.co.uk/

[volteret4]

Maybe an old walkman, discman? the "phisicality" of the music is a good thing we usually forgot about.

[beAbU]

iPod?

[galleywest200]

Yes, I agree with this poster. Just buy your child an MP3 player, they are still made today and lack internet connectivity. You can buy songs on BandCamp, download the files, and then throw songs on the SD card.