The Best Alarm Clocks for Kids of 2024

If you want an alarm clock that can take your child from infancy through college, the Hatch Rest+ is the way to go. This is the ultimate multi-functional gadget, in that it offers all of the same capabilities of the LittleHippo Mella—alarm, OK to wake clock, white noise, nightlight—but it can also be used as a two-way audio baby monitor.

The Hatch Rest+ integrates with a companion app, which is necessary to do anything with this clock other than control brightness and volume. I found the app intuitive and easy to use, and I loved (loved!) that parents are able to create separate schedules for different days of the week. This enabled me to create both a "weekend" and "weekday" alarm program so that I didn't have to remember to turn off or change an alarm on days when the kids didn't have to get up for school.

While the Hatch Rest+ offers an impressive selection of 11 sound effects, it lacks a classic alarm sound. I tried all the sounds on offer and raised the volume to the maximum level, but none of the lovely choices were capable of waking up either of my children. Chirping birds, lullabies, and wind in the trees sounds are wonderful options for the sound machine aspect of this clock, but they just don't work as effectively as a classic, loud alarm tone. The sound of waves crashing on the shore is definitely more pleasant than a beeping alarm, but if it doesn't serve to wake your sleepyhead up, that's a bit beside the point.

For kids who are just learning to tell time, the Teach Me Time! clock is a great choice. It still has an alarm, OK to wake functionality, and built-in nightlight—but it will also tell your child what time it is with the press of a button. While this wasn't a feature that my kids needed, they both enjoyed pushing the button and listening to the clock talk, so it would definitely appeal to kids in the preschool age range.

Setting the clock is pretty straightforward, but it does take a few focused minutes to get it done correctly. It's very easy to turn the alarm off—you just tap the alarm button—but, as with most of the clocks, there's no way to set varying schedules for different days of the week.

My kids did not like the look of this clock, going so far as to call it "ugly." It's definitely not as cute as some of the other clocks that we tested, which may be why they gave it a harsh rating. My main complaint was that it just didn’t feel as durable as the Mella or the Hatch, and since kids—especially toddlers—tend to be tough on toys and gadgets, I wasn't sure if the Teach Me Time! clock would last until they outgrew it.

The first thing one notices about the Capello Dream Cloud is that it's absolutely adorable. It's a compact size that's just right for a small bedside table, and the cloud shape was a winner with both of my kids, as well as all their friends.

There isn't any sound machine function with the Dream Cloud, but it does have a built-in nightlight, and it can be used as either an alarm clock or an OK to wake clock. The alarm was only effective in waking my daughter two times out of five, but it does produce a traditional, pretty loud beeping sound that may work better for kids who don't sleep as deeply.

It was simple to set and easy to disable the alarm, but the Dream Cloud doesn't offer different alarm schedules, relying on the parent to remember to set or turn off the alarm on the appropriate weekdays. One of our favorite features of the Dream Cloud is that in order to snooze the alarm you gently tap the top of the cloud—no need to hit a specific, hard-to-find-when-you're-drowsy button.

The biggest issue that we encountered was that the built-in nightlight was too bright, and it ended up waking my daughter up way before her alarm. The clock does offer a way to adjust the brightness, but even at the lowest setting it was too bright to have next to her bed without disturbing her sleep.

For a traditional alarm clock that will appeal to kids and teenagers alike, the Peakeep is a great option. It's available in a variety of different colors, and the seafoam green shade we tested appealed to both my son and my daughter alike.

The Peakeep is an updated version of ‘80s digital alarm clocks, and also includes a built-in nightlight with adjustable brightness as well as a temperature display. The thermometer feature was pretty much meaningless to my kids—they're still at the age where it's just "hot" or "cold" out—but could be useful for teens who want to know whether to wear their winter shorts or their summer shorts.

The alarm is loud and annoying—just what one wants in an actual alarm!—and it was effective at waking my kids up almost every single day that we tested it. The only issue with the alarm is that it turns itself off after a few minutes—which could be a problem for especially deep sleepers who take longer to wake up.

Another complaint about the Peakeep is that it runs entirely on battery power and there's no way to plug it in. While I appreciate having batteries as a back-up power source, I really wish that I'd been able to plug the Peakeep in, since we use way too many batteries as it is.

I'd heard lots of rave reviews for this popular clock, but every aspect of testing the Good Nite Lite was incredibly frustrating, beginning with just opening the plastic storage box it comes in!

While the design of this clock is creative—a smiling blue moon face at night and a yellow sunshine in the morning—setting the clock was a total pain. It's a complicated system: The clock requires battery power to be set, but it only runs its program when it's plugged into an outlet. This would be fine if the buttons were on the front of the clock, but they're on the back, so once you plug it in you can't access the buttons without unplugging the clock again.

I appreciated that the Good Nite Lite came with a battery already inside as well as an extra one, but neither of those batteries worked, and I ended up having to purchase my own watch battery in order to set the alarm. Once I was able to get the clock to power on, I was able to set it, but the buttons are squirrelly, and it didn't always work correctly.

The Good Nite Lite also doesn't have an audio alarm, so if you have a kid who needs noise to wake up, this is not going to work for you. However, if you're just trying to get your toddler to stay in bed later, they might respond positively to the sun and moon faces.