Sponsored By :: Yip Yap

A phone for kids? Say what? Yip Yap!

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Raise your hand if you’ve ever handed your kid your cell phone so that they could talk to  grandma/grandpa/auntie/uncle/etc.?

Raise your hand if you’ve ever handed your kid your iPhone to play games, watch videos or listen to music so you could have just one minute of peace from the zillions of questions per day?

Raise your hand if you’ve ever worried every.single.second. that while your kid has your cell that they are going to drop it in the toilet, slobber it into the wet zone, or slam it into the counter ala Wreck It Ralph?

Raise your hand if you ever contemplated buying your kid their own darn device just so you could reclaim your own, but then realized that they are a kid and that is crazy?

Yeah. Me too.

And so did my friend, Angela. So about 4 or 5 years ago, I got an email through our local playgroup about a focus group. A local mom was developing a new product: Pipsqueak by Yip Yap: A Smart Phone for kids that is BRILLIANT for Parents!

Say what?

The focus group asked for parents to bring their kids (as young as 4) to check out the prototype for a new bluetooth device that connects a kid-friendly handset to a parent’s cell phone, and to answer some questions. If you did, you got a Target gift card. SCORE! Sign me up! Hudson and I went – and I was SOLD. I didn’t even care about the Target card anymore. (Just kidding, of course I did, but I was one million percent behind this product.) Mike, Angela’s husband, met with the kids and asked them questions about what they would want if they had their very own Bluetooth phone, while Angela interviewed parents about what we would want.

Everyone agreed that it would be awesome for kids to be able to chat with relatives, maybe have kid friendly games and listen to music, but it needed to be very limited and safe, since this would be for our little kiddos. We also all agreed that none of us wanted our kids to have ACTUAL cell phones until they were MUCH older, this was not the same thing, which was important to me.

The focus group was fun, we had a lot of fun, Hudson wanted a Pipsqueak immediately, and we went on our way. But only after we had to say we wouldn’t talk about it anymore since it was still in development! Eek! So, we put it in the back of our heads.

Fast forward to now and here we are. I am SO excited to tell Austin Moms Blog readers about this amazing device. Y’all. It’s a GAME CHANGER. It’s so much more than I could have imagined! Let me give you the lowdown…

pipsqueak1-photo-of-productThe Pipsqueak is essentially a handset that can connect via bluetooth to your cellular device (iPhone or Android) so that your kiddo can talk to family/friends WITHOUT getting their sticky fingers on your $800 iPhone 7. Basically, for about $100, your kid gets their own Pipsqueak device – which they can customize with different face plate colors and charms – and you connect it via Bluetooth & WiFi. Not only are kids able to use the device to call/talk to family members (WiFi calling is currently available for all users in beta version!), there are options for music, photos, videos, games and more. Through the YipYap parent app (available for free on the App Store and Google Play Store), parents can control what sort of content goes on their device.

There are some pre-programmed kid-friendly games and music already there, but you can add to and replace any of it.  One of our favorite features is that it streams YouTube…SAFELY! Using the parent app, you can create and select YouTube playlists that your kids can watch anytime, anywhere when connected to WiFi. And the best part, when they watch YouTube they see NO ads, No commercials, No suggested videos, and NO search options – only the videos you, their parents, has selected! We also love being able to import songs to the devices. There is not anything much cuter than seeing a four year old jam out with his Pipsqueak in the backseat on a road trip with headphones!

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All of the features are really great and it is super user friendly – with much of it being accessible via the Yip Yap parent app. What more can a busy mom or dad ask for! I love that they added the additional video/music/game options – even my 10 year old is having fun with his Pipsqueak!

Obviously – we are HUGE fans of this, and I think you will be too. The price is on point (no monthly fees, etc.), the marketing is great (side note: I took Finn (age 4) to Hudson’s baseball practice last week and we were in the parking lot – he saw a Yip Yap sticker on the back of a car and exclaimed, “Hey! That’s wike my Pipsqueak!” – so, recognizable to even a little. ;), and the product is absolutely a game changer for adults everywhere. I’ve recommended this to every mom that I meet – including my own mom. So – for all of my brothers and sisters – I think that the grandkids might all be getting Pipsqueak’s for Christmas! Shh!

I am sure you still have questions – so be sure to check out all of the amazing features that Pipsqueak offers! And, if you’d like to check it out in person,– YipYap has a kiosk in Lakeline Mall, one of the benefits of this amazing product being invented and produced by a local Austin momma!

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