The picks, from a wake-up light to a real alarm
Each fact comes from the maker’s own manual or pages; we have not tested these clocks. Clocks 1 to 4 are OK-to-wake clocks in our comparison, with their setup steps; 5 and 6 are alarm clocks for an older child, so they link to their makers.
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1. For a child who will set the alarm alone
- Alarm
- Two alarms, switched on separately, with three sounds, three volume levels and a nine-minute snooze
- Set it
- On the clock’s buttons, no app
- In a power cut
- Stops, but keeps its settings
Everything is set on its buttons, with no app, so a school-age child can learn to set and stop the alarm; its red bedtime light and green wake-up light keep working as before.
The catch: It must stay plugged in: in a power cut its coin battery keeps the settings, but the lights and sounds stop. It has one wake-up time for every day.
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2. If your child still needs the “stay in bed” light
- Alarm
- A separate alarm beside its bedtime and wake-up colors
- Set it
- On the clock’s buttons, no app
- In a power cut
- Stops, but keeps its settings
MELLA keeps its sleepy face, its optional yellow “almost time” light and its green wake-up light, and adds an alarm, so the same clock covers the years before and after school starts.
The catch: It needs the plug (its coin battery only keeps the settings), and it has one wake-up time for every day, so switch the alarm off for the weekend.
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3. If the alarm must ring through a power cut
- Alarm
- An alarm with its own time, switched on apart from the light
- Set it
- On the clock’s buttons, no app
- In a power cut
- Keeps running on its battery
Sam runs on four AA batteries as well as USB power, so a night without power does not silence the morning alarm, and its eyes still close at bedtime and open at the wake-up time.
The catch: One wake-up time for every day, and the batteries (not included) last longest with low brightness and a short night-light timer.
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4. For school-day alarms set from your phone
- Alarm
- Up to four alarms, each on the days you choose
- Set it
- In the Tommee Tippee Smart app
- In a power cut
- Stops, but keeps its settings
A school-day alarm and a later weekend one can sit side by side, and you change them in the Tommee Tippee app without going into the bedroom.
The catch: It is set up in the app over Wi-Fi, with an account, so your child cannot change the alarms alone. Each night starts when someone presses the Sleep button on the clock, and it needs the plug.
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5. For a deep sleeper who snoozes
Clocky Alarm Clock on Wheels
- Alarm
- It runs away beeping if you snooze; you choose one snooze of 1 to 9 minutes, or none (no snooze until you set it)
- Set it
- On its buttons, no app
- Power
- AAA batteries; Clocky advises new lithium ones
If your child snoozes, Clocky jumps off the nightstand and runs away beeping, so they have to get out of bed to stop it. You can switch the wheels off and use it as an ordinary alarm clock.
The catch: It has no wake-up light and no bedtime signal, and its robotic sound is meant to be loud: one for a child who sleeps through ordinary alarms, not a light sleeper sharing a room.
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6. For an older child who wakes better with light
Philips SmartSleep Wake-up Light HF3520
- Alarm
- Two alarms with their own times, and a nine-minute snooze you tap on top
- Set it
- On its buttons, no app
- In a power cut
- It keeps the clock time for 4 to 8 hours
Its lamp brightens from red through orange to yellow over 20 to 40 minutes before the alarm, then plays one of five natural sounds or the FM radio. The display dims itself in a dark room and can be switched off.
The catch: It is made to wake a child, not to tell an early riser to stay in bed, and it must stay plugged in.
A wake-up light says “you can get up”; an alarm says “get up now”
The color change on an OK-to-wake clock is silent on purpose. It is there for a child who wakes early and wants to know whether it is time to get up yet. It is not designed to wake a child who is still asleep, so on a school morning a light alone may not get anyone out of bed.
An alarm does the other job: it makes a sound at a set time whether your child is awake or not. Several OK-to-wake clocks have both, set separately, so the light can keep meaning “you can get up” and the alarm can mean “time to get up now”.
Signs your child is ready for an alarm clock
There is no set age. For most families the change comes with the first years of school, when two or three of these are true:
- Mornings now have a fixed start, such as school or a bus, and your child is often still asleep when the wake-up light comes on.
- They can read the time. In US schools children learn to read hours and half-hours on analog and digital clocks in first grade, and to the nearest five minutes in second grade (Common Core math standards 1.MD.B.3 and 2.MD.C.7).
- They want to choose and set their own wake-up time.
- They no longer need the “stay in bed until it’s green” rule: they wait or play quietly without the light.
OK-to-wake clocks that already work as an alarm clock
The clocks below can sound an alarm, according to their manuals or support pages. On most of them the alarm is set apart from the wake-up light; on the Baby Shark clock and the Pabobo Kid’Sleep Essential the sound plays at the wake-up time itself, and you only choose whether it plays. Switch the alarm on for school days and the same clock keeps working after the colors stop mattering.
On the Groclock, ZAZU Sam and Mirari the alarm has its own time, so the light can come on first and the alarm a few minutes later. MELLA has an alarm function beside its sleep and wake colors. Hatch Rest 2nd gen and Rest+ 2nd gen set alarms as part of a routine in the Hatch Sleep app, which a child cannot change alone. The Baby Shark clock plays the alarm song you choose at its wake time while its alarm is switched on, so it can wake a child like an alarm clock.
27 of the 38 clocks we compare. Open the clock matcher with “Alarm sound” ticked to add your other must-haves.
What a kids’ alarm clock adds
A clock made as a child’s first alarm clock is built around waking up and reading the time rather than staying in bed. Look for:
- A sound that is loud enough to wake your child, with a choice of volume or tone.
- A display your child reads alone: large digits, or a clear analog face for practicing the time.
- Buttons simple enough for your child to set their own alarm, and a snooze button if you want one.
- Battery power, so the clock can sit by the bed rather than near a socket.
What you give up
Most kids’ alarm clocks have no bedtime color and no “not yet” signal, so they are not a replacement for a younger sibling who still needs one. A few keep one: Pabobo’s Kid’Sleep Clock, sold in Europe and recommended from age 5, puts an analog face beside a digital screen, has three alarm sounds whose volume rises and a snooze button big enough for small hands, and still turns a moon into a sun at the wake-up time. A bright display can also light the room at night. If the clock will be in a shared room, check that the display can be dimmed or turned off before you buy it.
Turning your OK-to-wake clock into an alarm clock
- Set the alarm a few minutes after the wake-up light, so the light still means “you can get up” and the sound means “time to get up”.
- Once your child no longer needs the “not yet” signal, set the light and the alarm to the same time on school days.
- Keep weekends quiet: on a clock with separate weekday and weekend times, leave the weekend alarm off. On a clock with one daily time, switch the alarm off on Friday night.
- Let your child set the alarm with you, on the clock’s own buttons. It is good practice for reading the time.
- If the alarm does not sound, check that it is switched on and that the clock’s time and AM or PM are right before you reset anything. The troubleshooting guide goes through it step by step.
Questions to ask before you buy a kids’ alarm clock
- Can your child set and switch off the alarm without your help?
- Can you choose the volume, and is there a sound your child will actually wake to?
- Can the display be dimmed or turned off at night?
- What happens in a power cut: does the alarm still sound on battery, or does the clock only remember its settings? Battery backup and memory backup are different things.
- Does it need an app? A child cannot change an app-only alarm on their own.
- Is there a separate weekend setting, so Saturday stays quiet?
Sources
Details can differ between versions and countries. Dates show when we last checked something that changes, like stock or a recall. Every source we use
- Tommee Tippee: Groclock support
- LittleHippo: MELLA
- ZAZU: Sam V16 manual
- PlayMonster: Mirari OK to Wake! 8091, US manual v6.0
- Hatch Support: Offline mode for your Rest 2nd gen!
- Hatch Support: Offline mode for your Rest+ 2nd gen!
- Tommee Tippee: Connected Sleep Trainer Clock support
- Purflo: Snoozee Sleep Trainer Clock instructions
- Pabobo: Kid Sleep Essential 2025/26 manual
- Core Innovations: ALM204 User Manual
- Common Core State Standards Initiative: Grade 1, Measurement & Data (1.MD.B.3: tell and write time in hours and half-hours)
- Common Core State Standards Initiative: Grade 2, Measurement & Data (2.MD.C.7: tell time to the nearest five minutes)
- Pabobo: Kid’Sleep Clock, product page · checked on 17 October 2026
- Pabobo: Kid’Sleep Clock instructions, May 2025 (French and English)
- Clocky: Clocky Alarm Clock on Wheels (Original) · checked on 30 October 2026
- Clocky: FAQ and support
- Philips: SmartSleep Wake-up Light HF3520/60 · checked on 30 October 2026
- Philips: SmartSleep Wake-up Light HF3520/60, product leaflet