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Ah, the cassette tape! I, too, remember making recordings on my dad's, and then getting my own for a Christmas present. Having children at just 'that age', your question has gotten me a-thinkin'.
Assumption #1: The technology has to be something that a child can operate independently of an adult. The adult may have to invest a wee bit of time to instruct the child, initially, but then can later operate autonomously.
Assumption #2: The technology should be mobile. A child should be able to take it with her or him to the safe places where they can be creative. This probably means Audacity and A SnowBall mic are out. And the relative cost-to-fragility ratio of hand-help digital audio recorders make them impractical.
Assumption #3: The technology should be indestructible and/or inexpensive.
My experience leads me to the following options:
Option #1: The Flip Mino (http://www.theflip.com/) is a nice, small, portable and relatively inexpensive device that a child could learn how to use VERY easily. It could double as an audio device in the same way that a camcorder can double as an audio device (just ignore the video). An adult may need to help with the transfer from Mino to computer, but the FlipShare software is very easy to use, so a child could (possibly) use it.
Option #2: Some good-old, analog recording devices like micro-cassette reorders or the same cassette recorders we had growing up. (See http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6450_7-6662796-1.html for a good example of why.) They should be especially cheap on EBay, and easy to find in neighborhood garage sales. Maybe a friend or colleague has one gathering dust somewhere and would give it to you gratis.
Those are my two contributions to this question, and I will eagerly follow what others have to share.
Source(s):
See http://www.theflip.com/ for information about an inexpensive video recorder that a child can operate.
See http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6450_7-6662796-1.html for an anecdote that argues for using old fashion analog cassettes that we grew up with.
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Source(s):
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
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After recording, the child can play it back through the iPod and/or dump the recorded files back onto the computer.
Source(s):
http://www.belkin.com/
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December 21, 2008 01:31 AM
What is an easy, inexpensive way for a child to self-record stories and songs? (digitally? or not?)
This is probably very obvious and I just don't see it! When we were little, we went through gobs of cassettes as we recorded our own stories, plays and songs on a cheap household tape recorder. What's the 21st century replacement? Digital recorders seem a bit pricey for this kind of play.
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| December 21, 2008 08:23 PM |
Assumption #1: The technology has to be something that a child can operate independently of an adult. The adult may have to invest a wee bit of time to instruct the child, initially, but then can later operate autonomously.
Assumption #2: The technology should be mobile. A child should be able to take it with her or him to the safe places where they can be creative. This probably means Audacity and A SnowBall mic are out. And the relative cost-to-fragility ratio of hand-help digital audio recorders make them impractical.
Assumption #3: The technology should be indestructible and/or inexpensive.
My experience leads me to the following options:
Option #1: The Flip Mino (http://www.theflip.com/) is a nice, small, portable and relatively inexpensive device that a child could learn how to use VERY easily. It could double as an audio device in the same way that a camcorder can double as an audio device (just ignore the video). An adult may need to help with the transfer from Mino to computer, but the FlipShare software is very easy to use, so a child could (possibly) use it.
Option #2: Some good-old, analog recording devices like micro-cassette reorders or the same cassette recorders we had growing up. (See http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6450_7-6662796-1.html for a good example of why.) They should be especially cheap on EBay, and easy to find in neighborhood garage sales. Maybe a friend or colleague has one gathering dust somewhere and would give it to you gratis.
Those are my two contributions to this question, and I will eagerly follow what others have to share.
Source(s):
See http://www.theflip.com/ for information about an inexpensive video recorder that a child can operate.
See http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6450_7-6662796-1.html for an anecdote that argues for using old fashion analog cassettes that we grew up with.
| Asker's Rating: |
• Thanks for providing both straightforward AND thought provoking answers, millerj!
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Other Answers (5)
December 21, 2008 01:33 AM
if you have a computer and a microphone, audacity is a great free recording program.
Source(s):
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
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December 21, 2008 01:37 AM
Imagine a child in the car, making up a song as we drive along... The cheapest digital voice recorder I found was about $38.
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December 21, 2008 02:03 AM
If you already have an iPod, you can purchase a recorder as a third party add on for it. Should be less than $38 if you shop around. I've used a Belkin in the past and it works fine. For example: http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=158384 After recording, the child can play it back through the iPod and/or dump the recorded files back onto the computer.
Source(s):
http://www.belkin.com/
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December 21, 2008 03:25 AM
Erg. Clicked the link. It's $49.99 Not something to pack into a child's backpack...
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December 21, 2008 05:17 AM
Well... I had a "My First Sony" as a child... but I dont think they make those anymore. Analogue cassette dictaphones are probably dirt cheap these days. Try Radio Shack (or whatever its currently called) or Best Buy. Even the digital ones are cheapish these days.
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In fairness to the other answerers, this is outside of the loose budget I set. However, this being the 21st century, and a new generation of children, the Flip also addresses my son's interests in video recording, so I am now looking at a "two birds, one stone" solution!
I would have to hold it in my hands, and see how easy it is to work with, particularly since he dabbles with stop motion animations, and needs something that won't wobble on the tripod each time he presses the button.
In the meantime, I also dug up this $30 item on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/RCA-RP5120-Recording-Digital-Recorder/dp/B0015A6O6S/ref=reg_hu-wl_item-added
You say these things are too fragile for kids. I hadn't thought of that. I like that it seems to have plenty of memory, and a way to transfer favorite recordings to a more permanent medium (like a cd). Reviews say the controls are a little fiddly -- there is a danger of easily erasing the entire drive by pressing the rewind button twice.
Any thoughts, feedback?
Thanks!
Your audio recording 'find' looks great. Just be careful to evaluate it for a child's ease of use; you've already noted its potentially catastrophic 'double rewind = erase' feature.
I use an Olympus brand digital audio recorder that I wouldn't consider giving to my 7 year old for her documentary and creative use. The RCA device you found is much more affordable.
The persistent question is this: is a child's ability to play back (and 'archive') their creations easy enough to claim that any one of these devices is analogous to the cassette record of our youth. Only time and trial testing with our kids will tell. :)