Kids echo/Alexa, can someone talk me through it?

[canihaveacoffeeplease]

I have a 6yr old and 8yr old, both would love to have a music player for Christmas. We have Spotify, I'd prefer to use this than get a cd player/cds, but have no idea how Alexa/echo dot etc work. They don't have their own tablets/computers, but would like to play music in their rooms. Do either of these work in this way? Do I need extra subscriptions etc? Totally clueless here, thanks for advice!

Yes, it can play Spotify. Also plays Amazon music. There is a free or subscription version for Amazon music, works the same way as Spotify.
You can connect your Spotify account then in future you'll just say "Alexa, play xyz on Spotify" otherwise it will automatically play on Amazon music instead.

Also lots of games for children on there. Mine like hide and seek, kids quiz, and a few others.
White noise for bedtime. Countdown timers for tidying up. Silly responses. Lots for children to do with it really.

Free Spotify won’t play the specific song you ask for - you need a paid for subscription for that. We shouted at Alexa a lot until we figured that one out!

They won't need a tablet or anything. Get them a device each and then you can connect a Spotify account. It's maybe a good idea to get a family membership if you expect them all to be listening st the same time to different songs - if you just get a single Spotify subscription there will only be able to have one song played at a time or they will be changing each others music.

You just setup the devices, follow the instructions to link your Spotify accounts and your good to go.

Oh this sounds perfect, thanks for the replies! Is the echo dot enough to do this, I don't need the fancier/ more expensive ones?

Don’t get Alexa etc it’s a spy in the house

One DS has the echo dot and the other has the echo show here. The only difference with the show that he has really used it for is if we "drop in" then we can see him / he can see us. Really not essential and not an every day thing.

FYI - drop in is a bit like an intercom so you can kind of "call in" at any time and speak to them from the device you have the Alexa app on. The kids are always impressed by it and it lets us tell them to come down for dinner / quiet down or whatever.

If I were you I would save money and get the dot to start with, a family spotify subscription ( you get up to 6 accounts on it) and I would maybe even use some of the saved money from a more expensive device to buy a smart plug. They'll then be able to do a little more advanced stuff with Alexa and ask it to turn on/off the plug and so could be used for a bed time lamp or whatever