Looking for the perfect household helper? Look no further than the Amazon Echo. The skills Alexa offers are so fun for our family, plus the Echo provides hours of entertainment!
This post was sponsored by Amazon as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.
We have a new edition in our house. Noooo, I’m not talking about Liam, that’s old news. Our Amazon Echo! I’ll be honest, I didn’t really get why everyone was getting so excited about a Bluetooth speaker at first.
Once I opened up the app to see what she offers, aka “skills”, I became obsessed. There are SO many awesome perks–especially for the family. Aside from your basic music player, you can also hear podcasts, stories, set your routine, set timers and much, much more.
Right now, our Echo is in our main living area. It’s the perfect location to listen to music while I’m cooking, for the girls to play games with it and more. Eventually, I’d like to have one in every room. You can connect them and use them individually or together–for instance, I could tell Alexa to wake up Maddie in her room with her favorite songs.
For me, I really appreciate the little helpers she offers. I can play my favorite songs from Amazon Music (even add new songs to my playlists!), set my timers while cooking and she even knows my routine. At 7:40, she plays a song, tells me the weather and news, plus sets a timer for the girls to get ready. How awesome is that?
The girls already know how to use the Echo better than I do. The first game they tried was Freeze Dancers, where they play music and then you have to freeze when they tell you to. I really appreciate that there are so many fun and educational aspects to the Echo that are all totally screen-free.
Amazon Storytime features stories that are around 5 minutes long, perfect for before dinner or when the girls are getting ready for bed. Gabby loves Silly Things, where you follow the prompts to do crazy things like “act like you’re standing in hot lava”.
Take full advantage of all that the Alexa app has to offer. You can search for new skills, connect other apps/devices and more. I love that there is always something new to discover!
Aside from pre-set skills, you can create your own with NEW Amazon Skill Blueprints. You can make a personalized game show, family trivia or even flashcards! My favorite one that I’ve set up so far is the Babysitter helper, where you can record where things are (diapers, etc), plus emergency numbers and our schedule. This weekend, I’ll be setting up the chore chart!
To get started using Skill Blueprints, simply ask Alexa “How do I create a Blueprint?”.
Do you have an Amazon Echo? What skills do you love?
I just love being able to ask it every dumb random question that pops into my head, instead of having to actually get on my phone or computer and Google it.
ME TOO! Have you used the “start my day” skill? It’s amazing, too!
I luv the playing with song quiz.. My favourite time pass in Lockdown!