Recommend a quadcopter / drone for kids?

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timmmay

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#322869 2-Oct-2025 09:17

Can anyone recommend a quadcopter or drone suitable for a 9 year old? I know nothing about them. Something stable and easy to fly is important. Maybe something that has fan guards to prevent damage when the crash it into walls might be sensible, though I'm not sure if they're suitable for indoors or outdoors generally.

Given I expect it to be broken fairly quickly I'd probably limit it to $200 ish. If we can get something fun for $50, great.

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#3420491 2-Oct-2025 09:18

Do you mean a drone?,,, What's your budget?

timmmay

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#3420492 2-Oct-2025 09:20

I edited my post above thanks.

michaelmurfy

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#3420495 2-Oct-2025 09:29

Kmart have some pretty decent, cheap drones for kids - https://www.kmart.co.nz/product/rc-quadcopter-with-camera-43542048/

They fly pretty well. I wouldn't go for a DJI drone or anything.

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timmmay

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#3420506 2-Oct-2025 10:02

I saw that one at KMart, thanks, but I didn't know if it was decent or utter trash. There's no reviews, I guess it must be pretty new.

acetone

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#3420975 3-Oct-2025 13:30

michaelmurfy:

Kmart have some pretty decent, cheap drones for kids - https://www.kmart.co.nz/product/rc-quadcopter-with-camera-43542048/

They fly pretty well. I wouldn't go for a DJI drone or anything.

Why would you not go for a DJI or more well know drone?

acetone

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#3420976 3-Oct-2025 13:32

I have had a jjrc h56 mini drone off aliexpress for my then 7 year old. He really enjoys using it around the house, batteries only last 4-5 minutes so we have a bunch of them.
Not sure if they still make them or not.

I am now looking for an entry level drone for him to fly outside.

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duckDecoy

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#3420995 3-Oct-2025 14:35

Off topic, but when my child was 7 I got a fairly cheap drone and we took it down to the school to fly it. Sat in the middle of the sports field and I did a couple of test runs to get a feel for what does what. Instructed him to just use the up and down to start to get a feel for it all and then we'd move onto flying around. Oh sweet naive me.

Up it went, then shot off sideways, down it came, then up again, then full tit off into the distance. He's panicking, i'm barking orders as calmly as I can, and its showing no signs of slowing down.

Heads straight to the school pool and crash lands in the middle, sinks without a trace. Pool is fully fenced so we cannot get in to retrieve it out.

He probably got a total of 20 secs usage out of it.

richms

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#3420997 3-Oct-2025 14:45

Cheap ones are not as easy to control as a DJI or similar one. The cheap ones do not have the sensors or processing power needed. They will just start going sideways and leave it to you to correct it. Not fun, very hard to use.

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#3420999 3-Oct-2025 14:56

duckDecoy:

Off topic, but when my child was 7 I got a fairly cheap drone and we took it down to the school to fly it. Sat in the middle of the sports field and I did a couple of test runs to get a feel for what does what. Instructed him to just use the up and down to start to get a feel for it all and then we'd move onto flying around. Oh sweet naive me.

Up it went, then shot off sideways, down it came, then up again, then full tit off into the distance. He's panicking, i'm barking orders as calmly as I can, and its showing no signs of slowing down.

Heads straight to the school pool and crash lands in the middle, sinks without a trace. Pool is fully fenced so we cannot get in to retrieve it out.

He probably got a total of 20 secs usage out of it.

that was my experience too. i don't buy them. i get given them. then they disappear into the distance. with me hoping it didn't hurt anyone/anything.

michaelmurfy

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#3421001 3-Oct-2025 15:02

acetone: Why would you not go for a DJI or more well know drone?

I wouldn't be giving a DJI / well known drone to a kid...

acetone: I am now looking for an entry level drone for him to fly outside.

There are very strict rules around drones and flying outside - https://www.aviation.govt.nz/drones/

richms

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#3421003 3-Oct-2025 15:15

michaelmurfy:

There are very strict rules around drones and flying outside - https://www.aviation.govt.nz/drones/

Shielded operation covers anything that you would want a kid to be doing, so its not that much of a deal to comply. Not sure the kmart ones can be set up to ensure compliance however since they have nothing in the way of sensing.

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acetone

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#3421007 3-Oct-2025 15:23

richms:

michaelmurfy:

There are very strict rules around drones and flying outside - https://www.aviation.govt.nz/drones/

Shielded operation covers anything that you would want a kid to be doing, so its not that much of a deal to comply. Not sure the kmart ones can be set up to ensure compliance however since they have nothing in the way of sensing.

Those kmart ones are not really for outside. If there is a slight breeze it will struggle a lot and isn't worth it.
They are fun indoors though.