If you have school-age kids, then you know they’re spending more time than ever before in front of screens. Heck, that was true even before the age of remote learning. Between tablets, Nintendo Switch, YouTube, TV, Minecraft, kids are spending a lot more time staring at screens than they are playing outside. And for kids who are still engaged in remote learning, all that eye strain can actually cause real problems. That’s why blue light glasses for kids have become an unexpected back-to-school necessity for many children and their parents.
You may have been told as a kid that sitting too close to the TV would make you go blind. That white lie wasn’t true in 1990, and it isn’t true today. Even so, there are negative consequences from too much screen time, and the best blue light glasses for kids can help protect your family from the side effects of eye strain and blue light.
What Are the Benefits of Blue Light Glasses?
Many adults have purchased these specialty frames for themselves in recent years, and they can be worn with or without a prescription. The best blue light glasses have a ton of positive effects on your health, and many of these benefits extend to children.
Blue light is known to affect circadian rhythms, the biological process that controls your sleep cycle. The last thing any parents need is to have their kids bouncing off the walls before bedtime because of too much screen time. At the same time, it’s not always possible to limit screen time before bedtime, so what is a parent to do? That’s where blue-light-blocking glasses for kids can help.
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Not only will they help kids fall asleep faster, but many people also swear by the ability of blue-light-blocking glasses to reduce screen-induced headaches and eye strain.
So if you find your kids are complaining of headaches or having a hard time falling asleep at night, some kids’ blue light glasses might be just the fix you need.
If that sounds like your situation, check out some of the best blue light glasses below. Since kids are a somewhat smaller market for blue light glasses we’ve rounded up some overall great glasses retailers that cater to kids as well as a few picks from Amazon if you just want to pick up some kids’ blue light glasses quickly and on the cheap.
1. Fitz Frames
Fitz Frames may be the only glasses brand that really puts kids at the front, stating on their landing page, “We make tailor-fit eyeglasses for everyone ages 3+.” That includes prescription glasses, sunglasses and, of course, blue light glasses.
But Fitz Frames isn’t just claiming that mantle; it’s actually incorporating that purpose into its offerings in very direct ways that no other brand is doing. First off, Fitz’s process is unique: You download an app to virtually try on glasses and measure your or your kid’s face. Glasses are then 3-D printed for your kid’s exact specifications and shipped to your door. That’s great for kids and adults too, but it allows Fitz to offer an unmatched subscription plan specifically with kids in mind.
With Fitz’s subscription plan, you get two pairs of glasses and unlimited frames for the year because, as Fitz notes, whether because your kids are growing or just being kids and breaking their frames, you’re going to need an easy way to get new glasses.
Alas, the deal isn’t perfect: After the first two pairs, you’ll have to pay for the lenses and shipping. But the overall convenience of the plan really can’t be beaten when you’ve got growing kids who are constantly putting their frames at risk.
Beyond that, Fitz Frames are fairly basic: You’ve got six different frame styles that all come in a bevy of colors, so you and your kid won’t be wowing your neighbors with your fashion bona fides. But you’ll barely have to think any time you or your kid needs some new prescription glasses, and you’ve got an easy way to get kids blue light glasses too.
2. Jonas Paul Eyewear
If Fitz Frames is the most focused on kids, Jonas Paul Eyewear is definitely the second most focused on kids and that’s honestly debatable. Jonas Paul exclusively designs stylish frames for kids aged four and up and offers a blue light lens add-on option to turn any pair into blue-light-blocking glasses for kids.
You can take any frame and add blue light-filtering lenses for just $15, which is among the lower prices for blue light lens add-ons. Alternatively, if you know your kid won’t need prescription lenses, Jonas Paul sells ready-to-wear kids blue light glasses for not insubstantial discounts off their sticker prices. For example, for the kids Ryan frames, the ready-to-wear blue light version is $59 versus the customized version that costs $94 ($79 for the frames plus the $15 add-on).
So if you’re looking for a glasses maker that puts kids at the front and offers more variability than Fitz Frames, even without an equivalent excellent subscription plan, then Jonas Paul Eyewear is where you’ll want to get your kids’ blue light glasses.
3. DYLB Kids Blue Light-Blocking Glasses
Of course, actual glasses retailers offer a ton of great variety in terms of prices and styles, but nothing can top the convenience (and frequently, the price) of Amazon frames. That’s why you might wish to consider the DYLB Kids Blue Light-Blocking Glasses two-pack. For $20, you get two pairs of frames — we like the transparent and black frames — for kids aged three to 10, as well as a testing kit to verify the lenses actually block blue light.
If you don’t like black and transparent, there are plenty of different colorways and pairs of frames to choose from, which is especially useful if you’re buying for a boy and a girl or you want to try and pick up their favorite colors. And hey, if you’re only buying for one kid, you’ll regret not having a second pair around when your kid inevitably breaks or loses the first pair.
4. Zenni Optical
While brands like Fitz Frames and Jonas Paul are great for focusing on kids, you don’t necessarily need that to find great blue-light-blocking glasses for kids. In addition to offering lots of great frames and lens options for adults, Zenni Optical also has your kids covered, from the little ones to your moody teens.
Zenni offers hundreds of different basic frame styles, with some starting around $7 and most being in the $20 to $30 range, and just about every pair can have Zenni’s blue-light-blocking Blokz lenses added for $16.95 or a bit more for some styles.
So if you want your kid to look and feel good in their own kids’ blue light glasses that don’t break the bank, Zenni’s a great place to start looking.
5. EyeBuyDirect
EyeBuyDirect is one of our favorite places to buy cheap glasses online. This company offers a ton of moderately priced in-house frames for kids aged six and up as well as adult frames from established brands, and most of the frames can get blue-light-blocking lenses added for an extra fee.
If you just want basic blue-light-blocking glasses for kids, go for the EBDBluePlus lenses for $19. If you want a little extra glare protection, you can spring for the EBDBlue360 for $49. And hey, if you’re picking up some frames for your kids and happen to need some better blue light reading glasses for yourself, you can get your own frames with the blue light-filtering SightRelax lenses that also offer reading enhancement.
6. GlassesUSA
If you’re looking for endless style options for yourself or your kids, GlassesUSA is the place to go.
GlassesUSA offers over 150 styles of glasses for kids alone and hundreds more for adults and nearly all of them can have blue-light-blocking lenses added for $19 and up.
But with all that variety comes a wide variety of prices, with most leaning above-average. But if you want to ensure you’re able to get the perfect blue-light-blocking glasses for kids, GlassesUSA has far and away the most style options and a fairly priced blue light lens add-on.
7. Pro Acme Blue Light-Blocking Glasses for Kids
If you’re confident you can trust your kid with just one pair of blue light glasses, the Pro Acme Blue Light-Blocking Glasses for Kids should more than get the job done. They’re basic, they’re plastic, they come in nearly 20 different colorways and they filter blue light for kids aged three to 12.
Plus if you are going to trust your kid with just one pair, not only are these frames cheap and easily replaceable but they also have a little bendiness, which makes them less likely to break if they’re dropped or sat on.
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