Pinwheel Home is a screen-free landline-style phone for kids

Want to let your kids and teens be social? Who says you have to give them a smartphone? You don’t. Pinwheel is a landline-style phone that works over Wi-Fi. No screens. Sayonara social media. No apps. No nonsense.

Try as you might, I think we can all agree that it’s pretty tough to go screen-free these days. Nearly every piece of tech has slapped on a display, touchscreen or not, with smart features. Even if you keep your kids away from phones there are TVs, game consoles, media players, tablets, smart home devices, you name it. It’s virtually impossible then to find a phone for them that doesn’t have all the bells and whistles. Pinwheel Home is the answer to that problem. It’s an old-school landline-style phone, yes with the wires and everything, except it uses Wi-Fi — you don’t have to subscribe to a landline service to use it.

It’s also completely parent managed. You pre-approve contacts your kids or teens can call, and if you know someone with a Pinwheel device, you get free calls to those users (homes). Because it connects to Wi-Fi, you don’t need phone jacks nor do you need to call your cable company crawling back with your tail between your legs. You can also manage multiple Pinwheel devices in the Caregiver portal — the app — if you decide to get more. Emergency calls are always available free on both premium and free plans, so you could even get them one to call 911 when they’re home alone.

Pinwheel Home Spark or Pinwheel Home Classic: That Is the question?

Boy using the Pinwheel Home Classic at table

There are two different styles of the Pinwheel Home phone to choose from: Home Spark and Home Classic. Spark looks more like a portable, one-piece wired phone while classic looks more like the single unit docked phones from back in the day; I’m still talking about landline phones not the spin-dial phones. Pinwheel says shipping is free and you can return any devices you’re not happy with, and it comes with a 30-day money back guarantee. Granted, I have not assessed the validity of these statements myself.

You, and your kids, can call anyone with a Pinwheel device free, those homes are designated as a “Pinwheel Home.” From there, the Friends & Family plan is $7 per month with the option to call up to five external numbers anytime. Your Pinwheel phone also gets its own 10-digit phone number anyone can call. Moreover, you save more by adding more Pinwheel devices. They have a kids-friendly smartphone, too. The highest tier is Unlimited for $10 per month, and bumps up external numbers to unlimited as the name implies.

Altogether, it’s a good choice to let your kids be social with friends and family on their terms, without exposing them to screens and all the brain junk that comes with those kinds of experiences.