Have fun treasure hunting or looking for precious coins and metals with the best metal detector for kids. These are just like what grownups use only smaller, lighter, and less complicated. If you’re into metal and coin hunting and you want your kids to learn how then a metal detector for kids would be perfect for you. Here are five of the top metal detectors for kids in the market today.
What kind of metal detector is best for kids?
Kids start to explore the world around them and will learn mostly from you. If your pastime or hobby is treasure hunting or coin collecting, your child will surely take an interest in these as well. There are three general types of metal detectors: a metal detector for land-based coin and treasure hunting, underwater and beach metal detectors and gold metal detectors. We recommend starting your child with an easy, multi-purpose land-based metal detector.
A land-based metal detector is a robust and easy to use metal detector that’s perfect for backyard coin and relic hunting. It’s a multi-purpose metal detector because it can find all kinds of metals, including iron, silver, or gold. Most models that are fit for kids are land-based metal detectors because these have simple interfaces and are lightweight.
But if you prefer to look for treasure and metals underwater or at the beach, there are also waterproof and robust metal detectors that will work with kids.
How we chose these top five metal detectors for kids
We came up with our top five list by checking out several metal detector products at Amazon. We considered specs, the many pros, and cons and checked out reviews from actual customers that have used them. Many top metal detectors seem perfect for kids, but we decided that these top five were the absolute best.
Here are our 5 best metal detectors for kids. We’re confident that you’ll find the right metal detector that will fit your child’s needs from this top list.
Bounty Hunter TK4 Tracker IV
Consumer Score: 90%, gave it 4.4 out of 5.
This is an easy to use analog metal detector that’s great for adults and fun for kids.
Pros
- Perfect for ground conditions
- With all-metal mode for smaller to larger objects
- Can distinguish between targeted metals and non-targeted metals
- Rugged design
Cons
- Non-adjustable handle
- No straps for the armrest
- No headphones
- Analog design
The Bounty Hunter TK4 is a metal detector with analog design. It has a basic design with knobs instead of buttons with no LCD on the control box. Instead, you’ll have an analog meter that tells you if you found your targeted metal or not. On the control, the box is basic controls with sensitivity, discrimination notch, and all-metal switch. A convenient headphone jack is also found on the panel where you can plug a traditional wired headphone.
Unfortunately, the handle is non-adjustable, but it has a comfortable armrest. It has a rugged design, and thus, you can take it prospecting even in extreme environmental conditions. And with a pre-set ground balance, it automatically neutralizes its response to the mineral content of the ground. It runs on two 9v batteries and has a convenient, low battery LED indicator to tell you if you need to change the batteries before you go.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Junior Metal Detector
Consumer Score: 89%, gave it 4.2 out of 5.
A junior metal detector that can help you find buried treasure ideal for young prospectors.
Pros
- Waterproof coil
- With audio and visual alarms to tell you if it has located metal
- Lightweight and very portable metal detector for kids
- With an adjustable handle
- Comes with a learning guide
Cons
- No LCD or meter
- No headphone jack
The National Geographic Junior Metal Detector is great for kids. It has an adjustable handle so it can be used by younger kids and older ones. It has a large 7.5” dual coil, waterproof, so it can be used in shallow water.
It does not have a control box, but it has knobs for sensitivity controls so you can avoid any false positives. You can tell that it has detected metal when it beeps and by a flashing LED light. This detector can locate metals from 6 to 12 inches in the ground, especially for large metals.
This National Geographic metal detector is easy to carry anywhere as it’s light and portable. You can fold the coil and remove the arm so you can carry it conveniently in your backpack. Finally, your child will love the full-color guide that comes with this metal detector. This guide was made by National Geographic, especially for young metal and treasure detecting enthusiasts.
ALLOSUN Junior Metal Detector
Consumer Score: 70% gave it 3.3 out of 5.
A beach or yard metal detector that’s easy to use available in different fun colors.
Pros
- A versatile metal detector for kids can locate jewelry, silver, gold, and various metal relics.
- With an electronic torch
- Battery-powered
- With a headphone jack
- Available in random colors
Cons
- No LCD or analog meter
- No fine-tuning adjustment and discrimination knobs
- No armrest
- Not for use in water
The ALLOSUN Junior Metal Detector is for kids, and it’s ideal for beach or yard ground metal prospecting. It has a simple design, but it’s very sensitive and versatile. It can locate coins, gold, silver, and jewelry with a measurement range of 6 cm for a tiny 5 cents coin.
This metal detector does not have a control panel with an LCD or an analog meter to provide information about ground surroundings. It relies on a basic control knob that powers on and off the device and fine-tunes its detection. Many users say that this is best used in a lightless and obstacle-free area and should be parallel to the target.
This junior metal detector uses one 9v battery and comes with an electronic torch to shine on your target brightly. A headphone jack will allow you to connect this detector to a headphone. This is the only way to tell if the detector has found anything as it does not have any LCD, analog meter, or LED light signal.
This is lightweight, easy to use, and ideal for first-time metal detector users and those who wish to use a simple detector device at home.
Bounty Hunter QSI Quick Silver
Consumer Score: 90%, gave it 4.3 out of 5.
An easy to use a metal detector with a convenient LCD screen for easy target identification.
Pros
- Fully automatic metal detector
- With easy push-button depth control and discrimination
- With 3-tone audio feedback
- Easy to see, bright LCD
- With a large, interchangeable waterproof metal coil
Cons
- No LCD brightness control
- Non-adjustable handle
- No headphone jack
- No tone volume controls
The Bounty Hunter QSI Quick Silver Is a metal detector for serious young metal and treasure hunters. It’s an upgrade to toy-like metal detectors with a fully-automatic ground balance that reduces false signals. It is easy to use with push-button controls for discrimination and depth controls. You also get target identification for iron, aluminum, zinc, and coins.
It is extra-sensitive that’s interchangeable and waterproof so you can use this during rain or in shallow waters. The control panel comes with a clear LCD but no backlighting; this has readable fonts even when you’re at a distance. This detector has a non-adjustable handle with padded armrests.
sakobs Metal Detector
Consumer Score: 91%, gave it 4.4 out of 5
A high-accuracy metal detector with a large search coil ideal for adults and kids.
Pros
- High-accuracy metal detector
- Adjustable and waterproof
- With a large, easy to see LCD
- With discrimination, notch and all-metal mode
- Large search coil for higher sensitivity
- Can look for precious metals 20% deeper
- Can be connected to conventional headsets
- Comes with complete accessories
Cons
- Complaints that it’s too heavy
The sakobs metal detector has a higher accuracy rate and can be used on land and also in shallow water. This has a large 10” search coil, which is more sensitive and more efficient in searching for precious metals and coins. You can use this metal detector at the beach, in a shallow stream or at your backyard.
It comes with three modes and a true discrimination mode. The all-metal mode is for searching all kinds of metals; the disc mode is used to discriminate other types of metal from your targeted metal and the notch mode to easily choose the target to be removed. The LCD is large and more accurate. This tells you its sensitivity level, battery power, and volume levels. This device can detect metals even up to 8.7 inches deep.
The stem or handle of this metal detector is completely adjustable from 41.3 inches to 47.6 inches long. This makes it easier to adjust from an adult to a child. And instead of spending money on buying accessories, this sakobs metal detector comes with all the accessories you need like a carrying bag and a shovel.
Conclusion
Of the five featured metal detector for kids in our review, we chose the Bounty Hunter TK4 as the best metal detector for kids. Despite having an analog design, it is fully-recommended for kids because it is easy to use and easy to take anywhere. This detector has a control box with basic controls with sensitivity, discrimination notch, and an all-metal switch. It also comes with a convenient headphone jack where you can plug a traditional wired headphone to listen closely for alerts.
But there are some cons to this metal detector too. It has a non-adjustable handle, but it makes up with a comfortable armrest. This metal detector has a rugged design, and thus, you can take it anywhere, even in extreme environmental conditions. This runs on two 9v batteries and has a convenient, low battery indicator to alert you if you need to change batteries.
This metal detector is simple, easy to use, and a stepping stone to more complicated models. It’s also fun and an exciting way to get your child into treasure hunting and metal detection and prospecting. If you think that this is the metal detector for kids you’re looking for, check this out from this link.
FAQ
Here are some frequently asked questions about metal detectors.
How deep can a metal detector go?
A metal detector can go as deep as a few feet, depending on how sensitive it is. However, some metal detectors may only work if the ground is clear, and there are no obstructions.
Will all metal detectors find gold?
Not all metal detectors can find gold. Some low-quality detectors may only find regular metals and may not be too sensitive to look for gold. Gold is a metal with high conductivity and may be easily detected by sensitive devices. However, there are specialized metal detectors that are made for detecting gold. If you’re interested in gold prospecting, then this is the type of metal detector for you.
What metals cannot be detected by a metal detector?
Stainless steel cannot be detected by a metal detector because it has very low conductivity. It has low magnetic permeability, and this means it will never produce any signal to be identified by a regular metal detector device.
Will metal detectors detect titanium?
Most metal detectors can detect titanium. As long as your metal detector is at the right setting and proper ground balance, you will be able to easily detect titanium in ground soil, but it will be detected along with other minerals like copper, bronze, silver, and gold. You may need to fine-tune a detector to detect titanium among all these metals in the ground.
Can you rent a metal detector?
Yes, you can rent a metal detector, and there are metal detector rentals online. Usually, these are highly-specialized metal detectors that are used to locate special metals and alloys in the ground. And if you wish to rent a metal detector, make sure that you select a highly-reliable company, check credentials, and compare rental companies first before you arrange for a rental.