The children's watch from Scout tested

When is football training? How much longer can I play? Can I watch ten more minutes of Netflix? My son (5) has already integrated the mystery of time into his everyday life, but he can't read the clock yet. So it's literally time for a wristwatch and the offer to test one from Scout came at just the right time.

He definitely thinks the smart thing is "cool". The blue and yellow textile wristband from the "Action Boys" series is printed with a T-Rex. That's important, of course, because apart from cars or dinosaurs, nothing gets into his house or onto his arm. Incidentally, the "Action Boys" motifs can also be found on other Scout products, such as school bags.

Now let's see how the watch performs. With the innermost hole, the watch sits just tight enough on the child's arm. It's not even too tight for me. So I can already say that the watch will fit for a while, no matter how strong my son's arm gets.

My son doesn't want to wear it for long at first, but that's not because of the watch itself, but because it's unusual for him to have something on his wrist. But we practise it day by day and it soon becomes a habit for him.

Dial with extra minute numerals

I think it's great for learning to read a clock that the minutes are also marked in increments of five on the outer black metal case. So my child can see the number on the small hand for the hours and the long hand shows him the (almost) exact number of minutes. Very practical and educationally useful, in my opinion.

The product description states that the textile strap can be washed in the washing machine at 30 degrees and can remain on the watch "as long as it is protected by a thick stocking." However, washing the textile strap without the watch would not work anyway, as the strap is sewn to the watch case.

Washing machine test passed

First of all, however, I'm puzzled: the watch is supposed to be water-resistant up to 5 bar. But this is actually just enough for washing your hands. How is it supposed to survive a round in the washing machine? I therefore asked the manufacturer and received the answer: "The watch is water-resistant to 5 bar in accordance with the DIN 8310 test. This means you can keep it on when washing your hands, but we recommend taking it off when bathing."

But it gets soaking wet when you wash it in the washing machine, doesn't it? Won't the watch break then? I really have to try this out and, as recommended, I put the watch in a thick stocking and tie it in a knot.

I opted for a 35-minute delicate wash programme at 30 degrees. To prevent the clock from bouncing around too much in the drum, I put a few items of clothing in the machine. And lo and behold, when I took the watch out of the machine later, it had survived. I'm really delighted - it's still running and the stainless steel base is just as shiny as before.

My son now enjoys wearing his Scout watch for long periods of time. Although he shows little interest in reading watches, the thing on his wrist remains "cool".