Thanks I think I underestimated how much such a watch would cost. Holy hell, more than many phones.
Technically the watch would not be for a child, but rather that they could take with them as necessary. It could very well be my watch that I lend to them on occasion, but I'm not sure I can justify the cost for me either 😅
I might try to see if I can import the TickTalk you suggested somehow, though I'm also considering the meshtastic option someone else mentioned because it sounds like a cool thing to play with haha