🎨 Art, music and story makers · 🧠 Learn how AI works
Teachable Machine
By Google. Visit Teachable Machine
Desk research from the maker's own pages. Not yet tried by us. Checked 2026-10-24.
A free web tool where a child teaches a computer to tell things apart. They hold up objects to the webcam, record sounds, or strike poses, sort the examples into groups, press Train, and then test whether the model gets new examples right. Finished models can be downloaded or hosted online and used in websites, games or Arduino projects. Teachers use it for lessons on how AI learns from data and where bias comes from.
Our take: A strong first hands-on look at machine learning for kids about 8 and up with an adult nearby; families wary of webcam use should keep it on-device or skip it.
Checked in a browser
A browser check on 2026-10-25: what loads, the ads and trackers we saw, and what a child meets first. Not a hands-on test.
| Child safety: 4 out of 5 | No ads or chat; the page links out to about 15 developer and education sites (TensorFlow, p5.js, Glitch, MIT and others). |
|---|---|
| Data: 4 out of 5 | Only Google Analytics and Tag Manager loaded, plus an embedded YouTube video; no ad networks or other trackers were seen. |
| Ease: 4 out of 5 | A big 'Get Started' button and a short three-step guide with pictures (Gather, Train, Export); the webcam tool works best on a computer. |
| Cost honesty: 5 out of 5 | Free, with no upgrade or pay prompts. |
What we found
- 6 third-party sites contacted, all Google (Analytics, Tag Manager, fonts, YouTube)
- 3 cookies set, 1 from google.com
- 0 ad frames; 15 outbound link sites, mostly coding and machine-learning resources
- Clear 'Get Started' button at the top of the phone screen
From the test: A free, ad-free Google tool that shows kids how a computer learns from examples, with only Google Analytics running in the background.
| Ages it suits | about 8 and up with an adult; teens on their own |
|---|---|
| What its terms say about age | No age rule of its own and no account needed to use it. It falls under Google's Terms: anyone under the age needed to manage their own Google Account needs a parent's permission to use a Google Account. (terms) |
| Price | Free. Free (Oct 2026). No paid tier. |
| Works on | Web, Chromebook |
| Account | No account needed |
| Ads | None |
| In-app purchases | None |
| The AI in it | Trains a small image, sound or pose classifier from the examples the child gives it, right in the browser. |
What's good
- Free, no sign-up, works in a browser
- Child sees in seconds how examples change what the model does
- Can run fully on the device
- Lots of free lessons made by teachers and MIT
Watch for
- Uses the webcam and microphone
- No child-specific privacy notice; falls under Google's general policy
- Hosting a model online puts it on the internet
- Little guidance for kids using it alone
Data and privacy
The site says you can use it entirely on-device, so webcam and microphone data need not leave the computer. It is covered by Google's general Privacy Policy, which has no section written for this tool. Read the privacy policy.
Does it work?
Classroom studies are small and mostly without control groups; a 2023 review of education studies using Teachable Machine found it is used to show students how machine learning works, not proven to raise scores. No large independent trial found.
In the Big Index
- On the list Top 10 activities to get your child comfortable with AI
- On the list 12 weekend AI projects for families
- On the list 12 science experiments that show how AI learns
- On the list 12 ways to teach kids how AI actually works
- On the list Top 20 AI sites for learning for kids (2026)
- On the list 14 AI tools for DIY projects and young makers
- On the list 16 AI coding tools and AI-assisted coding for kids and teens
- On the list 13 AI science and nature apps for curious kids
- On the list 17 free AI tools a family can try this weekend
- On the list 15 AI gifts for kids under $50 (Christmas 2026)
- On the list 14 AI and tech gifts for kids under $100 (Christmas 2026)
- On the list 14 stocking stuffers under $25 that teach tech or AI
- On the list 15 STEM and AI kits that teach how machine learning works
- On the list Top 50 free learning sites for kids (2026)
- On the list 20 best sites for STEM projects at home
- On the list 20 best summer learning ideas and programs
- Teachable Machine
- The maker in the who's who: Google
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Where these facts come from
- https://teachablemachine.withgoogle.com/
- https://teachablemachine.withgoogle.com/faq
- https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en-US
- https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-US
- https://avesis.cu.edu.tr/yayin/912e13f9-79ff-4f85-9747-16ede3f469d5/the-potential-of-using-the-teachable-machine-application-for-machine-learning-in-education
Prices, terms and features change. Nobody paid to be listed, nothing here is an affiliate link, and Peabody never rates itself. Where we and the maker disagree, the maker's own pages are the ones to trust.