Last year, we ordered Olivia the Lifetime Wave Kayak from Home Depot ($227). We paid a premium for the pink color, compared to the under a hundred dollar price tag from Costco - but in the opinion of a six-year-old, it’s well worth it. It came with a paddle, arrived quickly and was ready for us to immediately head out on our first summer adventure.

A stable, starter kayak, the Lifetime Wave Kayak is not one of the fastest ones that you’re going to have to find for kids - they’re going to have a hard time keeping up if you’re moving quickly, but it’s wide and solid, and smaller children can use it as a paddleboard.

• Paddles included
• Perfect for kids of all ages
• Molded finger handles on each side of the Kayak
• Swim up step
• Lightweight, 18 lb. design
• 130 lb. capacity

It comes with the paddle, that can be adjusted to offset, and you’ll be happy to know the paddle has been just as durable as the Lifetime Wave kayak, easily being used to push off from the beach without breaking.

Rated for 100 pounds, you’re going to want to stick to it for kids that are well under that limit because it sits low, and tends to get the kids quite wet when you’re close to that capacity. Using it many times over the past weekends, we were able to put a kid + toddler on it no problem.

It’s durable. So durable. It’s been dragged to countless beaches, thrown in the back of a truck, attached to thule racks and pulled up and down by kids.

Best for calm waters, it’s a fantastic way to get kids on the water and introduced to paddling. Violet, as young as four, is able to paddle it effectively on slow and calm waters, and it’s sturdy enough to put two four year olds on for a little jaunt from the shore.

The Downside

The only issue I’ve got with the Lifetime Wave Kayak are the carrying handles. There’s one on the front, but I would much prefer it to have one on the side, or an additional one on the back making it easier for one or two kids to carry, without having to drag it on the ground.

If you’ve got kids that are going to tire easily, you’re going to want to stay close to shore. Tethering the kayak and towing it behind you is terrible, as it’s sturdy and stable for beginner paddlers, but awful to try and tow along, comparable to towing cement bricks.

For the price tag, the goods far, far, far outweigh the couple of minor things that I mentioned above. At $99 from Costco or Canadian Tire, it’s going to go through many kids, with many years of use.