iHome Mini Speaker won't connect to my iPad

I've looked everywhere I can think of - we have an iHome Mini Speaker (Model A2374). Try as I might, I cannot get the iPad to recognize the speaker to connect via Bluetooth. I've turned off the Bluetooth and restarted it on the iPad (it's a newer iPad Air 5th Gen and currently on version 16.7...so maybe that's an issue - needs to upgrade to 17). Sometimes that works in recognizing nearby devices, but it's not working here. I tried googling it and asking AI but it tried to tell me to turn it off - but there's no power button and no power reset (told me to look for a small hole ... there's no hole). I don't have the original box or the instructions and I'm at a loss. Weirdly, when I tap it or double tap it - it plays music! We have no every loving clue where it's getting the music or where it's connecting. Any advice?