Are you looking for ways to instill a healthy gadget habit in your kids? You have come to the right place.
Whether you’re juggling office work and parental duties, or a full-time parent multi-tasking between household chores and the kids, there is more than one way you can help your children develop healthier device habits.
Gadgets have become more accessible to children these days, so you must have your know-how. Be it a screen time limit, controls over apps they use and contents they see, or instructions on how to set them up.
Don’t worry – this article has you covered! Below are the different ways to customize your iPad for your child’s use.
Be in control by setting up Family Sharing
Before anything else, you need to set up an iPad for your child.
To do this, tap Set Up for a Child in My Family. Family Sharing allows you to set up a new iPad for your child and customize the parental controls. You can also create an account for your child if they don’t have their own Apple Account yet.
How to Set Up:
Go to Settings > [your name] > Family, then follow the onscreen instructions to set up your Family Sharing group.
Then, one adult family member can serve as the organizer and invite other family members to join. If you want to, you can also add another adult family member that you can assign to be a parent or guardian. Family Sharing lets you share access to up to five other family members.
Limit screen time
Are you worried about your child’s excessive iPad usage? Thankfully, Screen Time can set downtime and app limits on your child’s iPad. This means you can choose how many hours an app can be used and block notifications for certain periods.
How to Set Up:
On your iPad, go to Settings > Screen Time.
Scroll down and select a family member below Family.
To schedule downtime for your family member, Go to Settings > Screen Time > Tap App & Website Activity, then turn on App & Website Activity if you haven’t already.
Tap Downtime, then do one of the following:
- Tap Turn On Downtime Until Tomorrow
-
Tap Scheduled to schedule downtime in advance.
Then, you can choose Every Day or customize the days when downtime applies as well as the start and end times.
Maintain physical space from your kid’s device
Did you know that three out of 10 Filipino children suffer eye problems due to excessive gadget use? Yup, you might want to keep your child’s screen in check.
Screen Distance reminds your child when the iPad is held too close for an extended period (available on iPad Pro models with Face ID), helping reduce eye strain and the risk of myopia.
How to Set Up:
Go to Settings > Family, tap your child’s name, tap Screen Time, then tap Screen Distance.
When Screen Distance is on, it stops you from continuing by covering the screen with an alert when you hold the screen too close to your face for an extended period. But you can tap Continue to resume using it when you move your iPad more than 12 inches away.
Safeguard your child from inappropriate photos and videos
A device that detects unsuitable images and videos? Sounds amazing, right? Well, you can configure your iPad so it can detect nudity in photos and videos before they’re sent or viewed in Messages, AirDrop, and other apps.
With Communication Safety, your child can get guidance and proper resources to help them make a safe choice. This includes warnings, image blurring, and starting a conversation with a parent or guardian, providing them with helpful options.
How to Set Up:
Go to Settings > Family, tap your child’s name, tap Screen Time, then tap Communication Safety.
Keep distractions away
You can temporarily restrict the iPad to a single app, set a time limit, and customize which features, hardware buttons, and areas of the screen are available.
Say goodbye to unrelated apps and movements for a certain period!
How to Set Up:
Go to Settings > Accessibility, then scroll down and tap Guided Access to get set up.
To end a Guided Access session, you may use the passcode or Face ID and Touch ID, depending on the passcode options you chose when you set up Guided Access.
Your Kid’s Welfare in Your Own Hands
Cultivating a healthy relationship for your kids and their gadgets should not be rocket science. It is designed for all types of parents, whether tech-savvy or not.
When you utilize these features, you impart to your kids the importance of boundaries, keeping you worry-free from unrestricted access, explicit details, and health issues.
As a parent, you know that gadgets are here to stay. More often than not, it’s all about finding the balance between maximizing gadgets to your benefit and ensuring safety – especially among kids.
And this is exactly what the iPad is made for.
If you’re looking for easy and accessible ways for a child-friendly device, head over to our iPad Collection to find the perfect iPad for your little ones – right at your fingertips!
