There are many educational videos that children can learn from, which can develop their knowledge and interest in things. It is advisable to expose kids to educational things from an early age.
One of the best ways your kids can learn is by looking at videos, and the YouTube Kids app is perfect for this. It contains child-friendly content, which ensures that all videos are appropriate for specific age groups. The application lets the parents control the usage of the child through different features.
Learn more about what YouTube Kids can offer to your child and what you can do as parents to monitor and secure the video-watching of your child. Check out how you can also set up an account for your child in the app below.
- What Is YouTube Kids?
- Parental Safety Controls On YouTube Kids
- Child’s Profile On YouTube Kids
- Parent Features On YouTube Kids
- Activating YouTube Premium On YouTube Kids
What Is YouTube Kids?
YouTube, one of the biggest video-sharing online platforms, has a version dedicated to children. YouTube Kids give children an online environment where they can learn age-appropriate content.
The subsidiary company of Google, YouTube, developed and launched the mobile application in February 2015. The app provides many features that control the content that the kids may watch on the video-sharing platform.
Since the launch of YouTube Kids as a mobile application, it has received great reviews from parents, which prompted YouTube to develop the app further. It has been made available to different platforms and TVs such as Android, LG, Samsung, and Sony Smart TV.
However, it was only in August 2019 when YouTube released a web-based version of Youtube Kids making it more accessible. At present, the Youtube Kids app is available in over 70 countries worldwide. So, millions of parents and children can enjoy the features of the app.
Downloading The YouTube Kids App
The mobile application was initially launched on both Google Play Store and iOS App Store. YouTube Kids is free to download on both platforms. You need to search for “YouTube Kids,” then click the install button.
Upon installing, the app will ask you whether you are a kid or a parent. YouTube Kids would not let you set up your account if you chose the “I’m a kid” option. The app requires that the parents be the ones to set up the account for their child.
YouTube Kids provides reminders and instructions to set up the parental safety controls for the account. This ensures that the parents are aware of the app’s policies.
Parental Safety Controls On YouTube Kids
Given that the application is made for children, YouTube Kids gives the parents ways to control and monitor their children’s activities on the app. The first thing that the app requires is to set up the account by the parents and to let them know the app’s parental safety controls features.
The YouTube Kids app requires the parent to provide their year of birth to confirm their age. After entering your age, the app will show you a video presentation on the perks of signing up as a parent in the YouTube Kids app.
You can set up a profile for each kid, and if you sign in, you have more controls, such as allowing the videos to be shown or choose the videos on your own. You can also block any videos or channels that you deem not fit for your children.
It will also be easier for you the next time you sign in because your kid’s profile will be readily accessible. Finally, you need to use your email or any existing account to sign up as a parent on the YouTube Kids app.
Parental Consent On The YouTube Kids App
YouTube values the safety and privacy of the children who will be using the app. Thus, they provide a comprehensive parental consent form that explains the vital privacy information for parents.
The app encourages the parents to thoroughly read and review the provisions mentioned in the parental consent, including the information that the app collects, such as information about the device and app used to access the service and app activity.
YouTube Kids assures the parents that the information collected will solely be used for internal operation purposes to improve the service. Some of these purposes are enforcing the content license restrictions, spam, and abuse prevention, determining preferred language, and creating personalized content and suggestions.
Child’s Profile On YouTube Kids
After agreeing with the provisions mentioned on the parental consent form, you need to provide your password to sign in to the app officially. The next step is to create a profile for your kids.
YouTube Kids will ask you to enter the following information about your child: first name, age, and birth month. The app promises to customize the app based on your child’s age as you will be asked about the content settings according to your child’s age group.
There are four options: Preschool (for ages 4 and under), Younger (for ages 5-7), Older (for ages 8-12), and Approve Content Yourself. The app will then provide recommended video content and topics appropriate to the age.
All the recommended videos according to the chosen age range are well-reviewed by the YouTube Kids team. They ensure that the videos with mature content are already excluded from the list and not searchable by the children. If there will be videos or channels that the parent seems inappropriate, they can flag it to inform the YouTube Kids team.
Age Group-Based Video Recommendations On YouTube Kids
For the Preschool option, the kids are allowed to watch videos that may enhance their creativity, learning, and playfulness. The Younger age bracket lets the children explore their interests on a wide variety of topics. Some videos are appropriate for them, such as cartoons, crafts, songs, crafts, dance, and many more.
For Ages 8-12, kids can explore further their growing independence to look for other music videos, family vlogs, gaming, science, and many more. The app tries to exclude all videos with mature content.
The Approve Content Yourself option will only show your child the videos, channels, and collections you approved. The videos can be customized to groups according to the general topic.
Parent Features On YouTube Kids
As mentioned earlier, parents are entitled to different safety controls; there is a parent feature on the app that lets you navigate the tabs, buttons, and options for monitoring and regulating your child's use on YouTube Kids.
The first one is by tapping the lock button on the lower right part of the screen that will let you change the settings for the app. You can change the settings every time you deem it necessary. The button also enables you to reread the parental guide for explanation and information.
You can easily block and report videos through the menu tab on the lower gith part of the video frame. This means that the video will not be shown again on your child’s recommended list. Also, it will notify the YouTube Kids team, who will review the report or flag.
One of the app’s great features is that you can watch whatever your child has watched, which is helpful for parents who let their child explore the app alone. To find the watched videos of your kids, you have to tap on the button “Watch it again.”
Other Parent Features On YouTube Kids
There are other options for parents to control the usage of their child on YouTube Kids. Parents can set a timer to lock the app whenever they need a break from the app or when it is time to sleep.
You can set the timer from the clock button on the lower right part of the screen. If you want to monitor the child’s video watching, you can save the videos offline before turning off the internet connection.
In this case, you are assured that your child will only have access to your approved videos.
Activating YouTube Premium On YouTube Kids
The Premium subscription on the regular YouTube account can cover the accounts or profiles created on YouTube Kids. So, you need to verify your Premium account and activate it on the YouTube Kids app.
To activate the YouTube Premium account for your children, go to the lock icon on the bottom right corner of the screen, wherein you will be asked to enter your passcode if there is a password active. Then, you just need to select the Settings button, and tap Activate YouTube Premium.
There will be a confirmation email sent to the Premium account email and a verification code, which will ensure that the account owner allows the use of the Premium account to the child’s account.
The child’s account will also receive the perks of a Premium subscription to YouTube, which includes the advertisement-free experience, allowing download of videos, and playing videos in the background.
Subscribing To YouTube Premium
YouTube Premium is only limited to some countries, but if it is available in your country. It is a must-have, so you can enjoy watching videos without the interruption of advertisements, and you can freely download videos.
You can subscribe to the monthly plan of $11.99. There is also a family option that you can use that can cover up to five family members. Lastly, you can enjoy the seven-day trial period first.
Conclusion
To ensure that your children only watch videos appropriate to their age, you can try to let them use the YouTube Kids app. The application has many parental safety control features that let you closely monitor the videos that they watch.
The features include setting the timer for app usage, block and flag inappropriate videos, and many more. YouTube Kids create a video recommendations list for the child based on their age.
Last updated on December 26th, 2022 at 07:27 pm
