Parenting Pointers: Amazon Kids Edition Tips

In a constantly changing digital world, parents are more conscious than ever of their children’s digital activity. And with the arrival of 2020, many people are focusing on implementing new and better habits for themselves and their families, including screen time rules and etiquette.

Unfortunately for many parents, that means being the ‘bad guy’ and snatching a device from a screaming child. But not this year! Amazon’s kid-friendly devices offer a number of features to stay in control of what kids are seeing and how much time they spend online – even encouraging them to engage with educational content. Several tips and tricks for using the Fire Kids Edition tablet, Kindle Kids Edition and Echo Dot Kids Edition can be found below:

-       Take advantage of pre-screened content: All Amazon Kids Edition devices come with a one-year free subscription to FreeTime Unlimited (or FreeTime Unlimited en Español for Spanish-speaking families) which offers hand-selected, age appropriate content, including thousands of kid-friendly songs, apps, games, books, videos, audiobooks, and educational content from PBS Kids, Nickelodeon, Disney, and more.

-       Personalize features: Parents can turn off in-app purchasing and subscription content from a child’s profile, set language preferences to Spanish or even automatically shut off the device for bedtime or dinner on up to four children’s profiles. No more “5 more minutes!"

-       Engage with kids about the content they love: Discussion Cards offer a summary of each child’s favorite books, apps and videos, including key themes and suggested questions to see what they’ve learned.

-       Set goals and track progress: The profile settings page allows parents to pick the amount of time they want their child to engage with each content category. For example, parents can request that they complete reading and math problems before playing games. Weekly and three-month reports highlight what each child has been using in FreeTime, as well as how much time they’re spending with each content category.