if you have Kids, they love to read, and Amazon Kids+ makes economic sense. It offers access to a dizzying array of books as well as movies, apps, music, games, and more, all for a relatively low monthly price. If you try to buy the same number of books without Amazon Kids+, you’ll be broke in no time.
But Amazon’s definition of what’s age-appropriate may not match yours. Regardless, every child is different and this is a decision only you as a parent can make. But even the most relaxed parents may want some control over what their kids see on Amazon devices.
That means you need to be an active participant in your child’s Amazon Kids+ experience. To help you, here we explain how to filter content and track what your kids are doing on the platform. And be sure to check out our other parent guides, including Best Kids Podcasts and Best STEM Toys for Kids.
Create a profile
First, you need to create a sub-profile.
- Open the Amazon Kids+ app.
- If this is your first time using it, Add child profiles The screen will pop up.Otherwise, choose add a child Add another profile on the home page.
- Enter your child’s name and date of birth. Amazon uses date of birth to control what your child sees. You don’t have to use your child’s actual birthday; just choose something close so that the initial content will be what Amazon thinks is appropriate for that era.
You can also set a PIN to remember here. This PIN is required to sign out of Amazon Kids+ on the device. If you don’t want your child to be able to log out of Kids+ on their own, keep the PIN code private.
Once a sub-profile is created, it can be used to log in on any Amazon device. Your child can read books on the Kindle or use the Kindle app on other devices, as well as watch movies, play games and access the web on other devices such as Fire tablets or Kids Echo Dot.
Manage content
Once you’ve set up your child’s profile, go to Parent Dashboard Control what your kids see.Most controls are accessible through the application, but via web interface.
The bad news is that your control is limited. In Amazon’s words, there are “thousands of books, movies, and TV shows for kids ages 3 to 12.” That’s a lot of content, and no one can sift through it all. Amazon assures Wired that all content is curated by hand. While algorithms may recommend relevant content, the pools are vetted by humans.
