If you have children and enjoy reading, Amazon Kids+ makes economic sense. It offers access to a mind-boggling array of books, along with movies, apps, music, games, and more, all for a relatively low monthly price. If you tried to buy the same number of books without Amazon Kids+, you would quickly go broke.
But Amazon’s definition of age-appropriate may not agree with yours. In any case, each child is different and it is a decision that only you can make as a parent. But even the most relaxed parent probably wants some control over what their child sees on their Amazon device.
This means that you must actively participate in your child’s Amazon Kids+ experience. To help you, here we explain how to filter content and keep track of what your children are doing on the platform. And don’t forget to check out our other guides for parents, including the best podcasts for kids, the best subscription boxes for kids., and the best STEM toys for kids.
Updated May 2023: We’ve rewritten some instructions to reflect changes to Amazon’s Parent Dashboard, added instructions for controlling voice and video calls, and a new section on how to move purchase content outside of Kids+ to your child’s device.
Create a profile
To get started, you need to create a child profile.
- Open the Amazon Kids+ app.
- If this is your first time using it, the Add child profile the screen will appear. Otherwise, select Add a child on the home page to add another profile.
- Enter your child’s name and date of birth. Amazon uses the date of birth to control the content your child sees. You don’t have to use your child’s actual date of birth; just pick something close, so the initial content is what Amazon considers appropriate for that age.
This is where you also set a PIN that you will need to remember. This PIN is required to exit Amazon Kids+ on the device. If you don’t want your child to be able to leave Kids+ on their own, keep the PIN code secret.
Once you’ve created a child profile, you can use it to sign in on any Amazon device. Your kids can read their books on a Kindle or use the Kindle app on other devices, as well as watch movies, play games, and access the web on other devices, like a Fire tablet or Kids Echo Dot.
Manage content
Once your child’s profile is set up, go to Parent Dashboard to control the content your child sees. Most controls are accessible through the app, but it’s often easier to set up and control Amazon Kids+ through the app. Web interface.
The bad news is that your controls are limited. In Amazon’s words, there are “thousands of age-appropriate books, movies, and TV shows for kids ages 3-12.” That’s a lot of content, and there’s no way anyone is sifting through it all. Amazon assured WIRED that all content is hand-selected. Although the algorithms may recommend related content, the pool has all been vetted by humans.
