Handing a child a tablet without parental controls is like handing them the keys to a sweet shop and hoping for the best. The internet is wonderful and weird and occasionally awful, and kids — bless them — will find the awful bits within about eleven minutes. Here’s how to set up parental controls on a child’s tablet, whether it’s an iPad, a Samsung tablet, or an Amazon Fire — the three tablets kids actually use.

I’ve set these up for friends’ kids more times than I can count, and the approach that works isn’t about building a digital prison. It’s about sensible guardrails: age-appropriate content, time limits that prevent the zombie-stare, and spending controls so little Timmy can’t buy £400 of Roblox currency. Let’s do all three tablets.

How to Set Up Parental Controls on a Child’s Tablet

Apple’s Screen Time is the most polished parental control system of the three — and it’s completely free and built in.

Setting it up

1. On your iPhone (or the child’s iPad), go to Settings → Screen Time.
2. Tap “Turn On Screen Time” → “This is My Child’s iPad”.
3. Follow the setup: you’ll set a Screen Time passcode (different from the device passcode — this is what stops the child changing the settings).
4. If you have Family Sharing set up, you can manage everything from your own iPhone remotely — approving app downloads, adjusting limits, and seeing usage reports without touching their iPad.

The settings that matter most

• Content & Privacy Restrictions: set age ratings for apps, films and web content. For under-10s, I’d suggest apps rated 9+ max and web content restricted to allowed websites only.
• App Limits: cap categories like Games or Social Networking (e.g. 1 hour/day). The iPad gently locks the app when time’s up.
• Downtime: schedule no-iPad hours — bedtime and mealtimes, typically. Everything except approved apps (phone, messages to family) locks down.
• iTunes & App Store Purchases: set to “Don’t Allow” for in-app purchases, or require your approval for every purchase via Ask to Buy (under-13s get this automatically with Family Sharing). This is the setting that prevents the £400 Roblox incident.
• Communication Limits: control who your child can contact via FaceTime and Messages, and when.

Parental Controls on Samsung / Android Tablets (Google Family Link)

Google’s Family Link is free and works across Android tablets, Chromebooks and (partially) iPhones.

Setting it up

1. Install Google Family Link on your phone and create a supervised Google account for your child (or supervise their existing one).
2. On the child’s tablet, sign in with that account and follow the prompts to link it to your Family Link.
3. Manage everything from the Family Link app on your phone.

Key controls

• App controls: approve or block every app install remotely; set per-app time limits.
• Daily limits & bedtime: set total screen time and a bedtime after which the tablet locks.
• Content filters: Google Play age restrictions, Google Search SafeSearch (lock it on), YouTube Restricted Mode.
• Location tracking: see the tablet’s location — handy for older kids with more independence.
• Purchase approvals: require your approval for all Play Store purchases, including in-app ones.

One gap to know about: Family Link’s web filtering only applies within Google’s own apps (Chrome, Search, YouTube). If your child installs another browser, web filtering may not apply — which is why the app-approval control matters. Pair it with two-factor authentication on your own Google account so the child can’t simply remove the supervision.

Parental Controls on Amazon Fire Tablets (Amazon Kids)

Fire tablets are the most popular kids’ tablets in the UK for one reason: price. And Amazon Kids (formerly FreeTime) is genuinely excellent — arguably the best out-of-the-box kids’ experience.

• Amazon Kids creates a walled-garden profile with age-appropriate content only — no open web browser, no unfiltered YouTube, no app store free-for-all.
• Set it up under Settings → Profiles & Family Library → Add a child profile.
• You control time limits by category (e.g. unlimited reading, 1 hour of games), bedtime, and age filters.
• Amazon Kids+ (£4.99/month, often bundled free for a year with Kids Edition tablets) adds thousands of books, videos, apps and games — all pre-vetted. For younger kids, it’s very good value.
• To exit the Kids profile and access the full tablet requires your parental PIN — set one that’s not your child’s birthday.

Beyond the Settings: The Conversations That Matter More

Here’s the honest truth I’ve learned from parents who’ve been through it: no filter is perfect, and tech-savvy kids eventually find workarounds. The controls buy you time and prevent accidents — but the real protection is ongoing conversation:

• Talk about what’s okay to share online — and what never is (full name, school, address, photos in school uniform).
• Establish that they can tell you anything — if something weird or scary happens online, the response is help, not punishment and confiscation. Kids who fear losing the tablet don’t report problems.
• Keep tablets out of bedrooms at night. Charge them in the living room. This one rule prevents more issues than any software filter.
• Model the behaviour. If you’re scrolling through dinner, the screen-time lecture won’t land.
• Review settings every 6–12 months. What’s appropriate at 7 isn’t at 11. Loosen gradually as they show responsibility — controls that never relax just teach kids to circumvent them.

Useful UK Resources

For age-specific guidance beyond the device settings, the NSPCC and Internet Matters (internetmatters.org) both offer excellent, practical UK-focused advice for parents — conversation starters by age, what the real risks are at each stage, and how schools handle online safety. And Which? regularly reviews kids’ tablets and parental control software if you’re shopping for a device.

Set up the technical controls this weekend — it takes about 30 minutes per tablet — and then have the conversation. The combination of sensible guardrails and a kid who knows they can talk to you is worth more than any filter ever made.

One last tip: revisit these settings together as your child grows. Controls that evolve with age and demonstrated responsibility teach good digital habits far better than restrictions that never change — and the conversation you have while adjusting them is often more valuable than the settings themselves.

Once parental controls are in place, don’t forget the practical side: our guide to backing up photos from an Android phone ensures precious family photos survive even if the tablet doesn’t, and our analysis of whether extended warranties are worth it will help you decide if accident cover makes sense for a device a child carries everywhere.