One of the reasons that aFire tabletwas the first device that I gave my kids is the bevy of parental controls. Besides restricting content, the Amazon Parent Dashboard allowed me to set screen time limits and even require them to read or play an educational game first.
The Amazon Parent Dashboard houses all the tools to customize your child’s device.
Whether you just bought your child a new Fire device, or you want to reign in your kid’s screen time on an existing Fire tablet, the Amazon Parent Dashboard houses all the tools to customize your child’s device.
If you haven’t yet powered up the your kid’s Fire tablet yet, read this guide onhow to set up Firefor kids first, then jump back here to learn how to adjust your child’s settings, often without even touching their tablet.
How to set up an Amazon Fire Kids tablet for your child
Learn how to navigate the Parent and Kids dashboards on your new Fire Kids tablet, to make it safe and easy for them to use.
How to use the Amazon Parent Dashboard
You don’t need to grab your child’s tablet to adjust their settings
To use the Amazon Parent Dashboard, you don’t need to adjust the settings on the child’s device itself. All you need to use the Parent Dashboard is a device with an internet connection and your Amazon password. That means you can adjust your child’s settings from your smartphone, even while they are playing on their device.
Here’s how to access the Amazon Parent Dashboard:
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How to manage your kid’s access to content
You can manage your child’s content in two different places
Parents can manage the content on their kid’s Fire tablet in two spaces: the Amazon Kids+ content, and all other apps. Amazon Kids+, formerly called FreePlay, is a subscription that gives kids access to games, videos, and books; a 12-month subscription is often included with the purchase of new kids' tablets from Amazon. But, outside the Kids+ app, kids can also use other apps. Parents can also control and limit these other apps as well.
To manage the content on Amazon Kids+:
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Parents can also manage the content outside of the Kids+ subscription. This allows you to add apps, ebooks, music, and other content that you’ve already purchased with your Amazon account to your child’s library. However, this only works with content already associated with your Amazon account. If you want to download a new app that you’ve never used before, you’ll need to use your child’s device to download the app first. Kids can also request a download from the store, which parents can then approve in the Parent Dashboard from any device.
To manage the other apps on a child’s Fire tablet:
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How to set up time limits for kids
One of Amazon Parental Controls best features are the screen time limits
One of my favorite features of Amazon’s Kids tablets is the screen time limits. The device automatically tracks time and shows a screen when the time is up, which meant I wasn’t the one telling them to get off, which tended to result in less complaining. Screen time can be set up and controlled from the Amazon Parent Dashboard:
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More Amazon Parent Dashboard settings
Parents can also control on device calling, Alexa, and other features
While the content restrictions and screen time limits were personally my most-used settings on the Amazon Parent Dashboard, there are a few other settings to note:
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Q: How do you reset the Amazon Parent Dashboard password?
The Amazon Parental Controls password is what keeps your child from changing their own settings. Because of this, Amazon doesn’t offer a way to reset the password. Instead,Amazon says that if you forgot the parental controls password, you need to do a factory reset and restore the default settings, then set up the Parental Controls again.
Q: What are the benefits of Amazon Fire Kids tablets?
One of the biggest perks to the kid’s version of an Amazon Fire tablet is theKids+ subscription. Unlike a lot of platforms, the Kids+ content is selected by people, not algorithms which have a history of letting some inappropriate content slip through the cracks. The Kids+ subscription includes a large selection of age-appropriate apps, videos, and ebooks. The Amazon Parent Dashboard, which allows parents to restrict screen time, is another perk.
The downside is that the Kids+ requires a paid subscription (after the one that is included with the purchase of the device expires). These kids' tablets can use other apps, even requiring parent approval for download. But, the 16 to 32 GB that comes with many of today’s models can fill up quickly when installing apps outside of Amazon Kids, and not all apps can be downloaded to a microSD card instead. That can make it more challenging to use the Kids Kindle Fire as a regular tablet.
