Kids\u2019 mobile phones are no longer just expensive toys. Phones help parents keep in touch, and kids to learn and develop in step with the times.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve already read up on the pros and cons of kids having smartphones<\/a> (as well as how to choose the right device). However, buying a phone for your child (or repurposing your old one) is only half the battle. The gadget needs to be configured properly, and that\u2019s something you should do for yourself.<\/p>\n First, you will need to create an account for your child. On an Android device, it has to be a Google account, without which your kid cannot make full use of the phone. Here\u2019s how.<\/p>\n In much of the world (including the US, UK, and Australia), users must be at least 13 to create their own Google account. Some countries have different age requirements<\/a>, however; for example, a majority of European citizens are subject to more strict requirements. It\u2019s not hard to fool the system by giving a false date of birth, of course, but that would violate Google\u2019s terms of service and could result in the account being blocked.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, creating a separate child account tied to your own is really handy. It gives your little one access to all necessary services but leaves you in charge of the account.<\/p>\n\n If you intend to give your child your old smartphone, start by resetting it to factory settings. That wipes the memory, including anything that isn\u2019t for underage consumption. To do a reset:<\/p>\n If you prefer not to reset your smartphone before giving it to your kid, you must first delete your account from it. Although Android supports multiple accounts, there really should be no other accounts on a child\u2019s device.<\/p>\n If you attempt to create a Google account for your child on a phone with your own, you will see a warning message and not be allowed to continue. Either way, you will end up deleting any existing Google accounts from your smartphone. To do so:<\/p>\n Now, you can set up the new account. To create one on a used device:<\/p>\n The new or reset smartphone just needs to be turned on and connected to a mobile network or Wi-Fi. After the system updates, you will be prompted to sync your data (skip this step for now) and sign in to a Google account.<\/p>\n The next steps are the same for both new and used devices. On the Google account sign-in page:<\/p>\n Google\u2019s verification of the data can take some time, and you may also be asked to create a family group<\/a> if you don\u2019t already have one.<\/p>\n All done! Your child now has a Google account. They can use it without restrictions, but you\u2019re actually in control of what happens with the account. For example, you will receive e-mail notifications if someone logs in to the account from an unknown device, tries to reset the password, and so on.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, with a family group you can manage your child\u2019s purchases and share games, books, and TV shows<\/a> with them. Here\u2019s how to set up a family group and other important features on your child\u2019s phone<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another must is, of course, protecting the device with reliable mobile antivirus<\/a> and installing a parental-control application. To control your child\u2019s smartphone and computer activity with the same application, you need a versatile solution such as Kaspersky Safe Kids<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Is your child not yet 13 years old? We explain how to create a Google child account for him or her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2581,"featured_media":37232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[105,288,22,89,423,131],"class_list":{"0":"post-37230","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tips","8":"tag-android","9":"tag-children","10":"tag-google","11":"tag-kids","12":"tag-mobile-devices","13":"tag-tips"},"hreflang":[{"hreflang":"x-default","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/google-account-for-your-kid\/37230\/"},{"hreflang":"en-in","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.in\/blog\/google-account-for-your-kid\/21966\/"},{"hreflang":"en-ae","url":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/google-account-for-your-kid\/17444\/"},{"hreflang":"en-us","url":"https:\/\/usa.kaspersky.com\/blog\/google-account-for-your-kid\/23410\/"},{"hreflang":"en-gb","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.uk\/blog\/google-account-for-your-kid\/21598\/"},{"hreflang":"es-mx","url":"https:\/\/latam.kaspersky.com\/blog\/google-account-for-your-kid\/20236\/"},{"hreflang":"es","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.es\/blog\/google-account-for-your-kid\/24011\/"},{"hreflang":"it","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.it\/blog\/google-account-for-your-kid\/23010\/"},{"hreflang":"ru","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.ru\/blog\/google-account-for-your-kid\/29203\/"},{"hreflang":"tr","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.tr\/blog\/google-account-for-your-kid\/8892\/"},{"hreflang":"fr","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.fr\/blog\/google-account-for-your-kid\/15768\/"},{"hreflang":"pl","url":"https:\/\/plblog.kaspersky.com\/google-account-for-your-kid\/14027\/"},{"hreflang":"ja","url":"https:\/\/blog.kaspersky.co.jp\/google-account-for-your-kid\/29219\/"},{"hreflang":"nl","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.nl\/blog\/google-account-for-your-kid\/26172\/"},{"hreflang":"ru-kz","url":"https:\/\/blog.kaspersky.kz\/google-account-for-your-kid\/22963\/"},{"hreflang":"en-au","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/google-account-for-your-kid\/28251\/"},{"hreflang":"en-za","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/google-account-for-your-kid\/28085\/"}],"acf":[],"banners":"","maintag":{"url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/tag\/kids\/","name":"kids"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2581"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37230"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37235,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37230\/revisions\/37235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Create a Google account on your child\u2019s phone<\/h2>\n
Preparing a used smartphone<\/h3>\n
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Creating a new Google account for your child<\/h3>\n
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Protect your kid\u2019s smartphone<\/h2>\n