How do you manage downloads on your kids' devices?

[Jonny Kansas]

So, now that I've got my Nvidia Shield tablet, we're considering giving my 2012 Nexus 7 to my stepson so that he's got something a bit more versatile than his LeapFrog tablet (and cheaper games/etc.)

He's only 6.

My initial thought was to create a Google account for him so that his apps and etc. are tied to his account and not one of ours.

BUT, I'm wondering how others are doing things?

Obviously, if my wife or I want to pay for a game or app for him, we'd like to make it easy to do. Should I add my account and/or her's as secondary accounts on the tablet so we can input a password if we decide to let him purchase something?

Or is it a better idea to just get a prepaid Visa or straight-up Google Play Credit and load that up as we see fit? That's kind of the more secure way that I'm leaning, but at the same time, only having to grab the tablet and input a password to authorize purchases seems like less hassle in the long-run. He won't be spending more than a couple/few dollars at a time, just like I do when I decide to purchase apps and I'm fully aware of the option to "require password every time" or however it's worded.

Anyone out there have anything that they do that they'd like to share for letting the kid get the most out of a device without them accidentally buying hundreds of dollars worth of IAPs? Haha

 

[Mustang02]

We created a new account with a password needed to buy apps. He's 7. He has to ask before downloading a game as well. Seems to work for my sister.

 

[Jeffrey]

My wife's 2 boys 8 and 10 years have their own accounts. Both are password protected. They need to go to my wife for any downloads..

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Do they just add Play credit to the accounts then?

 

[Mustang02]

Do they just add Play credit to the accounts then?

Their credit card attached to it. Password needed though.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I'm kinda thinking I'll go that route, but just add Play store credit. That way, as he gets older and earns allowance/etc, we can convert that to Play credit and add it if he wants to use it. And I won't have to remember to remove my CC info if/when he's old enough to have the password for himself and manage his own purchases/money.

 

[Miller6386]

We go the reloadable card for my OH's daughter. Got the card through the credit union so we can transfer money to it without charge. Allows her to start getting into tracking her own money and being "responsible" with it. She's allowed to decide if/how much of her Bday money goes on the card. She is also allowed to use it at stores or on Amazon. Of course it is a secondary account and still requires a password she doesn't have. She also doesn't carry the card it is kept with us....

She has her own Google account which I am not fond of. She is only 10 but on weeks with her dad stays with her 14 and 16 year old sisters with next to no adult supervision. I am really tired of having to fix her tablet and finding selfies with duck lips from her bedroom... But that is all for a whole different thread all together..

I think it is good for them to start young at making the choices of what they want to spend their limited funds on. Makes them think twice if they really want that game or if they should save that few dollars in case they find something they want later on.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

He'll be leaving this one with us when he goes to his dad's & he's an only child anyway.

I'm still thinking of play credit since he's only 6, but that's a great idea for starting to teach him more about money as he gets older. He really doesn't get it yet, even though we explain bills & things to him in terms he can grasp.

Sent from my Nexus 6P

 

[mountainbikermark]

I did this sort of thing with my kids when they got old enough to have their first phone. I gave them $20 a month credit and anything above that they had to come up with themselves. Didn't take long for them to learn budgeting.
My 8 year old has an old tablet of mine and I've got a password app that is needed to access the Play Store and a password needed to to buy anything. I've given her the pass code to the app now but not the password to my Google account. She's done very well with that setup. Her mom has done the same on her iPad and iPhone so my daughter has to let us get paid apps for her on both platforms.

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[Jonny Kansas]

First thing I did was tell the play store to always require a password and I set him up with his own Google account on there. I think I'd prefer for it to be completely separated from our funds. She seems to be in agreement that buying Play Store credit here and there is a good way to start. I don't think we'll even start him off with $20 a month. Might just start with like $25 and get him a few full games that we know he'll like. They've also got a learning app that they use through school that's available, so I downloaded that too, but he was more interested in playing a Thomas game that wants $10 to unlock everything. He played the heck out of the one race he could do for free before supper last night.

Should have a rugged case for it by Tuesday and I warned him that his behavior at school will directly impact whether he gets to play on it or not. He's been sassy with teachers and mean to other kids a lot lately, but he came home with a "caught being good" instead of a "report" yesterday, so I let him do some playing after I got it pretty well setup.

I'm only putting his games on the homescreen and I'm not sure yet what I'll try to do to secure the browser more. I want him to have full use of the tablet as he gets older, but want to protect him from things he shouldn't be seeing yet. I know there are kid mode apps and etc, so maybe I'll look into one of those to start, but I wouldn't mind him being able to do things in the browser as he gets older without having to worry that he's gonna see some dirty stuff.