Guide to buying kids’ tech

Insider tips to choose child-friendly tech

Children will always want to own gadgets and tech products and as they get older, may ask for their own mobile phone or tablet. When buying devices for your child, it can be difficult to know what to look out for from an online safety perspective and what’s age-appropriate.

Increasingly, different technology categories overlap. Whether it’s smartwatches providing messaging or smartphones having brilliant cameras, understanding how these things work in the home is more important than ever. Both so you can make informed purchases and set things up so they are safe and secure.

With the help of our tech expert Andy Robertson, we’ve created a guide recommending the latest child-friendly tech to help your child to get the most out of their digital experience.

 

 

About the guide

Helps you choose

Most categories contain individual product reviews. There are so many to choose from that we’ve been selective in our reviews to cover those devices that are most popular with children, or that we think are most appropriate.

Organised by category

We’ve chosen five key categories – laptops and tablets, smartphones, games consoles, smart TVs and other gadgets. These cover the majority of devices that children may want to use and put all the information you need in one place. When choosing a product, it’s worth checking across different categories as many have overlapping functions.

Tells you what you need to know

There’s a lot of information out there and it can be difficult to sift through, so for each category we’ve brought together the key e-safety considerations for parents when selecting a device.

All about online-safety

Our primary concern is getting you up to speed with what’s available and helping you decide what’s a good purchase with your child in mind. We focus on giving you the right information to keep them safe online when they’re using different devices.

Select the type of tech you’re interested in

Supporting resources and guides

Monitoring children’s digital lives

Finding the right time to talk to children about what they do online can be tricky. For Eileen a married mum of two it is particularly difficult as she shares her story.

When things go wrong online

Sharon is a working Mum with four children aged from 10 to 17. Not surprisingly, they talk about the Internet and social media regularly, but Sharon understands first-hand that things can still go wrong!