YouTube Kids Safety Guide for Parents
A guide to YouTube Kids settings including content levels, search controls, and timer features to help parents manage their child's viewing.
YouTube Kids is a filtered version of YouTube designed for under-13s, offering curated children's videos with parental controls and simpler content settings.
Official age
No minimum age
We recommend
4+
Developer
Google LLC
Risks
3
Features to know about
Overview
YouTube Kids is a child-friendly version of YouTube with simplified navigation, curated content, and stronger parental controls. It offers three content levels — Preschool, Younger, and Older — and includes a built-in timer. Whilst much safer than the main YouTube app, automated content filtering is not infallible.
How children use it
Young children browse colourful thumbnails and watch cartoons, nursery rhymes, educational videos, and content from child-friendly creators. The simplified interface makes it easy for even very young children to navigate independently. Older children may use the search function to find specific shows or topics.
Main risks
Recommended privacy settings
Content Level
Location: Parent Settings (lock icon) → Child's Profile → Content Level
Set to: Match to your child's age group (Preschool / Younger / Older)
Sets the range of content available. Preschool is the most restricted; Older allows content suitable for ages 9-12.
Search
Location: Parent Settings (lock icon) → Child's Profile → Search
Set to: Off (for children under 7)
Disabling search limits your child to content curated for the home screen, giving you greater control over what they can find.
Approved Content Only
Location: Parent Settings (lock icon) → Child's Profile → Approved Content Only
Set to: On (for maximum control)
Only shows channels, videos, or collections you have specifically approved. The most restrictive and safest option.
Parent actions
Set the correct content level for your child's age and consider enabling Approved Content Only mode
Time: 10 minutes
Use the built-in timer to set a daily viewing limit rather than relying on your child to stop voluntarily
Time: 2 minutes
Periodically check what your child has been watching by reviewing their watch history in the parent settings
Time: 5 minutes weekly
Related app guides
If you need to report this
In immediate danger: call 999. For non-emergency police matters, call 101.
Concerned about a child but it's not an emergency? NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000. Childline for young people 0800 1111.
Myths & facts
Myth: Everything on YouTube Kids has been checked by a human.
Fact: Filtering is largely automated, which is why unsuitable videos occasionally slip through. The one genuinely human-checked option is 'Approved Content Only' mode — and the human is you, hand-picking the channels and videos your child can watch.
Myth: It's the safe app, so there's nothing to set up.
Fact: Out of the box, the app doesn't know your child's age and search may be available. Its safety depends heavily on ten minutes in the parent settings: choosing the right content level, deciding whether search stays on, and setting the timer.
Myth: My child is nine, so they've outgrown YouTube Kids.
Fact: The 'Older' content level is designed for roughly 9-12s, and the alternative isn't the main YouTube app — that has a minimum age of 13. For a child who finds the Kids app babyish, the honest middle step is a supervised experience on the main platform through a parent-managed Google account, not an open account.
Age by age
- 8-10
This is exactly who YouTube Kids is for at the top end: set the content level to 'Older', decide together whether search stays on, and use the built-in timer rather than negotiating every session. A weekly glance at watch history in the parent settings tells you more than any filter.
- 11-13
Many children find the Kids app babyish before 13, and the honest bridge is YouTube's supervised experience via a parent-managed Google account rather than jumping straight to an unrestricted one. At 13 they can hold their own account — set it up together and carry the viewing-time habits across.
- 14-16
They'll be on the main YouTube app by now, so carry over what YouTube Kids used to do for you: talk about where recommendations and Shorts lead, agree limits on autoplay and late-night viewing, and use family screen-time tools openly and by agreement rather than quietly.
- 17-plus
YouTube Kids is only relevant now if younger siblings share devices — keep profiles strictly separate so an older teen's viewing history doesn't shape what the algorithm shows a six-year-old, and make sure the parent settings lock still holds on shared tablets and TVs.
Frequently Asked Questions
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