How to Create a Child Apple Account with Family Sharing

Apple’s support page “Create an Apple Account for your child” was last published on September 14, 2026. It says that a parent or guardian has to create the Apple Account for a child under 13.

If you are setting up an iPad just for your child, you need that account before Screen Time or Ask to Buy can do their job. This post walks through creating it, following that page. I covered age guidelines and where Apple’s age limits fall in What Age Should Kids Get an iPad?, so here I stick to the steps. Labels can differ a little by OS version and region, so compare with what you see on your screen.

Before you start

Set up a Family Sharing group. A child account is created inside a Family Sharing group. If you don’t have one yet, follow Apple’s page “Set up Family Sharing” first. On an iPhone or iPad, go to Settings, tap your name, tap Family, and follow the onscreen instructions. A group can have up to six people, including you.

The organizer or a parent creates it. The account can be created by the Family Sharing organizer, or by an adult in the group who is set up as a parent or guardian. You may be asked to confirm that you are an adult along the way.

Have your child’s date of birth ready. Apple’s page stresses entering the correct birthday. Which limits are on by default, and which features are available, depend on the child’s age.

On an iPhone or iPad

Do this on the organizer’s iPhone or iPad, not on the child’s iPad.

Go to Settings, then tap Family.
Tap the Add Member button.
Tap Create Child Account, then tap Continue.
Enter your child’s name and birthday.
Follow the onscreen instructions to finish.

Apple says the account can use your child’s email address, the suggested @icloud.com address, or their Game Center nickname. If your child doesn’t use email yet, the suggested @icloud.com address can be used.

On a Mac

Do this on the organizer’s Mac.

From the Apple menu, choose System Settings, then click Family.
Click Add Member.
Click Create Child Account.
Follow the onscreen instructions.

The account can use your child’s email address or their Game Center nickname. Again, enter the correct birthday.

After you create it

Sign in on your child’s iPad. Sign in with the new account on the iPad your child will use. If you set up a new iPad by choosing the child option during setup, Apple’s page says you can connect that account to your Family Sharing group later.

Don’t share the account. Apple says it is important not to share a child’s account with other family members (Use parental controls to manage your child’s iPhone or iPad). If siblings share one iPad, each still needs an account of their own.

Keep track of the password. If your child forgets it, the organizer or a parent can change it from their own iPhone or iPad. Go to Settings, tap Family, and select your child (Change your Apple Account password).

Review the limits. For children under 13, Ask to Buy and Ask to Browse are on by default. Purchases are covered in How to Stop Kids Making In-App Purchases on an iPad, and time and web limits in How to Set Up Screen Time on an iPad for Your Child. Once the account exists, those two are next.

Compared with using your own account

You can also skip the child account and hand over an iPad signed in with your own Apple Account. It takes no setup.

But then the iPad carries your payment details, email, photos and messages. And Ask to Buy only works when the child has an account of their own. With your account on the iPad, there is no request that arrives on your device for you to approve.

If your child will spend any time on the iPad alone, one option is to create the account at the start.

Using Kinder Browser with a child account

Kinder Browser is a children’s web browser for iPhone, iPad and Mac that I make. It needs no special settings to work with a child account.

There are three things worth knowing.

First, getting the app. Kinder Browser is a paid app, a one-time purchase of $9.99 in the US and ¥1,500 in Japan. On a child’s iPad with Ask to Buy turned on, trying to get it sends a request to you. It has no in-app purchases, no subscription and no ads, so nothing else will be asked for later.

Second, where the settings live. The home page, bookmarks, blacklist and whitelist are stored in iCloud and sync between devices signed in to the same Apple Account. On an iPad signed in with your child’s account, they are stored on your child’s account. Settings you make on your own iPad will not carry over to your child’s, so set things up in the parent page on your child’s iPad.

Third, Screen Time. If you use Ask to Browse with Approved Websites Only and a site you allowed in Kinder Browser won’t open, check the approved websites in Screen Time as well.

Kinder Browser collects no data, browsing history included. In my developer interview I explained why:

As a user, it’s only natural not to want your browsing data collected. Using the data of children, whose judgement is still developing, to make more money is evil, in my view.

There is a Mac version too, for families who use a child account on a Mac. In the interview I said: “I thought it should properly support Mac, including file saving and microphone permissions, so I developed and released a Mac version.”

The settings sit behind a parental gate. The default parental passcode is “0000”, so turn on Use CustomPIN and change it to your own number.

Getting Started with Kinder Browser covers the first setup, and Kinder Browser vs Other Ways to Keep a Child’s Web Safe compares it with Screen Time and other options.