What Age Should Kids Get an iPad? What to Decide Before They Start

On April 24, 2019, the World Health Organization published guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under 5. They say screen time is not recommended for infants under one, and that for children aged 2 to 4, sedentary screen time should be no more than one hour a day, with less being better (WHO announcement).

At the same time, many children use a tablet at school from their first years of primary school. So “what age should kids get an iPad” does not have a single number for an answer. In this post I first go through what the official guidance actually says, then the things a family can decide before a child starts.

What the official guidance says

WHO (under 5). The guidelines are written in the context of moving more and sitting less, alongside sleep. For one-year-olds, sedentary screen time, such as watching TV or videos or playing computer games, is not recommended. For two-year-olds and for three- and four-year-olds, it is no more than one hour a day, and less is better.

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). In 2026 the AAP revised its policy on children and digital media. Its parent-facing explainer asks families to “move beyond simple screen-time limits and focus on quality, context and conversation”. It notes that infants under 18 months learn best from real-world interactions. One of its recommendations for families is: “Delay personal tablets. Shared devices encourage co-use and make it easier to monitor content.” (Helping Kids Thrive in a Digital World: AAP Policy Explained). Its earlier guidance, from 2016, had suggested about one hour a day of high-quality programming for ages 2 to 5.

School. In Japan, where I live, the Ministry of Education’s GIGA School program (in Japanese) has given every elementary and junior high school student their own device. Whatever you decide at home, a school-age child will be using a tablet.

Apple Accounts. Apple’s support page says that parents or guardians have to create an Apple Account for children under 13 (Create an Apple Account for your child). The age varies by country or region. It is under 14 in mainland China and South Korea, for example, and under 18 in Brazil and in Texas in the United States. In all other countries and regions it is under 13 (region-specific rules).

Put together: for babies and toddlers there are time guidelines, and from school age the question shifts from “how many hours” to “how it is used”.

What to decide before the age question

One way to look at it: what age a child starts matters less than whether a few things are settled before they do.

Whose iPad it is. Are you lending your own, or setting up one for the child? This changes which settings you can use.

Where it is used. Only in shared rooms like the living room, or also in their bedroom?

When, and for how long. Rules such as no screens at meals or before bed. The AAP explainer also suggests screen-free time for the whole family, with bedrooms and mealtimes as a place to start, especially the hour before bed.

What it is for. Videos, games, learning apps, websites. A short list of allowed apps and sites at the start can be added to later.

What to do when something goes wrong. If something they shouldn’t see appears, or they want to buy something, they come and tell an adult first. That is worth agreeing on at the start.

Lending your iPad, or giving them their own

While children are small, one way to start is by using a parent’s iPad together. That is why the AAP favours shared devices: you use them together and you can see what is on the screen.

But a parent’s iPad holds the parent’s payment details, email and photos. Once a child spends more time on it alone, you can create a child Apple Account and add it to Family Sharing. According to Apple’s parental controls page, Ask to Buy and Ask to Browse are on by default for children under 13 (Use parental controls to manage your child’s iPhone or iPad). If you keep lending your own iPad, those protections don’t apply.

Even with a separate iPad, you can keep the habits of sharing: using it in the living room, choosing apps together. Giving a child their own device is not the same as leaving them alone with it.

The setup steps are in How to Set Up Screen Time on an iPad for Your Child, and purchases are covered in How to Stop Kids Making In-App Purchases on an iPad.

Decide when to let go, too

How and when you loosen the limits matters as much as when you start. Settings made for a young child can feel tight to a twelve-year-old, and a reason to look for a way around them.

In my developer interview about Kinder Browser, I was asked at what age a child should graduate from it. I said:

Around 13. Legally that’s about the age, too. I don’t think it is good to keep using this app forever.

In most places, 13 is also where Apple’s own account rules change. Deciding in advance to review the settings around then is one simple way to plan for it.

What settings don’t solve

However carefully you set things up, settings can’t tell you what your child saw or how they felt about it. In the same interview, I was asked why Kinder Browser has no way for a child to request a new site from inside the app. My answer was:

Problems that can be solved by talking should be solved by parent and child talking directly. I don’t believe in doing everything through an app.

Whatever age you start, you can ask “what did you look at today?” after they use it.

About Kinder Browser

Kinder Browser is a children’s web browser for iPhone, iPad and Mac that I make. On the App Store it is listed under Made for Kids, ages 6 to 8. It is a one-time purchase, $9.99 in the US and ¥1,500 in Japan, with no in-app purchases, no subscription and no ads.

Your child opens the sites you have set as the home page and bookmarks. If they tap a link that leads to a different site, it stops with the message “External links are disabled”. The settings are behind a parental gate. Without a custom PIN, the gate asks a multiplication question. In the interview I said: “The target age is young, so I think multiplication is enough. As children get older, parents can use a custom PIN.” The default parental passcode is “0000”, so turn on Use CustomPIN and change it to your own number.

Kinder Browser has no time limits, and it keeps the screen from turning off while a page is displayed. Set the time limits in Screen Time.

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, Guided Access and other options.