New console or tablet for Christmas? The setup checklist
By Lewis C. Built from each maker's own guidance, checked 1 October 2026.
Quick answer
Fastest route: our checklist builder makes one list for your child's age and devices.
Do it the week before, with the device out of the box: make your child their own account, update the software, link it to the maker's parental controls app on your phone, then set a time limit, spending approval and chat settings. Do the same inside the games they'll play. Then re-wrap it.
The checklist
- Their own account. Every system's controls hang off a child account in your family group. On your account, none of them apply, and your card is one tap away.
- Update first. Install any system update before you set controls. Apple's newest controls need every device in the family on iOS 27 or iPadOS 27.
- Get the parent app on your phone. Nintendo Switch Parental Controls, PlayStation Family, Xbox Family Settings, or Google Family Link. iPads are managed from your own iPhone's Settings.
- A time limit that stops play. Switch and PlayStation let you choose between an on-screen warning and ending the session. Pick the one that ends it.
- Spending approval. Ask to Buy, a spending limit, or a PIN. Check where the setting lives: on Switch it's your Nintendo Account, in Fortnite it's Epic's PIN.
- Chat and friends. Decide who they can talk to, in the console settings and in each game.
- Age ratings. Set the level for your child's age, then allow individual games you're happy with.
- A PIN they don't know. Not their birthday.
Guides by device
- Nintendo Switch / Switch 2Spending is set in your Nintendo Account, not the app. Easy to miss.
- PlayStation 5The monthly spending limit starts at £0. Set playtime to Log Out, not Notify Only.
- XboxTurn on Ask to Buy and content restrictions in the Family Settings app.
- iPad or iPhoneiOS 27's new controls need every family device updated first.
- Android phone or tabletFamily Link's time limits need Android 7 or newer.
Guides by game and app
- RobloxLink a parent account, then chat, spending and screen time.
- FortnitePIN for payments, island age ratings, and console chat as well as game chat.
- YouTubeYouTube Kids for younger children, a supervised account for about 9 to 12.
- MinecraftControls live in the Xbox account, whatever they play on.
- Discord13+. Family Center shows who they talk to, not what they say.
- TikTok13+. Family Pairing makes the time limit stick.
- Snapchat13+. Family Centre shows friends and who they chat with.
On the day
Our suggestion: tell them the rules when they open it. "An hour a day, ask before you buy anything" lands better on Christmas morning than after the first row. Write the PIN down somewhere they won't look.
Gifts with small batteries or magnets? Have a look at our button batteries and magnet guides before anything goes near a toddler. Buying toys online? Read what the UK data shows first.