How to Set Up an Apple Watch for Your Kids (2026)

Unpairing is expected to erase each contented and settings connected your watch, but successful my case, it did not. If it doesn’t enactment for you either, pat Settings connected the watch, past General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings.

At this point, you tin person your kid enactment it connected (if it’s charged). The ticker volition accidental Bring iPhone Near Apple Watch. If you unfastened the Watch app, it lets you take to Set Up for a Family Member. Aim the phone’s viewfinder astatine the dilatory moving animation to pair, oregon prime Pair Manually.

Apple’s tutorial is beauteous straightforward from this point. I picked a passcode that’s casual for my girl to retrieve and picked her from my household list. I continued cellular service. Then I acceptable up each the accustomed features and services for an Apple Watch, including Ask to Buy truthful she couldn’t bargain thing from the app store without my permission, Messages, and Emergency SOS.

I besides chose to bounds my daughter’s contacts connected the watch. First, spell to Settings > iCloud > Contacts connected your telephone and marque definite it’s toggled on. Then click out, spell backmost to Settings > Screen Time > Family Member > Communication Limits. You request to petition your child’s support to negociate their contacts and o.k. it from the kid’s watch. On their watch, you tin adhd and rename contacts from your interaction database (Dad becomes “Grandpa,” Tim becomes “Uncle Timmy,” and truthful on).

The past measurement is turning connected Schooltime, which is fundamentally a remote-controlled mentation of an big Work Focus. It blocks apps and complications, but exigency calls tin inactive travel through. The setup tutorial walks you done however to acceptable up Schooltime connected your child’s watch, but if you skip it during setup, you tin negociate it later. On your iPhone, pat All Watches > Your Child’s Watch > Schooltime > Edit Schedule.

I elected to crook Schooltime connected erstwhile my kid is successful schoolhouse and crook it disconnected during afterschool care, but you tin besides click Add Time if you’d similar to crook it connected during a greeting class, instrumentality a interruption for lunch, and past crook it backmost connected again. Your kid tin conscionable crook the integer crown to exit Schooltime, but that’s OK—you tin cheque their Schooltime reports connected your iPhone too.

To negociate your child’s watch, spell to your Watch > All Watches > Family Watches > Your Kid’s Apple Watch. This is however you instal updates and negociate settings. For much settings that you tin crook connected oregon off, cheque retired Apple's full database here. For example, you tin cheque wellness details, acceptable up a Medical ID, oregon adjacent edit their astute replies.

Fun for Everyone

Just arsenic with a grown-up Apple Watch, the archetypal happening you’ll astir apt privation to bash is power the ticker face. Hold down the surface and hold for the look to shrink, and swipe to switch. (You astir apt besides privation to bargain a tiny kid-specific ticker band.)

We got my girl an Apple Watch, truthful I’d beryllium capable to spot her connected Find My, and she could interaction maine via telephone oregon the Messages app, which she does with regrettable frequency.