Christmas gifts for children Understanding devices and smart toys to help keep your child safe online

What you need to know about the devices kids might get this Christmas

Game consoles

• Benefits
  As well as being fun to play, using games consoles could help your child to connect with friends and can also help them learn key technical and social skills.
• Risks
  There's a risk of them seeing something inappropriate. The game might not be suitable for your child's age and ability, or they might be worried by a comment or message from another user. Your child may also be talking to people while playing – this could be someone they don’t know.
• What can you do?
  Before you buy a game for your child, or allow them to play, check the age rating for the game. Remember this is a guideline and you should still think about whether this game is suitable for your child. Set up parental controls on the console that your child is using. Think about who they might be talking to or messaging while gaming. Talk to your child and let them know that if they ever feel uncomfortable they can talk to you or an adult they trust. They may be using a different app to connect and talk to people whilst playing games, like Discord, so its important to understand how that works too.

Smart toys and devices

• Benefits 
  Smart toys and devices can help your child learn and develop new skills like coding. They can provide entertainment. Some mix offline and online activities, like building a robot. There are also devices that help manage health and fitness activities.
• Risks
  These depend on each device. You should look at the features and settings of each smart toy or online device. Look for location settings – does the toy share your child’s location? Could your child talk to other people using the device? Can your child access different content like chat rooms or forums using the device?
• What can you do?
  Because risks depend on the device, it’s important that you explore all the features available on the toy or device before you let your child play with it alone. Look at the instructions or check out the manufacturer website for more details – look out for privacy policies and settings information.