It finally happened. On a sunny weekend, I sent my then 7-year-old daughter a block ahead to the playground while I helped her little brother sort out his new pedal bike. We must have taken a long time, because I started getting a bunch of calls from an unknown number. When we finally caught up, my daughter was standing with a stranger and crying. The Good Samaritan was holding his phone. “You weren’t here,” he said accusingly.
“I was 500 feet away!” I protested. It was no use. It was time to give my kids an Apple Watch.
The Apple Watch is one of the company’s most versatile (and popular) products. Some people use it for texting or as a style accessory. I mainly use mine as a fitness tracker. In 2020, Apple released Family Setup with WatchOS 7, which explicitly marketed the more affordable and older versions of the Apple Watch to children and elderly relatives.
Since 2020, the debate over whether minors should have any smart devices at all has become more fraught. In 2024, many schools banned smartphones; last year, my daughter's school district, among many others, banned smartwatches. Products like the Pinwheel and Tin Can phone are meant to provide phone-less communication alternatives.
However, as a parent and iPhone user myself, I still find an Apple Watch to be a convenient compromise. I have old Apple Watches around my house, and I generally prefer giving my children technology from larger companies that will be pressured to respond quickly to security failures. Here's how to do it. Do you need to buy a watch? Check out our guides to the Best Apple Watch or the Top Features in WatchOS 26 for more.
Updated February 2026: We've included updated information on smartwatch and smartphone bans, updates on WatchOS 26, and updated links.
What Do You Need?
Apple introduced Family Setup—now known as Apple Watch for Your Kids—in 2020 with WatchOS 7. To use this now somewhat awkwardly named feature, you need an Apple Watch Series 6 or later with cellular capabilities that you will add to your cell phone plan. (Technically, it works with any watch that is Series 4 or later, but we no longer recommend the first-gen SE, Series 4, or 5 as they are not compatible with WatchOS 26.) You also need an iPhone with iOS 14 or later.
Both you and your child also need an Apple ID. If both of you already have one, you can go to Settings on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, and click Family. Then click Add Member. If your child doesn’t have an Apple ID, you will be given the option to Create Child Account. From there, follow the instructions to add the child’s name, birth date, and email address. If they don’t already have an email address, you can use the suggested iCloud option.
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