How to choose AI for kids: a parent's checklist

For questions and homework: look for an experience in which you can review the question and answer together. Try a familiar topic first, and check the answer against a book, a teacher’s materials or an original source.

For making pictures or stories: check what must be uploaded, whether the result is private or shared, and what generation, saving and downloading cost. A free example and creating your own work can have different terms.

For reading and language play: you may prefer a published story with audio, choices or prompts for conversation. Reading a prepared story is a different activity from a child having an open-ended AI conversation.

Write down the activity you want and the help you can provide. Use those notes when trying the service, rather than assuming a product label tells you how it works.

Read the provider’s official age, country and account requirements before signing up. Permission to use a service, a parent-managed account and a story’s suggested reading age are separate things. Do not enter a different date of birth to bypass an age restriction.

For example, OpenAI’s age guidance for ChatGPT distinguishes child use from an adult conducting an educational interaction. Google’s Gemini parent guide describes access through supervised accounts and Family Link, with availability conditions. Check the version that applies to your family when you start.

• Account and consent: who creates the account, who agrees to the terms, and can the child use the service under its current rules?
• Input and storage: can the child enter text, voice, photographs or a name? Read what is retained, how inputs may be used, who receives them and how to request deletion.
• Parent access: try the actual review and control screens. Can you see the relevant activity, pause access and report a problem? Do not assume a parent dashboard includes every conversation.
• Purchases: find the point where a preview becomes a paid episode, subscription or generation charge. Check renewal, cancellation, credit and storage terms before entering payment details.
• Mistakes and uncomfortable content: find the stop and report controls before the child needs them. Agree that a surprising answer is a reason to ask an adult and check it together.
• Finishing: agree where to stop, and check how to leave the activity and return later. The child should be able to ask to stop at any point.

Keep a short note of what you verified and what remains unclear. Contact the provider or choose another activity if you cannot find a condition that matters to your family.

Use an invented example that does not include a child’s name, school, address or private family situation. For a chat tool, ask a question with an answer you can independently check. For a creative tool, try a sample before uploading your own material. For an interactive story, open a scene, try the audio or choice and then find the exit together.

Google’s parent guide recommends exploring together, avoiding sensitive personal information and checking responses. It also explains that filters have limits. Treat a successful trial as a chance to understand the controls, rather than evidence that every future response will be suitable.

Lumisia Stories currently opens with published stories for families to read together, with short English phrases and prompts about numbers, nature and feelings. In The First Hello, you can put word cards in order, listen to a phrase and try saying it together. This opening story can be read without an account.

One way to try it: open the story together, listen to a phrase, then ask where you might use it at home. This is a suggested activity, not a claim that the story produces a measured language-learning result.

The full story catalogue shows which episodes are free to read and which are for Stories members. Check the how it works and pricing guide and Stories privacy policy before choosing an account or purchase. A published reading experience should not be mistaken for an unrestricted AI chat service.

After trying the activity, ask: did your child want to take part, could you understand what happened, and were the input and purchase boundaries clear? Note any step that needed help. Return to the activity only if it fits your family’s time and purpose.

This guide does not establish an age to start AI, certify a service’s safety or compare learning outcomes. The checklist and example activity are editorial suggestions. The sources below explain specific providers’ conditions and children’s privacy information; they do not endorse Lumisia.