Today, music is listened to almost exclusively digitally – anytime and anywhere via smartphone, tablet, computer or games console. One of the best-known services for this is Spotify. The platform offers access to millions of songs, radio plays, podcasts and now also videos. Spotify’s diverse offering makes it attractive – but also entails risks, especially for children and young people.
Spotify is the world’s largest music streaming service. Around 100 million items of content are currently available – including music, podcasts, audio books and radio plays. Users can create playlists, follow others and share their favorite songs, for example via Spotify codes. Spotify also displays lyrics for many tracks. In addition to audio content, music videos and short video clips are now also available.
In the free version, content can only be listened to with an internet connection, with regular advertisements running in between. The paid premium version allows offline listening without advertising and offers functions such as unlimited skipping of tracks.
Spotify has offered a chat function since August 2025: playlists, songs or podcasts can be shared and commented on directly within the app. To chat, a request must first be confirmed. The messaging function can also be used like a classic messenger.
Music plays a central role for young people: it helps them find their identity, communicate with friends and deal with their feelings. Spotify makes it easy to discover new music at any time, browse through other people’s playlists and listen to content wherever you are. Podcasts are also becoming increasingly popular with young people.
Spotify also works on games consoles such as Playstation or X-Box and via voice assistants such as Alexa Echo and Google Home. This allows young people to listen to music while playing games or play songs by voice command.
Radio plays are particularly interesting for younger children. Many well-known series – from Bibi Blocksberg and Benjamin Blümchen to Die drei ??? – are available on Spotify. The Spotify Kids app can also be used via a paid Premium Family subscription, which offers a more limited and more suitable framework for children.
Spotify works with a highly personalized recommendation algorithm. In the profile button, Spotify creates individual playlists, for example “Your mix of the week”, from the music you have recently listened to and your usage data. This is also linked to the storage of usage behavior.
Spotify contains content that may be unsuitable for children and young people – such as music or audio books with extremist messages and violent content or podcasts that spread fake news and disinformation. Spotify has recently been criticized because an increasing number of AI-generated songs are appearing on the platform. The tracks are suggested via recommendations and can contain sexist or racist statements. Such content is not always easy for children and young people to recognize as problematic.
The new chat function and comments under podcasts give rise to communication risks such as cyberbullying, hate speech and unwanted contact from strangers.
The video content – short clips such as YouTube Shorts – can contribute to more intensive use and cannot be deactivated.
There is also criticism of the fact that Spotify pays out low revenues to artists.
Spotify is based in Sweden and claims to implement measures to protect children and young people. In Premium and Family subscriptions, parental control settings can be activated to hide problematic, “explicit” content. Multiple accounts can also be managed together.
Spotify Kids is a special offer for children that only contains child-friendly audio content and excludes video functions. However, this service can only be used with a paid Family subscription.
Content can be reported via a reporting function for podcasts and playlists and via an online form for individual titles.
Officially, Spotify is only allowed from the age of 18, with parental consent from the age of 16. As parents, you should discuss in detail with your child in advance whether it makes sense to use the offer. The following points are important:
Regular discussions and support remain the most important protection – regardless of technical settings.
Many children are enthusiastic about cartoons. The great thing is: it doesn’t take much to make your own at home! Smartphone or tablet, construction paper and pens – and the children’s room becomes a movie studio.
Many animated films are based on the stop-motion technique. Similar to flip-books, many individual images, which only differ in detail, are shown in quick succession. This sets the images in motion. The opening and closing credits of “The Sandman” and the stories of “Shaun the Sheep”, for example, are produced using this technique.
Does your child like to draw or do handicrafts – or does he or she prefer to play with Duplo and Lego? Such things can also be used wonderfully for the production of your own first movie. Then you’re ready to go! Let’s go!
Every movie needs a good story with a suspenseful arc. Come up with a short plot together with your child. The story should be simple and quick to tell and have a manageable number of characters. Write down the story so that you can keep track of it later when shooting.
You can use a smartphone or tablet with a suitable app for filming. We recommend Stop Motion Studio (Android and iOS; basic version free of charge), InShot (Android and iOS, basic version free of charge) or iStop Motion (iOS; free of charge). The app can be used to take the photos one after the other and automatically create the movie.
You can create animated films in different ways:
You can find more ideas and instructions for different types of animated films in this article from Filmothek NRW.
Prepare the filming location well. An
A little patience is required when shooting a film, as many photos are needed for a short animated film. The rule of thumb is about eight pictures per second of film. Only change one small thing between the photos. For example, if a Lego figure is waving, move the arm a little further up from picture to picture. You can also make other figures or objects move at the same time.
It works best in a team: one family member takes the photos, another moves the figures. One person keeps an overview: they announce what happens next and make sure that everything is correct. Check the photos regularly directly on the display. And feel free to swap roles from time to time!
Post-production follows the film shoot. Here you can add titles, texts, sounds, music and effects in the app and bring the movie to life. You can find tips on using royalty-free music here at kindersache.de. You can also delete or move images and adjust the display duration of individual images. If you want the characters to speak, you can record the dialog afterwards with distributed roles.
What’s a movie without a premiere? You can also celebrate this with your children – with soda and popcorn in a darkened room. Maybe grandma and grandpa or the neighbor’s kids will be invited. In addition, a publication on a children’s platform such as JUKI on Kindersache is conceivable, but the
And now: have fun trying it out!
Learning new things and doing homework with chatbots, playing music via voice command on smart speakers, and receiving content recommendations tailored to personal tastes—artificial intelligence (AI) is an integral part of our everyday lives. Children and young people in particular use AI tools as a matter of course, but not always consciously. AI technologies are developing rapidly and continuously. It is not easy for parents to keep track of everything: Which applications are particularly popular with young people? What opportunities, challenges, and risks arise from their use?
At the parents’ evening, we will introduce you to the most popular AI applications and look at their significance in the everyday media lives of adolescents. One focus will be on the risks for children and young people when communicating with chatbots, e.g., disinformation, inappropriate or problematic responses, and when interpersonal relationships are replaced.
Join us live, get practical tips on how to introduce your child to the safe and responsible use of (generative) AI, and ask our experts your questions—we will provide answers and are available for discussion!
The virtual parents’ evening is an event held as part of Safer Internet Day 2026 – you can find out more about the campaign day at klicksafe.
Date: February 11, 2026 | Time: 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Procedure: (Media education) input (approx. 40 minutes) followed by an open discussion
Speakers: Lidia de Reese und Nils Rudolf (FSM)
Moderation: FSM e.V.
Platform: The virtual parents’ evening is realized via the “Zoom” tool.
Privacy Notice: Zoom is a service of Zoom Video Communications Inc. which is based in the USA. We use Zoom via the German operator WTG. The WTG server is located in Europe. Furthermore, within the Zoom service we have chosen the configurations with the highest data and security protection.
Please also take note of our privacy policy.
Registration:
Listen to books, play games with sound, create your own recordings. There are now various audio pens that can do this – from TipToi to TING and BOOKii to Anybook. It is impossible to imagine many children’s rooms without these pens. The Tellimero is a particularly open-ended product.
Tellimero is published by Pädagogik-Verlag Betzold, a traditional provider of educational and learning materials. The idea behind the pen is to create a flexible tool that is not tied to specific books or products.
Instead, the pen works with stickers: the pack contains a whole stack of different sticker sheets with colorful dots, animals, instruments and symbols. Some motif stickers already contain noises, such as animal sounds, melodies or other sounds. The 200 or so single-colored dots can be played with as desired.
The stickers are not intended for decorating, but instead make the pen “talk”. If you touch a sticker in recording mode, sound can be recorded – up to five minutes per sticker. This sound is played back in playback mode. This allows you to record books, add sound to objects or record tasks acoustically.
The pen itself is clearly laid out and has three buttons: on/off, record and playback. If you use several Tellimero pens, existing recordings can be copied to other pens via a PC. Finished audio files can also be loaded onto the Tellimero.
The Tellimero is doubly exciting for children: they can listen and be creative at the same time. If adults prepare materials –
At the same time, children can get creative themselves: record their own stories, set riddles to music or use the pen for learning. The operation of the three buttons is so intuitive and simple that the pen really can be used without any problems from the age of 4.
The great creative freedom also brings challenges. Children can’t just be given a pen and a book and be kept busy – preparatory work is required. Stickers have to be distributed, recordings made and content prepared.
If you want to use Tellimero for language learning, for example, you can’t use ready-made products, but have to record books or materials yourself.
As the stickers can be replayed, there is also a risk that children will overwrite stickers that have already been discussed. To avoid this, the so-called “teacher mode” should be used when recording.
As with all audio pens, parents are the “human recharging service”. An empty battery at the crucial moment is one of the most common points of frustration.
According to the publisher, the Tellimero is primarily intended as an educational tool. It is often used in nurseries and schools, for example for language development, station learning or orientation aids. Teachers can, for example, add suitable audio content to a phonics table, a globe or station training. The pen has received several awards for this, including the Comenius EduMedia seal and the Worlddidac Award.
Tellimero is also suitable for private use, whether for creative “fun uses” or for learning and everyday tasks. However, parents should be aware that there are no ready-made materials and the content must be designed entirely by themselves.
Tellimero is a good alternative for families who not only want to listen, but also get creative themselves. Young and old can work together to develop funny, helpful or educational content for the stickers – and they can do it again and again.
The smell of cookies, shopping stress, shining children’s eyes: the holidays are approaching and digital devices and games are on the wish lists of many children and young people. What should parents consider before and after giving a gift? Between the years and during the vacations, there is also time for shared family media experiences. How can this be designed in a safe, age-appropriate and even creative way? In this article, we give you an overview of offers from the Elternguide.online partner network.
The Christmas vacations can be long, especially when the weather outside doesn’t really invite you to play. If you have devices such as smartphones, tablets, cameras or a laptop at home – how about you and your child just get started? You can take photos or film together, try out new creative apps and actively organize media time. It’s great fun and your child will also learn something about media skills along the way.
On the website kinder.jff.de there are suggestions for simple media projects that children aged 3 and over can do at home with the support of you as parents. This is helped by child-friendly video instructions in which the implementation of the media projects is shown step by step. How about a photo memory with Christmas tree decorations or an audio story about Christmas traditions?
knipsclub offers a safe environment for young photo fans between the ages of 8 and 12 to try out their skills in a closed and pedagogically supervised photo community and exchange photos with each other. On the website you will find creative photo tips, for example on
You are probably familiar with challenges from social media, e.g. dance challenges on TikTok. Children and young people love to take on challenges. Challenges don’t necessarily only have to take place on the Internet, you can also play them at home with your family! Why not try out the top photo challenge, the clip challenge or the re-enactment challenge? We have made a few suggestions in our parents’ guide article. You can find more Advent challenges on the website of the JFF project webhelm.de.
Children have many questions and learn early on that their questions will be answered on the Internet. How is Christmas celebrated in other countries? What craft tips and baking recipes are there for Christmas? The children’s search engine fragFINN offers children access to around 3,400 verified websites, including almost 400 children’s sites. Primary school children can gain their first Internet experience here in a protected surfing room and learn how to use search engines and search results. In the fragFINN Advent calendar, children can open a little door every day, behind which are links to other children’s sites with a wide range of information and offers suitable for the winter season. You can find more playful learning pages in this parents’ guide article.
Your child probably also likes watching videos and going to the movies. A TV evening together can be a really nice family experience. Pay attention to the FSK age rating to protect your child from unsuitable content. But be careful: FSK ratings are
Parents must decide individually when their child is ready for their first smartphone, depending on their level of development and experience. After all, a smartphone theoretically opens up the whole world of the Internet to your child, with all its opportunities and risks. klicksafe offers comprehensive information for parents. Use the smartphone readiness checklist to check whether a smartphone is ready to go under the Christmas tree. Has the decision been positive? Then find out about the technical setting options and set up your smartphone to be childproof. You can find all information material from klicksafe in this topic special.
Would you like to prepare your child for the first smartphone under the Christmas tree? Child-friendly information on the first smartphone is available in the children’s magazine Genial Digital from Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk. The fragFINN app gives your child a protected surfing space on their first smartphone and gives them access to quality, positive content.
Are you considering buying a smartwatch as an alternative? Then take a look at this topic from klicksafe. Please note: technical protective measures are no substitute for family discussions and media rules. Stay in contact with your child and accompany them as they take their first steps with a smartwatch or smartphone.
In addition to discussions and media rules, technical youth media protection is an important component of media education. Use the screen time and digital wellbeing settings on smartphones to set time limits for the entire device or for different apps and to filter content. The parental control program JusProg offers a precise filtering option for websites and safe default settings for mobile devices and laptops. Google Family Link and YouTube Kids offer the opportunity to make media experiences safer for your child in the world of the internet giant Google. Social media apps such as Instagram and TikTok also offer safety features and parental guidance options. Streaming with the family can be a fun activity during the vacations. Almost all streaming services have certified offers for the protection of minors. Use your own child profiles and the parental control function with the PIN. Many of the youth protection programs have been approved by the expert commission of the Voluntary Self-Regulation of Multimedia Service Providers (FSM). You can find out more about technical solutions for the protection of minors in the media on the FSM website.
Detailed instructions for all devices can be found on the website medien-kindersicher.de.
Which games should I give my child for Christmas? Are games okay for preschoolers? In the family section of the USK website and via the USK brochures, you will find all the information you need on the USK’s age ratings, the additional information and how to deal with the subject of games in the family.
The USK mark indicates the age at which a game does not cause any developmental impairments. The additional information such as “fantasy violence” or “pressure to act” gives parents a good indication of whether a game is suitable for their own child. Educational assessments of games can be found at the NRW games guide. Descriptions of popular games like Fortnite, Minecraft or Roblox are available on Elternguide.online. The USK lexicon explains the most important terms, devices and genres.
Would you like to make your child happy with a game for Christmas? Find out about the distribution channels for games and technical precautionary measures. Various settings for the protection of minors can be made on consoles as well as in game stores and the games themselves. Play together with your child and ask them interesting questions about their favorite games.
The team at Elternguide.online wishes you and your family a wonderful Christmas season and lots of fun using media safely and creatively!
Want to quickly watch a children’s series, a movie for the evening or the important soccer match? It’s all on Joyn. Joyn is a streaming platform like
Joyn is the German middle ground between traditional television and major streaming services. The service can be accessed via smartphone, tablet, PC or smart TV, via app or in the browser. Children and young people can find current TV shows, their
Joyn is particularly attractive for children and young people because the basic version is free of charge and can sometimes even be used without logging in. Many freely available live TV contents can be accessed directly in the browser. For additional functions – such as personalized recommendations or saving watchlists – registration with an email address is required.
If parents don’t want to or can’t subscribe to their own streaming service, Joyn is still easily accessible. The platform offers many shows and series that are currently being talked about in the school playground, including Big Brother, The Masked Singer and Germany’s Next Top Model.
Particularly appealing for young fans of the programs: Joyn offers opportunities to actively participate in the app. For example, viewers can vote on who advances to the next round in a show, take part in quiz formats or take part in competitions. This reinforces the feeling of being right in the middle of the action and motivates viewers to tune in regularly.
Anyone using Joyn will initially only be shown content that is approved for under 16s. The account must be verified with an ID number for everything that is approved from 16 or 18. However, this age verification does not offer complete protection. Parents can create a profile and secure it with a parental control PIN so that children can only play content that has been approved for ages 0, 6 or 12.
Important to know: Content that cannot be played remains visible. Preview images, titles or short descriptions can arouse children’s curiosity or draw their attention to topics that are
Joyn emphasizes that the protection of minors is an essential part of the platform and that all legal requirements are complied with. The parental control PIN cannot simply be deactivated and the provider provides detailed instructions on how to set up profiles for children. Age verification is carried out in compliance with data protection regulations and the data is only stored temporarily
Make clear agreements with your child about what can and cannot be watched. If possible, use the offer together – especially with younger children. Actively accompany your child, talk about the content and whether something may cause anxiety or unpleasant feelings. Set up a profile with a parental control PIN if your child is too young to view content from the age of 16 or 18. Make sure that content with a parental rating of 0, 6 and 12 years remains accessible to everyone. Talk to your child regularly about what
Did you know that your child can hear even before he or she is born? The ear is the first sensory organ to develop during pregnancy.
Hearing also plays a special role in babies and toddlers. Babies can recognize the voice of their caregiver at an early age. Hearing is important for perceiving the environment and learning to speak. Since young children cannot yet read, they are especially dependent on hearing. They enjoy being read to or listening to audio stories.
From kindergarten age at the latest, children are fascinated by audio media such as music, podcasts and radio plays. Many children like to use their own listening box for this. From kindergarten age, you can produce little audio stories together or try out games with sounds. This trains accurate listening and helps to learn to speak well. Here are a few options.
You can go for a walk with small children from the age of 3 and listen carefully: What do we hear? What actually makes a noise? Tip: close your eyes – then your ears will perceive even more.
When your child is a little older, you can go on a sound safari together. Every smartphone has a built-in microphone, and many also have an app for recording voice memos. Go outside, e.g. into the forest. Collect different sounds together and record them. Do you and your child recognize the sounds afterwards? If you are out with several children, you can make a sound puzzle out of it and let each other guess which sounds were recorded.
Speaking needs to be practiced – and is particularly fun for children when they are allowed to consciously discover their own voice. Small vocal exercises such as speaking loudly and softly, trying out different moods or reciting tongue twisters strengthen articulation and expression. In this way, your child learns to use their voice in a playful way. You can find exercises for speech training here on Auditorix. In the next step, you and your child can conduct a short interview – for example with a family member, a neighbor or a friend. Topics such as favorite places, hobbies or wishes for the future are a good place to start. In this way, your child not only trains their voice, but also learns to listen, ask specific questions and shape conversations.
Producing and recording music yourself is fun for children and encourages their creativity. Your child can create their own sounds and rhythms with simple means – for example, with everyday objects such as cans and rubber bands or rattles made from rice and cups. Those who prefer to work digitally can use music apps such as GarageBand or Indigo Pads to playfully try out instruments and record their own melodies. This quickly creates a little beat that makes a radio play sound livelier and emphasizes moods, for example.
Almost every child has a favorite book or story. Make a little radio play out of it together. This works with children aged 4 and over. With a smartphone or tablet, you can easily record and combine different soundtracks – for example, using the Audio Adventure app. Read the dialog with distributed roles and think together about how you can use music and add sounds to the story. What does it sound like when it’s raining or storming outside? An overview of how to create sounds yourself can be found on Auditorix. You can find video instructions on how to tell stories with a tablet at kinder.jff.de.
If the weather doesn’t invite you to go out, your child can solve audio puzzles on AUDIYOUkids or Planet Schule, set a story to music themselves or put together an audio play. Accompany your child – especially if they can’t read yet. Children of primary school age and above can also learn to edit audio recordings here.
Then get your ears ready and have fun listening together, making noises and setting stories to music!
Many parents ask themselves this question at the beginning of the vacation weeks. The answer is not so easy to give. There is no one-size-fits-all answer. Appropriate screen time depends on your child’s age, stage of development and needs – so it’s an individual decision. Talking to other parents can help, but no two children and families are the same and media rules can vary accordingly.
Set rules for screen and media time depending on what media your child uses and how well they can handle it.
Shared media use and conversations about the experiences will help you to assess this well. The form of use should also play a role: So how does your child spend their time? Are they finding out about a topic that is currently of particular interest to them? Are they playing games, watching series or endlessly scrolling through social media feeds? Are they alone?
Media offer us the opportunity to inform ourselves, to be inspired, to interact with others, to distract ourselves from our hectic everyday lives – but they can also stress us out or even burden us. Especially during the vacations, it can be good to take a break from the often packed and tightly structured daily routine of school, sports clubs or music lessons. Using media can help your child relax and stay in touch with friends. However, a balance is important, such as playing indoors and outdoors, sports, arts and crafts or spending time with friends and family.
Media rules are more likely to be accepted if they are made together with your child. Talk together about what media and content your child uses, when, how and why. Also think about your own media use, as parents act as role models. Establish common media rules for the whole family. Deviations during the vacations or at weekends are okay! Rules must fit your child’s development and needs as well as your everyday family life so that they can be adhered to.
You can find out more about media rules and screen time in these Elternguide.online articles and videos:
https://www.elternguide.online/regeln-fuer-die-mediennutzung-in-der-familie/
https://www.elternguide.online/medienregeln-fuer-schulkinder/
https://www.elternguide.online/der-staendige-streit-um-medienzeiten-ab-wann-ist-es-zu-viel/
https://www.elternguide.online/wann-ist-viel-zu-viel-zwischen-sucht-und-extremer-mediennutzung/
Can’t find an answer to your question? Ask your personal questions about your child’s media use directly and conveniently using the messenger service via WhatsApp or Threema. You can find more information here.
Many apps cost nothing at first glance. Only when you take a closer look do you often realize that you have to pay in order to use them properly and have fun. Children and young people in particular can easily fall into cost traps, especially with games apps. We explain what parents should look out for, what risks there are and how in-app purchases can be controlled with a view to protecting and involving children.
Costs can arise not only when downloading an app. Many apps initially appear to be free, but certain functions, levels, virtual items or special benefits can only be unlocked against payment, such as accessories for avatars. Often a virtual currency is also offered, which must first be purchased via credit card, PayPal or prepaid cards in order to progress in the game or unlock extras. If you are not careful, you will only see how expensive the game has really become on your next mobile phone contract or credit card bill.
Providers often advertise a so-called premium version within the free app. This offers additional functions or game content and can be understood as a paid full version. For children, the free app looks like a test – and the inhibition threshold for spending money is low.
Children and young people react sensitively to rewards and progress in games. Apps such as Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite or Brawl Stars make targeted use of this: With just a few clicks, game characters can be embellished, levels can be unlocked faster or virtual coins can be collected. Virtual currencies seem abstract and are difficult to link to real money, so children often don’t even realize that they are spending real money – on things that have no real equivalent value.
Loot boxes are particularly critical: they contain random rewards that children perceive as small surprise gifts. The random effect can lead to them repeatedly investing money in order to receive the “right” reward. In games such as EA Sports FC (formerly FIFA), children can draw soccer stars in so-called packs; whether a favorite player is included is decided solely by chance. In Brawl Stars, children also open boxes that contain random power-ups or new characters. Such mechanisms are similar to gambling and are particularly problematic and tempting for young players.
There is also social pressure: those who progress faster or fail less often have an advantage in the game and can assert themselves better in front of friends. These psychological mechanisms make in-app purchases particularly appealing.
Parents can do a lot to protect their child from cost traps. It is important that you discuss the topic with your child and make clear agreements. In addition to technical settings, you should sensitize your child to cost traps and gradually give them responsibility in dealing with money in the digital space.
Since 2023, USK age ratings have included additional information on online risks such as in-app purchases, loot boxes and chats. This information can be found on game packaging, in app stores and in the USK title database. This makes it easier for parents to recognize which games are age-appropriate and where particular caution is required.
If your child has already made in-app purchases, you should first check whether refunds are possible in the app store. It is also worth carefully documenting any unclear debits and taking screenshots. It is then advisable to contact the provider directly – especially if subscriptions or purchases were not clearly marked. If the problems persist or occur repeatedly, consumer advice centers offer additional support and legal advice to protect families from further cost traps.
Who is allowed to do what with media and for how long? These issues come up in every family sooner or later and not infrequently cause stress and arguments. Rules on media use can help create a structure and avoid conflicts. These can be discussed by parents and children together and recorded in a contract. The online tool for a media usage contract presented here — an offer by klicksafe and the Internet-ABC — is suitable for this purpose.
The tool guides you step by step to the finished paper. You can choose from two age groups (6-12 years and 12+) and choose a title design, a mascot and a background. All the rules you select are automatically inserted like building blocks, so it’s easy to keep track of them all. Each module can be edited individually. Of course, you can also insert your own rules. At the end save the document, then it can be completed at another time. You can also create multiple contracts for different children.
Use the building blocks as a suggestion to start a conversation in your family about media use. Some possible rules you may not have thought about, others are already self-evident. Set priorities, because the tool offers very many ideas that do not all have to be implemented. There are several types of rules:
A contract is nothing more than written down rules that have been agreed upon. The advantage is that you can always look at it and remember it.
A special feature is that rules can also be set for parents. For example, parents can commit to not using the cell phone even at dinner, or to using adult media content only when children are not present. Because rules are easier for children to understand if everyone has to follow them and you set a good example.
Every day we experience unforgettable moments with our children: their first steps, the costume party with their best friends or their first trip to the zoo. Of course, we want to capture them and share them with others.
We should be aware of the way in which photos of our children are circulating on the internet – whether on WhatsApp, Instagram or elsewhere online. After all, children also have a right to privacy and should be able to participate in decisions about what and how much of them can be seen on the internet, in line with their age.
Those who like to post photos of their loved ones should make sure that the face, surroundings and names are not clearly recognizable. We have collected a few creative ideas to still get beautiful and impressive photos:
Photothek/Thomas Trutsche
Be creative about the camera’s angle of view. A child’s photo from behind, above or below can also be adorable!
If you change the perspective, it can emphasize the image effect. Often it is enough to stand on a stair step or a kitchen chair. However, make sure that your child’s face is not recognizable.
If you go down to the child’s eye level, the background looks much more exciting and viewers get the feeling of seeing the world from the child’s point of view.
Photothek/Ute Grabowsky
Sometimes we get so busy trying to get everything in one picture at once that we overlook the little things altogether. Details can also tell a story and have an emotional impact.
Photothek/Ute Grabowsky
Interesting and creative photos can also be taken by photographing through other objects (e.g. leaves or fabrics) or working with water reflections. This can result in great puddle photos, for example, and the little ones have fun too!
Photothek/Ute Grabowsky
When you work with light and shadow, some photos look mysterious and exciting and others very artistic. Their advantage is that only silhouettes and no faces are visible.
Photo library
You may have seen photos of children in which their faces have been covered with emojis afterwards. If you already remember when taking the photo that you don’t want children’s faces to be seen, you can cover them up in another way. Sometimes such photos are not intended at all and look natural, for example, when the child just holds his hands or an object in front of his face – as in our example.
Photothek/Thomas Trutschel
Things can also tell stories, especially when you realize they have a connection to a person – like the shoes in our example photo.
Some of the effects mentioned can also be achieved by post-processing photos. For example, you can work with high contrasts and strong backlighting or play with depth of field. When creating a photo collage, images are sometimes displayed so small that the faces are no longer recognizable.
Involve your child as early as possible. Many children are used to being photographed. And looking at photos together on the smartphone is part of everyday family life for many. It is therefore a good idea to talk about the publication of photos on the internet at an early stage in a way that is appropriate for children. You can talk to children from primary school age about what the internet is and what it means when photos are published online.
Whether and how much you or your child reveal about yourself on the Internet is up to you. Above all, it is important to deal with the topic. Both parents and children should be aware of the possible consequences of publishing pictures of themselves and others on the Internet. Our article on children’s photos on the internet can serve as a stimulus for a joint discussion.
You are reading a story to your child and suddenly the phone beeps to announce a new WhatsApp message. What do you do? Do you automatically reach for your smartphone or do you read the message later when the child is asleep?
Such situations probably exist in every family. When the little son then reaches for the smartphone, it is said: “That’s not for you yet!”.
Be aware that parents and also other adults have an important role model function for children. Children experience how you, as their closest caregivers, deal with digital media and orient themselves to this. This is how children learn how the world works and how to behave in certain situations. Your behavior therefore has a major impact on how your child uses media themselves. By actively setting an example of what good media use can look like, you help your child learn to use smartphones and the like independently, sensibly and consciously.
Especially for younger children, parents are number one. It is particularly important for babies and toddlers to recognize your attention through direct eye contact and to establish a good bond. When dad is constantly looking at his smartphone, it’s not possible. Children, even at a young age, notice this. The older children get, the more they emulate you. In toddlerhood, they reach for daddy’s smartphone or speak into a brick that has a similar shape. They realize early on how important this device is for adults or older siblings.
Create a good basis for a reflective approach to media right from the start. Keep the smartphone on silent in your pocket when you play with your child, so that they don’t get the impression that the smartphone is always more important. Later, your child may behave the same way. If it does get pulled out, explain to your child why.
There are certainly moments when the smartphone is needed to take a nice photo of your offspring. Capture beautiful moments with the camera! But think about how often that has to be. After all, your child would rather look you in the eye than constantly at the smartphone in front of your face.
Spending time together with media is also part of family life. Introduce your child to media slowly and choose age-appropriate content. However, such media experiences should always alternate with media-free times.
In all of this, be aware of your role as a role model!
New parents and relatives are often particularly proud of their new addition and often want to share their happiness with the whole world. But don’t lose sight of your baby’s personal rights. Answering the following questions will help you decide how to handle photos of your child.
Your child will only learn over time what photos are – and even later what it means when images are shared online. Therefore, for the time being, you have to make the decision on how it should look like in photos and who is allowed to see certain images. Before you forward, share or post a photo of your child that you find funny, for example, you should therefore consider whether you would have liked it if your parents had shared such a picture of you.
Children should always be seen clothed in photos and not in a ridiculous or even embarrassing situation. If other children are visible in the photo, you must obtain the consent of their parents or legal guardians.
Photos of children can also be beautiful without them being clearly recognizable, for example if they are photographed from behind or only a section is visible. You can find more tips on how you can take and distribute beautiful children’s photos in a creative way without infringing personal rights in our article Creative children’s photos.
Also, think about the channels through which photos are distributed. If you share an image on WhatsApp, for example, it can be forwarded easily and unnoticed – and possibly fall into the hands of others. Then you don’t know what will happen to it.
To avoid this, there are often various setting options in apps or on platforms that restrict visibility or the group of recipients. Also regularly check your own privacy and security settings! Avoid posting a photo of your child in combination with exact data such as name or place of residence.
It’s perfectly normal to want to capture beautiful moments with your child and share them with others. But not every photo has to be shared or published on the internet. It can be just as nice to show the pictures at a family celebration and enjoy them together. Discuss with family, friends, babysitters etc. how you would like photos of your child to be handled. (You can find suggestions on this from the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk, for example.) Because once photos have been shared via WhatsApp or other messengers, they can easily be forwarded unnoticed.
Tip: With messenger apps such as Signal or Telegram, photos are not automatically saved in the recipient’s photo gallery!
Discuss this with the other parent or guardian. But children also have a right to co-determination, privacy and to decide what happens to pictures of them. That’s why you should involve your child as early as possible. If it is still very young, you can ask if it likes itself in the photo before forwarding it. From kindergarten age, you should ask more precisely, e.g. whether grandma and grandpa are also allowed to see and have a picture. Respect your child’s decision, even if it does not correspond to your opinion. Further information on the distribution of children’s photos online can be found in the brochure “Sharing is not Caring” from the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk.
The range of digital games on offer is now huge. Whether via smartphone, tablet, PC or console – as a parent, it’s easy to lose track of the wealth of adventure and action games, educational and strategy games, simulations and role-playing games. For many children and young people, the fascination with games not only means fun in their everyday lives, but can also have other positive side effects such as creativity. As is usually the case with media use, the same applies here: The extent and selection of games are crucial for responsible use: age labels provide initial guidance.
Germany has the most binding legal regulations for the testing and sale of digital games in the world. The protection of minors plays a major role here. As with most entertainment products, parents should also make sure that the product is safe for their child’s age. This is exactly what the Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body, USK for short, checks and assigns age ratings.
These provide information on whether, from the point of view of the protection of minors, the game does not contain any developmentally harmful content or unsecured risks due to online functions for the respective age. The following age ratings are available:
Additional information is provided alongside the USK age rating. These provide information about the reasons that led to the age rating (such as “violence”, “pressure to act” or “incriminating themes”). And they indicate which possible aspects of use you should pay attention to (such as “in-game purchases” or chats”). Here, the individual notes are explained in more detail.
The age ratings can be found on all game packaging and on many popular gaming platforms. The USK age ratings for online games, which are awarded as part of the international IARC (International Age Rating Coalition) system, also meet the high German youth standards. They are available in all connected systems. These include the Google Play Store, Nintendo eShop, Microsoft Store for Windows and Xbox, PlayStation Store, Epic Games Store, Fortnite, Meta Quest Store, Pico Store and Amazon Luna.
Since 2021, there has been a labeling requirement for very large online gaming platforms. Not all platforms have signed up to the international IARC age classification system. They use their own labeling systems and therefore sometimes display different age labels.
In the European trading area, there are also PEGI (Pan European Games Information) age ratings on game packaging with the age levels 3, 7, 12, 16 and 18. The age recommendation is the result of a common European approach to the protection of minors. For distribution in Germany, however, the USK age ratings are legally binding.
In addition to the age labels, which are based on a youth protection test, there are also a number of educational age recommendations. These provide parents with information on whether games are suitable for a certain age, i.e. whether they are manageable and understandable. Comprehensive educational assessments can be found, for example, on the website of Spieleratgeber NRW.
When choosing digital games, you should first know what your child likes to play. Find out about the game in question and refer to the age rating and additional information. The USK has compiled a lexicon with the most common terms from the games sector. Observe your child as he or she interacts with the content. Every child is different and develops differently. Knowing about the possible challenges in play makes it easier for you to actively support your child in digital play and take appropriate protective measures. Sometimes it makes sense to see whether other options are more suitable. In any case, stay in contact with your child and set fair rules together. Just see if other offers are more suitable.
The Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body (USK) is the voluntary self-regulation body of the games industry. It is responsible for age rating reviews of digital games in Germany.
The USK is recognized as the responsible self-regulatory body under both the German Federal Youth Protection Act and the Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media of the Federal States. In the area of the German Youth Protection Act, state representatives issue the statutory age ratings at the end of a USK procedure on the recommendation of independent youth protection experts. The USK also assigns age ratings for online games and apps.
The USK also supports companies from the games industry in complying with and further developing the protection of minors – for example through technical protection measures. It is also committed to media education, for example with offers such as elternguide.online and other information formats.
The games submitted for USK review are played through in their entirety by trained volunteer reviewers and then presented to an independent review panel. The review panel consists of four youth protection experts and one permanent representative of the supreme state youth authorities (OLJB). The youth protection experts come from academia, media education, church institutions and youth facilities, and have experience in working with media and with children and young people. After extensive discussion, the youth protection experts recommend an age rating. The OLJB Permanent Representative may adopt or appeal this age release. Subsequently, the USK receives the test result and communicates it to the applicants. If they also do not appeal, triggering a new review, the game will receive the legal age rating by the OLJB’s Permanent Representation to the USK.
In the online sector, the USK assigns age ratings within the framework of the international system IARC (International Age Rating Coalition). This is an association of the various organizations responsible for age rating worldwide, such as ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) in the USA, Mexico and Canada, PEGI (Pan European Game Information) in Europe, ClassInd (Classificação Indicativa) in Brazil, GRAC (Game Rating and Administration Committee) in South Korea, DGSC (Digital Games Self-regulation Committee) in Taiwan, ACB (Australian Classification Board) in Australia and the USK in Germany.
At IARC, the providers of online games and apps go through a detailed questionnaire on content relevant to the protection of minors. An age rating is then issued from the respective entries according to the specifications and criteria of the respective national self-regulation (for Germany, the USK). Regular random quality checks ensure that these age labels are reliable and correct. In all distribution platforms connected to this system, age ratings from the USK are thus available. The connected systems include the Google Playstore, the Nintendo eShop, the Xbox Store, the Sony PlayStation Store and Fortnite.
There are set criteria for the age rating of digital games. These guiding criteria support the review bodies in assessing the risk of games that are not age-appropriate for children and young people and help in the decision-making process. They are adopted and adapted by the USK Advisory Board, which is made up of various social groups. The Advisory Board is made up of representatives from churches and religious communities, media education, the Federal Ministry for Youth, the youth ministries of the federal states, the Federal Centre for Child and Youth Media Protection (BzKJ), youth organizations and the computer games industry, as well as representatives of USK members and youth protection experts.
The focus of the review is the presumption of impact, i.e. the assumption that certain content could impair or even endanger the development of children and young people. These include criteria such as the atmosphere in the game, violence or pressure to act. Since 2023, so-called “usage risks”, for example functions such as chats, in-game purchases or location sharing, have also been taken into account in the review under youth protection law and can have an influence on the age rating. More information about the USK’s guiding criteria can be found on the USK’s website.
The age ratings awarded are USK 0 (released without age restriction), USK 6, USK 12, USK 16 and USK 18 (no youth rating).
Since January 2023, the USK age rating labels have included additional information on the reasons for the age rating and the online functions available in the game. This allows parents to see at a glance which reasons have led to the label (e.g. “comic violence” or “pressure to act”) and which risks should be kept in mind when using media (e.g. “chats”, “in-game purchases” or “location sharing”). The notices can be found on the back of the game packaging, on the corresponding online platforms and in the USK title database.
In Germany, the Basic Law (Article 6) allows parents to decide for themselves what media content they make available to their child. However, parents should only give or allow their children to play digital games that are safe for the child’s age. The USK age ratings are a helpful guide. If parents also want to know whether a game is educationally suitable, they can find relevant information on many recommendation pages. An educational assessment on digital games is provided, for example, by the NRW Game Guide, which is funded by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
