How to set up iPads for kids?

[hillyhilly]

We have bought the kids iPad minis for Christmas (lucky them!!!)
We have an iPad and iPhones for the grown ups already and so far we just use one iTunes account and password to buy games and sync over iCloud etc. I don't want to give this password to the kids as its linked to my bank account!
They also will not need to sync to our calendars and emails but if I set up a completely separate iTunes account for them and they buy an app I presume we would not be able to get it without paying again?
What's the best way??

Lucky kids!
Here's a two part solution that might help.

1. Link the kids iPads to your iTunes account.

We'll be able to control what they do with your account in a minute, but the first step should be to link their iPads to your account so you can download to their iPads over any apps you've bought and choose to download to their machines. Equally, if you want to buy them apps in the future, their iPads will need to be linked to your account.

1. Lock down what the kids can do with their iPads via restrictions.

I imagine you don't want your kids being able to buy apps / music / movies on your credit card, but you also may want to lock down else they can and can't do on the iPad, such as accessing your email. You may also wish to block certain websites, or at least have a record of what websites the kids are accessing. All this is possible through a combination of the iPad's operating system and some other third party apps.

To give you the steps to do this, here's a good guide explaining how to implement parental controls and content filtering on an iPad.

www.gottabemobile.com/2012/03/26/how-to-set-up-ipad-parental-controls-and-content-filtering/

The tip may be to play around with these controls on your own iPad until you a satisfied you have achieved the right level of control, then record the settings you've used and set up the kids iPads in a similar way once they've opened their gifts at Christmas.