Alright, let’s face it. We live in a day and age where kids are consumed by their phones. They are playing games on their phones, texting, and “snap-chatting.” (If that’s even a word…) Unfortunately, we don’t always have complete control over who our children are communicating with on their phones. It’s a scary reality.
That is, until now.
I’m beyond excited to share the Messenger Kids by Facebook app with you all! You guys, this app is a GAME CHANGER for parents and teachers. We can finally feel that our children are SAFE while they chat on their phones.
What is Messenger Kids?
Messenger Kids is a video calling and messaging app designed for children to connect with family and friends. It’s completely free and they can access the app from any tablet or smartphone.
Take a sneak peek inside the app:
Is Messenger Kids Safe?
The short answer? Yes! Here’s several reasons why this app is a game changer:
It’s SAFE.
Parents are in control of their child’s contact list, which means that kids can only connect with contacts that have been approved by their parents and cannot chat with any other person outside of the parent-approved contact list. If there are any issues, parents and kids can report or block contacts.
Messenger Kids allows children to video call with just Wi-Fi. No phone number is needed to make video calls.
Messenger Kids content does not disappear, nor can it be hidden.
Parents can designate when the app will go on “Sleep Mode” to manage how long their child is able to use the app.
It’s INTERACTIVE.
Children are able to communicate with family, friends that have moved across country, or even classmates for a school project! It’s the perfect way to laugh, play, and practice those social skills that many kids seem to struggle with.
Kids can create videos and photos using fun graphics such as masks, frames, stickers, and GIFs.
Unleash the creativity! They can use filters, games, and drawing tools to express themselves via chat.
It Can Promote LEARNING!
. With parent approval, students can use the Messenger Kids app to chat with their classmates after school.
Children can use the drawing game on Messenger Kids to review vocabulary words. One child will draw the word and send it to their friend to guess what it is.
One child can say a spelling word, while the other writes out the word using the drawing tools on the app.
Students can chat about group projects, books, or help each other out with homework.
How to Set Up Messenger
Accessing the app is easy, quick, and free!
Step One: Parents must download the Messenger Kids app on their child’s phone or tablet.
Step Two: Parents will authenticate the child’s device using their Facebook login.
Step Three: Create an account for the child under the parent’s account by adding their name. Now, the child is able to use the phone or tablet safely to start chatting with family and friends approved by the parent. (This will not create a Facebook account for your child.)
Step Four: Parents may access controls on the Parent Portal section of the main Facebook app. From this portal, parents may approve contacts, set sleep mode times, and monitor who the child chats with.
I hope your child is as excited about this app as I am!
If you love to use technology to get your students excited about learning, be sure to read this post about one of my favorite ways to encourage reluctant readers!
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