We all know that our phones are our lifelines and when it gets to the day our children want their own it’s about making sure we provide the sensible foundations first. We need to keep them safe online and be confident they have the ability to use their phones wisely. But teenagers will think of their phones as an extension of who they are. Personalizing their phone is a great way to establish their identity. Here are some great ways to help your children personalize their mobile phone.
Customize the Skin
One of the best ways to customize the outside of their phone is with a case or a skin. You can find plenty of case options online but if your child’s got a phone they like the color of but they want to do something a little extra, vinyl customized stickers are a great way to make it a bit more them.
A Different Ringtone or Text Tone
You might have heard the default ringtones of the iPhone in public and, no doubt, many people reach for their phones because they never even bothered to change the ringtone! You can easily change the text tone, email sounds, and so forth on an iPhone, but it’s also a good idea to let them feel a bit more in control of what their perfect ringtone would be. If your child is entering their teenage years this is the time they start to discover music that will be with them for the rest of their lives. Let them go wild on Spotify and find what music really speaks to them. You never know, they might be into 80s hair rock or 90s grunge rather than what all their friends are into, which will make for a far more pleasant-sounding ringtone every time it goes off at the dinner table!
Change the Widgets
Widgets are really useful because it makes the home screens look more interesting, but it also makes everything easier to access which saves them from jumping back and forth between apps. On Android, there are many default Google ones, but the options are endless.
Alter the Wallpaper
Your child is going to spend most of their day looking at the wallpaper so let them choose things that really speak to them. It could be a photo of their closest friends but there are always websites like Unsplash that provide free images.
Install Custom Icon Packs
If they want to give their home screen a more unique feel they can change the icons from the traditional shapes to something more creative.
When your child wants a phone of their own you might think twice about giving them their own phone, but it gets to the point that they need to assert their independence. Their phone is going to be the most important thing in their lives and therefore, you need to let them personalize it so it feels truly theirs. You may feel concerned that they are going online or being incredibly secretive but it’s important to remember there are many parental locks you can put on your child’s phone, so giving them a phone that they can personalize can make them feel like they’ve won the battle!