What is the Child Experience on BBC iPlayer?

The Child Experience on iPlayer brings the best of CBBC, CBeebies and other suitable BBC programmes to one place.

Under-13s can easily find something to watch thanks to more child-friendly categories like Trending, Drama, Funny and Cartoons. And the bright and bold design helps children understand that it's an experience just for them.

Two images of the BBC iPlayer mobile app when signed in as a child. The first shows the homepage which is bright, white and with lots of CBeebies programmes. The second is of the Explore menu which offers CBBC and CBeebies channels, and children's categories

Kids can browse and discover age-appropriate programmes, and add their favourites to My Programmes. They can also pick up a show from where they left off on any device. If they're using the BBC iPlayer mobile/tablet app, they can also download their favourite shows to watch on the go!

Twi images from the BBC iPlayer app when signed in as a child. The first is the 'Your added programmes' page and the second is of the Downloads page.

What content is available on Child Profiles?

At the moment, Child Profiles can access all CBeebies, CBBC and family-friendly programmes that we know kids love.

The homepage will be tailored to the age of the child who is watching. For example a child aged 0-3 will see CBeebies programmes only on their homepage, with a focus on cartoons, songs and shows for parent and baby to watch together, whereas a 10-12 year old will see a mix of mainly CBBC and family-friendly programmes like Strictly and Doctor Who.
 

Image of the BBC iPlayer homepage when accessed by a child profile

To protect little ones from switching to an adult's profile on the BBC iPlayer app, we have introduced a Profile Switching Lock. This means that when an adult profile is selected from a child profile, users will need to enter their PIN.

For more information on this, have a look here: Can I stop my child from accessing my profile on the BBC iPlayer mobile/tablet app?

Child profile or child account?

There are two ways for little ones to enjoy the Child Experience on BBC iPlayer: Child accounts and Child profiles. 

Child profiles are used within BBC iPlayer, and Kids pages across our website. They give children their own personalised view of BBC iPlayer, allowing them to stream, download, add their favourite programmes and continue watching from where they left off. Child profiles are created and accessed through a signed-in adult account, and are used only for accessing family-friendly programmes.

Child accounts are used across the BBC, not just for iPlayer; useful for when older kids want to use other parts of the BBC, for example to join the conversation on CBBC programmes or have their say on Newsround articles. They can access the whole website, including BBC News and BBC Sounds. Child accounts are set up by a parent, and permissions are controlled by that linked adult account. Children can sign into their account using a username and password. 

How do I create a child account or profile? 

For help with setting up child profiles, check the following page: How do I create a child profile on BBC iPlayer?

For help with setting up child accounts, check the following BBC account help page with step-by-step instructions: How to register for a child account