It used to be that having spare batteries \u2013 and plenty of them \u2013 on hand was the only advance work you had to do, with any actual assembly left to Christmas Eve. But these days, with so many high tech gifts on offer, you might have a bit more to do. From setting up accounts to charging devices, you need to make sure you are on top of things \u2013 or expect a busy and frustrating Christmas<\/a> morning. <\/p>\n 1. Set up accounts <\/p>\n This is particularly important if you are planning to give a child any tech gifts for Christmas. Most devices will require some sort of online account and how you set it up can be important. <\/p>\n If the correct settings aren\u2019t applied to accounts, parental controls or other content filtering may not work correctly. <\/p>\n It can be time consuming but it is another thing that you can do ahead of time, and discreetly. The last thing you want to be doing while juggling the turkey basting and sorting out desserts is struggling with online accounts. <\/p>\n Consoles: For PlayStation, go to PlayStation.com and select: Sign in > Create New Account, and verify your age and email address. Then you can start to add family members by going to: Account Management > Family Management > Add Family Member, and select Add a Child.<\/p>\n If there is an Xbox under the tree, you can create a free Microsoft account by going to Xbox.com. Once that has been done, go to account.Microsoft.com, and select the family section. Click on: View Family, and then Add Family Member to create your child account.<\/p>\n The perennial children\u2019s favourite, the Nintendo Switch, needs a Nintendo account. Go to accounts.Nintendo.com to create your own parental account. Once you have set yourself up, you can add members to your family group through the Nintendo website or on the Switch or Switch 2, creating profiles on the device and linking them to a Nintendo account.<\/p>\n [\u00a0Christmas gift guide: 10 great gadgets to giveOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Smartphones: If you are setting up a smartphone account for a child, regardless of the platform, you will need an account of your own first to oversee it or at the very least access to another adult account that can act as a family manager.<\/p>\n On Apple, if you already have a family sharing group, you can add a child account easily. On an iPhone or iPad, go to: Settings > Family and tap the Add Member button. Tap: Create Child Account > Continue.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll then enter your child\u2019s birth date and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the set-up.<\/p>\n On Android, you need to go to accounts.google.com. If you are setting up an account for a child under 16, you will be asked to designate the account that will be used to manage it until the child turns 16. <\/p>\n 2. Parental controls For younger children, parental controls can keep a check on everything from screen time to content being viewed on the device. Getting ahead of this can help avoid any arguments down the line by setting up defined access times \u2013 locking the devices overnight, for example, or at school and homework times \u2013 or restricting certain content straight out of the box.<\/p>\n That includes in app purchases, which can add up to a tidy sum if your child is given free reign \u2013 or unsupervised access to your password. <\/p>\n With the EU rules opening up online platforms to competitors, parents must also be aware of the alternate marketplaces out there, which can be harder to oversee. <\/p>\n![\"Set](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/LGZGKNUSCNA3VB4DUPE754R2YE.jpg\")
Set a passcode to stop any tech-savvy kids from making their own changes. Photograph: Getty Images <\/p>\n
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Once you have updates installed, you can power everything down, repack it all and wait for a smooth Christmas morning. Photograph: Getty Images <\/p>\n