Add a kid and share the family code

This is for the grown-up adding a kid to the household. It covers the sign-up form, what CubbyJar creates automatically, changing a kid’s details later, and sharing the family code the kid will use to sign in.

Add the kid

To add a kid:

1. Go to More.
2. Tap “Manage family”.
3. Tap the + button in the header, labeled “Add a kid”.

On a computer, Family (or Settings) sits in the sidebar instead of More. Before you have any kids, the Kids tab also offers “Add a kid” on its empty screen.

Fill in “Name”, then “Age”, a stepper from 3 to 20 with “Younger” and “Older” buttons, and pick their color from six swatches. Add a “Username” (3-20 characters, starting with a letter, then letters, numbers, _ or -, unique within your family) and set “PIN” and “PIN again” (4-6 digits, not all the same digit, not a run like 1234 or 4321).

Tick the consent line: “I am this child’s parent or guardian and I consent to CubbyJar storing their name, birth year and username.” The “Add kid” button stays off until it is ticked. Behind the scenes, the age you enter is stored as a birth year.

What gets created

Adding a kid creates three empty jars, Spend, Save and Give, and the kid appears under “Kids” on the Family screen. A tablet already signed in from “Kids on this device” picks the new kid up the next time a name is tapped or the tablet is signed in again; see Sign a shared tablet in for the kids.

Change a kid’s details later

Tap the kid’s row on the Family screen to open “Edit {name}”, where you can change their name, age, color and username, then tap “Save”. The PIN is never shown; the screen only offers “Reset PIN”. Both are covered in Reset a kid’s PIN or change their details.

Share the family code

The Family screen shows the family code in the format JAR- plus four characters that never include 0, 1, O or I, for example JAR-7K2M. Use “Copy” or “Share” to hand it to your kid. The share text reads: “Our CubbyJar family code is {code}. Type it once on your device, then sign in with your PIN.” On a computer, “Share” simply copies the code.

If you ever need to replace the code, “New code” asks “Generate a new family code?”; confirm with “Yes, generate a new code”. The old one stops working immediately, so share the new code with every kid who uses it.