Pinterest: a parent’s guide to ideas, privacy and teen settings.

Use boards to support a real project.

Pinterest describes itself as a visual discovery service where people save ideas to boards. See its guide to how Pinterest works. A teen can use it to collect an art reference, plan a meal or compare ways to make a costume. Give the board a purpose that can be completed offline.

Choose three achievable ideas rather than hundreds of perfect images. Ask what materials are already available, what the project will cost and which part the teenager wants to learn. A finished, imperfect craft is often a more satisfying outcome than an increasingly polished collection of things they never try. Encourage them to keep a note of what they changed or discovered.

Choose privacy before sharing.

Pinterest’s teen-safety guide says personal profiles for 13–15-year-olds are private;16–17-year-olds are private by default and can choose a public profile. Under-16s exchange messages with mutual followers. Review the invited audience instead of assuming a private profile settles every social decision.

A shared board should include people who belong to the project. Check before uploading a friend’s photograph, a school timetable or images showing a private location. A nickname can be enough for a creative account. If someone you do not know wants to collaborate, ask why and keep the activity within the existing group until the purpose is clear.

Check the local age requirement.

Pinterest requires at least 13 and says people in countries with higher data-consent requirements must meet the local age. Read its age-requirement explanation rather than treating 13 as universal. A correct birthday is important for the account’s teen settings.

For a younger child, an adult can find a few craft ideas and bring them into a shared activity without creating an independent child account. Keep the search narrow and show the selected instructions rather than asking the child to browse an open feed. When the child is age-eligible, start with a familiar project and introduce the privacy decisions gradually.

Separate inspiration from pressure to buy.

Ask whether an image provides useful information or mainly creates a feeling that your home, body, clothing or hobby is not good enough. Avoid treating a carefully arranged photograph as an everyday standard. A recipe can be useful even if your family does not own the matching kitchen equipment or decorations.

Check links before following them and keep purchase decisions with an adult. Make a realistic project budget in your local currency, including delivery and supplies, before choosing a shopping option. If the inspiration requires far more time or money than you want to spend, adapt it rather than abandon the creative interest. Turn notifications down when the project is finished.

When an idea becomes a finished project, keep track of the creator or source that inspired it. Look for instructions that show the process rather than only a polished result. Invite the teenager to photograph their own version and explain the changes, without copying another person’s image into a claim of original work. This builds appreciation for creativity and helps them compare inspiration with what they actually learned.

• Build one board for one achievable activity.
• Keep followers and collaborators recognisable.
• Ask what can be made with materials the family already owns.

Questions parents ask.