Hi @smithy, welcome to the forum!
It’s possible to make Zorin OS more child-friendly with these options:
Timekpr-next
Timekpr-next is a Parental Control app that allows you to control the hours when a child can use the computer, and locks access to its use when you set it to do so. You can install it by opening the Terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and entering this command:
sudo apt install timekpr-next
Web filtering
For web filtering we would recommend using a DNS Parental Control service such as OpenDNS FamilyGuard which allows you to block individual websites as well as entire categories of websites. You can find out more about these DNS Parental Control services on this page: https://www.geckoandfly.com/11638/free-parental-control-software/
Veyon
If you want to visually monitor what’s happening on one or many computers in real time, you can install an app called Veyon by entering this command in the Terminal:
sudo apt install veyon
This app is more targeted towards use in schools and classrooms, and is included in Zorin OS Education out of the box.
Standard user account
We would also recommend you to give children “Standard” user accounts instead of “Administrator” accounts, in order to avoid them from being able to override these settings or make changes to the system.
Zorin Grid
We’ll be releasing a version of Zorin Grid tailored for use in schools and classrooms at a more accessible price-point. It will have easy access to these kinds of child-friendly features.
However, Zorin Grid won’t be targeted at home users, at least from initial launch.