YouTube is set to release a new app next week called YouTube Kids that will contain only child-appropriate content and feature a kid-friendly interface with big icons and minimal scrolling.

The app, which will be available for smartphones and tablets, will be available for download from 23 February. Its not yet clear which operating systems the app will be released for, but a simultaneous launch for Android and iOS is predicted.

YouTube will officially launch the app at a childrens entertainment industry conference on Monday, and is expected to also announce several web series that will be premiering via the app aimed at children.

The app, which will be entirely separate from the standard YouTube mobile app, will also feature comprehensive parental controls including a timer that can be used to limit how long a child watches for.

According to a study by education non-profits the Joan Ganz Cooney Centre and Sesame Workshop, 60 per cent of children under three watch video content online, with 80 per cent of US children between the ages of nought and five who use the internet doing so at least once a week.