Most children own an iPad before they get to school

A MAJORITY of pre-school children own their own iPad or computer, a survey has found.

A total of 54 per cent of three to four-year-olds now have their own device, up from 47 per cent last year.

Three out of four children aged under five have access to a computer or mobile device, according to the survey.

The amount of time spent watching TV and online video content has risen from 2.6 hours in 2017 to 2.8 hours this year, the survey by Childwise said.

YouTube is the most popular app across all age and gender categories, with boys watching for longer than girls.

Childwise research manager Jenny Ehren said: ‘The increasing use of connected devices by pre- schoolers may reflect growing access to ondemand services.’

Pre-school children are getting used to ‘virtual assistants’ such as Siri and Alexa.

More than two-thirds of preschool households own a gadget that uses voice recognition, and more than a quarter of under-fives have used voice recognition software.