Tablets Top Parents' Gift Lists for Kids
Mobile devices are at the top of tech-buying parents’ wishlists for their kids this holiday season, according to a PBS Kids survey.
More than half of American parents (54 percent) plan to pick up a tech-related gift for their kids, the survey found, and a tablet was the most popular item with 28 percent of respondents saying they planned to purchase one. Tablet-buying parents combined with those purchasing a smartphone for their kids made up 36 percent, while video game consoles clocked in at 18 percent of expected purchases. (See a full infographic after the jump.)
PBS Kids, which offers apps and online games for kids, also surveyed parents on their app use. About seven in 10 parents said they plan to or have purchased apps for their kids, and the majority of them make that purchase decision with their child. Educational content tops these parents’ app criteria for their kids, but they also consider age recommendations (56 percent), price (56 percent) and characters familiar to their kids (45 percent).
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends less than two hours of daily “screen time” – TV, mobile devices, and the Internet in general. The medical group also says that kids under 2 years of age shouldn’t have any screen time.
ORCInternational conducted the online survey for PBS Nov. 6-11 among 1,000 American parents with kids ages 2-10. It was split evenly between men and women.
