Two-year-olds are old enough to be adept at using touchscreens and can swipe, unlock, and actively search for features on smartphones and tablets, according a study published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.
This level of interactivity is akin to play, according to lead author Dr. Deirdre Murray of Cork University Hospital in County Cork, Republic of Ireland. Murray suggests the technology might have a potential role in childhood developmental assessment.
The researchers based their findings on 82 questionnaires on touchscreen access and use that were completed by the parents of children between the ages of 12 months and 3 years. Parents were asked how long their child used touchscreens each day and whether he or she were able to unlock the screen, swipe through pages or images, and recognize and interact with specific features such as app icons for games.
The parents were also asked if they had downloaded any games or apps specifically for their child's use. The age of their toddlers ranged from 20 to 30 months, and just over half (57%) were boys.
Most of the parents (82%, 67) said they owned a touchscreen device such as a smartphone or tablet. Of these, most (87%, 58) gave their child the device to play with for an average of 15 minutes a day, and nearly two-thirds (62%) said they downloaded apps for their child to use.
Nine out of 10 parents who owned a touchscreen device said their child was able to swipe; half said their child was able to unlock the screen, and nearly two-thirds (64%) felt their child actively searched for touchscreen features.
The average age of the toddlers with the ability to perform these three skills was 24 months, while the average age for identifying and using specific touchscreen features was 25 months -- almost 3 out of 4 (72%) parents felt their child was able to do this.
Overall, 1 in 3 of the toddlers could perform all four skills by the average of 29 months, and children as young as 12 months regularly used touchscreens, the researchers found.
