• by Karl Greenberg , June 6, 2007

In a new study, Port Washington, N.Y.-based market research firm NPD finds that the age at which children start interacting with electronic media, gadgets, hand-held digital-media toys and such dropped, from 8.1 years in 2005 to 6.7 years in 2007.

The firm's report, "Kids and Consumer Electronics Trends III," says that children start using electronic devices at approximately 7 years of age.

Not surprisingly, televisions and desktop computers are the initial devices kids start fooling with--at 4 or 5 years of age, per NPD. Satellite radios and portable digital media players have the oldest initial users among kids, at around 9 years.

The third annual study of kids and consumer electronics was culled from an online survey of adults ages 25 and older, with children ages 4 to 14 in the household in March.

The study showed that while every device has younger initial-user ages this year than in 2005, the average number of consumer electronic devices both owned and used by kids is actually down slightly versus 2005, along with the number of households who own the devices.

Still, per the survey, kids' ownership of hand-held media players, portable video games and digital cameras is up--those devices were the gadgets kids said they purchased during the last 12 months.

About a quarter of the households surveyed said they had made no consumer electronics purchases in the past 12 months.

Anita Frazier, industry analyst for The NPD Group, says kids follow the same trends as their parents. "They appear to have no fear of technology and adopt it easily and without fanfare, making these devices a part of their everyday lives."

NPD says kids use electronic devices on average three days per week, with heavier use weighted toward televisions, used 5.8 days per week; cell phones, used 4.3 days per week; and digital video recorders, used 4.1 days.

According to the report, children are using kids' versions at a younger age and more frequently. However, with the exception of video games, the adult versions of electronics show higher penetration than do the children's version of the same product.

Although a majority of parents indicates they would be interested in a branded kids' version of an electronic device, the level of interest has declined--from 83% in 2006 to 74% in 2007.