Trends on Tuesday: Kids are Going Mobile

From the time they can grasp an object in their hands, children are reaching for electronic gadgets of all kinds—particularly our smartphones and tablets.

The early adoption of mobile is growing each year as evidenced by this infographic from EveryDayFamily.com.

• 30 percent of 2- to 5-year-olds in the U.S. already know how to operate a smartphone or tablet computer
• 61 percent can play a basic computer game.
• 19% of elementary school students have smartphones,
• 42% of middle school children are using them
• 56% of high school teens.

Smartphones and tablets are very easy to use, as children have learned early how to swipe and scroll. Many apps for smartphones and tablets are now targeting children. According to the infographic, designers are gearing their efforts in the following ways:

• 46% are Games for Fun
• 42% are Math and Puzzles
• 28% are Art & Music
• 19% are Character Based

There are examples of mobile targeting children’s games like CDC’s Solve the Outbreak, the Smithsonian’s Meanderthal and the National Gallery of Art’s Your Art, which has a specific Kid’s Tour section. As government thinks mobile first, these agencies remember that mobile is a channel for children of all ages.

Lisa Wilcox, U.S. Department of Agriculture