Parents who invest in toy computers and other electronic games marketed as boosting learning for babies and pre-schoolers could save their money and help their children to learn themselves, according to new research.

A government-funded study, in England, examining the role of technology in the lives of three- and four-year-old children and their families found that the hi-tech devices - one of the fastest growing sectors of the toy market, aimed at infants as young as nine months - are no more effective than traditional ways of introducing basic literacy and number skills.

Toy laptops and mobile phones were of greater value to young children as an aid to imaginative play such as pretending to make phone calls than in teaching specific skills, researchers at the University of Stirling concluded after tracking families for 15 months.

Youngsters also gained an understanding of the social role of technology simply by watching their parents use computers, digital cameras and mobile phones for work and leisure - far outstripping the benefits of using computers for unrealistic exercises and games while at nursery.

The study, which examined 24 families of varying social backgrounds in detail and analysed written responses from 346 families in total, found parents were universally keen to prepare their children not only for school but also for the world of work, but felt unsure whether to buy them electronic toys billed as supporting both play and learning.

Toy retailers heavily promote the educational benefits of toys for small children, with the expansion of the electronic learning market boosting sales for the birth-to-three age group by 9% over the last year to £666m - one of the biggest growth rates in the toy market.

Lydia Plowman, professor of education at Stirling University, said parents interviewed experienced "a lot of anxiety" about the role of new technology, and felt under pressure from manufacturers to buy educational electronic toys.

Professor Plowman, announcing her research, said such toys were neither harmful nor "particularly beneficial".
She said: "I don't think there is any problem about children having these toys at home, but in terms of basic literacy and number skills I don't think they are more efficient than the more traditional approaches."

Parents who bought such toys often failed to replace the battery when it ran out after children lost interest, she added.

Almost all the families reported that their children listed going to the park as a favourite activity, while some did not list technology as a favourite at all.