UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has released its annual report of children's media consumption, and it shows that both tablet use and ownership are combining to make slates a must-have device for children.

The report analysed children between the ages of 3 and 15 across the UK, concluding that an average of 51 percent grow up in homes with access to a tablet.

Further, 20 per cent of those children aged 3-4 are reported to use tablets. That figure jumps further to over 40 percent for teenagers (aged 13-15).

Super slates

Perhaps what's most interesting, however, is the figures of tablet ownership amongst these groups.

Ofcom's report found that 3 percent of children aged 3-4 actually have tablets of their own.

This ownership figure increases to 13 pe cent for the 5-7 range, 18 per cent for children between 8-11, and over a quarter (26 percent) for children between the ages of 12 and 15.

Media circus

Pulling back from a tablet focus, Ofcom's report also found that most children between the ages of 8 - 15 have three or more 'media devices' of their own.

These media devices include everything from TVs to PCs, tablets, smartphones, handheld gaming systems, consoles, e-readers, and DVD players.

Finally, Ofcom found that the preference of media consumption is apparently changing as children aged 5-15 are less likely to have a television and games console in their bedrooms than they were at this time last year.

Among children in the sample, 52 per cent now have access to a television in their bedroom (down from 59 percent in 2012) while 47 per cent are likely to have a gaming console in their bedroom - a figure which is down almost ten per cent from 2012's figures (56 percent).

Despite the dwindling figures, however, Ofcom notes that dedicated gaming consoles (portable or otherwise) still combine to form the second most popular media device found in a child's bedroom.

[source: Ofcom]