App star baby: The toddlers hooked on the iPad

Teachers quickly found that the touchscreen gadget is an instant hit with children as young as two. Now hundreds of educational apps using bright colours, sound and even video are available, designed to give children a head start before they even begin nursery school. They can learn the alphabet, begin reading or just simply use it to fingerpaint.

"These devices are incredibly useful for young children," says Professor Rose Luckin of the University of London.

"They are very easy to use, and crucially also very social — mother and child can play together far more easily than with more traditional educational methods, for instance."

The success of the iPad with toddlers has even become an online hit. A video of a two-and-a-half-year-old playing with, and instantly understanding, an iPad has become a YouTube hit and been viewed more than a million times.

One of the newest apps aimed at the iPad toddlers is a series using the Montessori technique. It uses huge, screen-sized numbers and letters to teach maths and spelling, with users tracing shapes on screen, recording their own sounds and reading and writing. The apps were developed by two Montessori teachers and two parents in South Dakota.

"As soon as we saw the iPad, we had a real Neil Armstrong moment," says Bobby George, one of the apps' developers. "We realised it was one small step for computing, but one giant leap for learning. We were hugely excited by the potential, and, as it turned out, the iPad really is the perfect device for toddlers."

The team spent weeks testing iPads with toddlers to see how easy they found them to use.

"It's been amazing. We found that a parent needs to show them where the power button is, and how to swipe the screen to unlock it. After that, the children can work it out for themselves. We've not seen a single child who isn't up and running within two minutes."

The team say the app has been hugely successful, and they have several more in the works.

Even established children's favourites are being reinvented for the iPad world. Penguin recently showed a demo version of Spot the Dog for the device, letting children colour in using their fingers, and has already released its first children's app, Topsy and Tim Start School.