Seventeen percent of children ages 5-8 play games everyday

Common Sense Media’s recently-published “Zero to Eight: Children’s Media Use in America” study notes that small children are playing games in droves.

Seventeen percent of children between the ages of 5 and 8 play games everyday, while a much larger number — 81 percent — have played games during their lifetimes.

Of course, narrow that down to the whole study’s focus, and 51 percent have played a video game at all. Still a sizable amount. Sixty-seven percent of children included in the study have a console at home, with 24 percent having their own handheld and 29 percent with some other “educational gaming device.”

Boys’ and girls’ habits differed, as well, with more boys having played console video games (56 percent versus 46 percent, though that is likely not a statistically significant difference), having a video game device in their room and playing games every day.