The data are both quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative data consists of survey outcomes from an online survey of 2000 parents of 0-5 year-olds who have access to a tablet. Parents were asked questions about children's access to, and use of, tablets and apps. Responses were also sought on how apps were chosen and parental concerns about in-app purchasing and advertising were explored. Raw SPSS data, in addition to tables outlining the project's statistical analysis, are available. Case studies of six children aged from birth to five were also conducted. Qualitative data from the case studies include transcripts from interviews with parents and children. In addition, 'Play and creativity tours' were conducted with children. Family members produced maps of their homes and children and parents used these to reflect on children's play, both digital and non-digital. Photographs of children's toys, playthings and tablets were taken by both the researcher and children and parents. Video data from the family case studies and observations in schools, and the audio files from the case study interviews, are available with restricted access due to the personal information they contain. This was a co-produced study, developed in collaboration between academics in the Universities of Sheffield and Edinburgh, the BBC (CBeebies), Monteney Primary School and the children’s media companies Dubit and Foundling Bird. The project was co-produced in that all project partners contributed to the development of the project aims and objectives and were involved in data collection, analysis and dissemination. The project aimed to address a gap in knowledge with regard to preschool children's (aged from birth to five) use of tablet apps. The aims of the study were to examine pre-school children’s use of apps and identify how far tablet apps for pre-school children promote play and creativity. The objectives were: 1. To collect information about UK preschool children's access to and use of tablet apps in the home. 2. To identify the most popular tablet apps for pre-school children and develop an understanding of the extent to which these promote play and creativity. 3. To identify the factors that currently inform parents’/ caregivers’ choices of tablet apps for this age group. 4. To examine the impact of tablet apps (including augmented reality apps) on the play and creativity of pre-school children. 5. To identify the affordances of tablet apps that are particularly successful in promoting young children’s play and creativity in order to inform: (i) future app development by the children’s media industry and (ii) the future choices of apps for young children by parents/ caregivers and early years educators. 6. To increase dialogue and promote knowledge exchange between academics, children's media industry, parents/ caregivers and early years educators with regard to pre-school children’s use of apps. The study had four Phases. In Phase One, an online survey of 2000 parents of 0-5 year-olds who had access to tablets was conducted. In Phase Two, observations and interviews were undertaken with children and parents in six families. In Phase Three, twelve children aged 3-5 were filmed using the apps that had been identified in Phase One as the top ten favourite apps in order to examine how far they promoted play and creativity. In Phase Four, an analysis of the apps was undertaken in order to identify what features supported play and creativity and which limited them.

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