A new study from market research firm The NPD Group finds that a majority of household consumer electronics purchases are being made specifically so that kids could use them.

According to Kids and Consumer Electronics, 2011 Edition, 78% of portable video game systems purchased in the past year, and 56% of portable digital media players were given directly to the child. There are almost as many kids using computers (73%) as there are using televisions (74%), and nearly 60% of kids are using a portable or console gaming systems.

Kids’ inclination to use consumer electronics devices and desire for the content they can access via the devices are driving the purchase of these products.

In terms of acquiring these items, among households with kids ages four to 14 the share of online purchases for consumer electronic devices is sizeable – for example, 46% for eReaders and 31% for desktop computers. As a comparison, only around 9% of toys are purchased online for kids in this age group. NPD cites the reason for this being that online shopping gives purchasers an easy way to seek out the best prices and offers for pricey devices.

The report also notes a slight decline in the average number of days in which kids use cell phones and portable video game systems over last year’s figures. For all other devices, the average number of days kids are using them has remained stable or declined, suggesting kids are maxed out on time.