LEGO bricks no longer cut it for hi-tech toddlers. Digital music players for three-year-olds are the new battleground in the £20 billion toy industry.

Fisher-Price will launch the “iTod”, its first MP3 player aimed at infants, this summer. The device comes with tiny volume-restricted headphones, while an iTunes-style online store will sell parentally approved songs for the player.

But educationists have expressed concerns. They fear that lone children wired up to music players will not develop social interaction skills and that hi-tech toys will take the imagination out of playtime.

Digital toys for toddlers are seen as the industry’s best hope to reverse a slump in sales. Last year was the fifth in succession with little or no growth in American toy sales.

The Bratz dolls led the digital advance with a £40 MP3 player for six-year-olds, but younger children are now the target.

Fisher-Price, a subsidiary of Mattel, the top-selling toymaker, has been developing the Digital Song & Story Player, for children aged three and upwards.

The £45 device will come loaded with six songs and two spoken-word stories. Toddlers unable to read will rely on icons to symbolise each song, such as a star for Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

Spending on children’s electronics hit £343 million last year and toymakers will continue to target children from the cradle.

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