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Take for instance the tech-savvy Foster family of Boyds, which has five computers and digital organizers for each of the six children.

‘‘They use my iPod all the time,” mother Melissa Foster said of 7-year-old Jess and 6-year-old Jake. ‘‘Once we teach them how to use [technology], I find they’re very careful.”

The Fosters are not alone. Children all over the country are becoming more adept at navigating new technologies, thanks to their use of computers and other gizmos at both school and home.

Between 2005 and 2006, cell phone ownership among children ages 4 through 14 increased 50 percent, while the number who personally owned a portable digital music player and a digital camera more than doubled, according to a recent study by The NPD Group, a market research company based in New York that provides consumer and retail information for businesses.

Another study by the organization found that 15 percent of kids ages 2 to 5 use cell phones, a figure that jumps to 62 percent for 11- to 14-year-olds.

However, parents haunted by images of toddlers ‘‘going and gaaing” into baby Bluetooths probably don’t have much to worry about just yet.

‘‘When my son was in high school a couple of years ago, almost every kid had a cell phone, and that was not the case for my [older] daughter. ... It was almost unheard of,” said Roni Silverstein, principal of Clopper Mill Elementary School in Germantown. ‘‘But it really hasn’t trickled down to the elementary level.”

Many area parents agree with Silverstein’s assessment and have found a balance on what electronics are age-appropriate for their family.

‘‘Mine are still a little young,” Judy McKenney of Poolesville said of her sons, 10-year-old Bryce and 8-year-old Cole. ‘‘I think in elementary school, parents still have a lot of control.”

McKenney said that although the two prefer playing outside, they do enjoy skateboarding and fighter pilot video games — as long as they meet mom’s approval first.

Foster said that her older children often help out with the younger ones by overseeing their computer use to make sure that they don’t stumble upon any inappropriate Web sites.

Although the children use technology to stay close, such as by using Instant Messenger to keep in touch with their brother Noah while he’s at college, Foster draws the line at cell phones for her younger ones.

‘‘Kids that don’t drive, they don’t need cell phones,” she said. ‘‘It’s just another way to get in trouble.”

However, cell phones can be a good way to stay out of trouble, too.

Christopher Bacas, 13, who lives on 150-acre farm in Darnestown, carries a cell phone to school so he can call home if his bus is running late, said his mother, Josephine Bacas.

‘‘I can’t always see the bus,” she said. ‘‘If he’s really delayed, he’ll call me on the cell.”

iPods and other portable MP3 players are also gaining in popularity among the playground set.

‘‘I listen to mine during class,” Joey Guglielmini, 13, of Gaithersburg said earlier this month while taking a brief break from playing basketball with his friends.

‘‘It’s easy when you have long hair. That way you could slip your headphones on,” joked Marcus Swann, 14, of Washington, D.C.

Rani Schlenoff of Germantown said that while her children are too young for their own iPods, they can’t get enough of iTunes.

Jake, 10, Alec, 8, and Tali, 3, aren’t allowed to download songs themselves, but they like to create their own playlists and CDs to listen to while they’re getting ready for school in the morning, Schlenoff said.

Schlenoff said that while she hasn’t seen many elementary school-aged children outfitted with the latest new gadgets, she has noticed the trend with the seventh graders she teaches at JEWEL, a Jewish school located in Olney.

‘‘What’s amazing is that they have the coolest phones and I have the oldest phone. My criteria is whatever’s free,” she said with a laugh.

Kyle Ho, 8, of Gaithersburg is already looking to upgrade his cell phone.

‘‘I want a new one,” he said as he hung out on the jungle gym at Whetstone Elementary School in Montgomery Village with friend Michael Watkins, 9, of Montgomery Village.

Although Watkins said he wasn’t particularly interested in getting a phone of his own, other students are pulling age-old tricks to try to get their hands on the digital devices.

‘‘I have a sixth-grader and he tells me all his friends have them, so I tell him he can use their phones,” Laura Carmack of Poolesville said of her son, Kirby. ‘‘... I think, as a parent, you should do what’s appropriate for your family instead of just trying to follow what everybody else is doing.”