“Getting consumers to interact with Apple in a whole bunch of different ways helps develop that positive relationship early,” said Jennifer Kent, a director of research at Parks Associates, a Dallas research and consulting firm.

Already, Apple has a strong following among younger consumers. Last year, 39 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds in the U.S. purchased an Apple product, compared with the 23 percent who bought a Samsung device, according to Parks Associates. Samsung is the leading maker of devices that run Google’s Android operating system, the chief rival to Apple’s iOS software.

But iPad sales have declined. In Apple’s fiscal second quarter, the number of iPads sold dropped 13 percent to 8.9 million compared with a year earlier.

From the article "Apple’s Swift Playgrounds expands to drones, robots" by Wendy Lee.