EDUCATIONAL  - Lots of families want to make sure that they are learning something from their video games, so these games all have at least some educational value.

SESAME STREET COOKIE’S COUNTING CARNIVAL – Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS

In Sesame Street: Cookie's Counting Carnival, kids join Cookie Monster and Big Bird at a fun-filled carnival, through gameplay steeped in math skills that include number identification, counting, shapes and pattern recognition.  It’s designed with young kids and mind, and is a great example of how videogames can be fun and educational at the same time.

SESAME STREET ELMO’S A TO ZOO ADVENTURE – Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS

In Sesame Street: Elmo's A-to-Zoo Adventure, kids head to the Zoo with Elmo, Zoe and their animal friends, as they explore fun games including letter identification, rhyming, classification, and color and shape identification. It’s another Sesame Street game aimed at young kids, and we wish more companies would make games like this.

COSMOS CHAOS – Nintendo DS

Cosmos Chaos is a DS game in which players must learn new vocabulary as part of the gameplay, and successfully answer quizzes to progress.  The game is aimed at older kids, and seamlessly integrates it’s educational component into the fun storyline, so everyone wins.  Kids will just enjoy playing the game, but Moms and Dads will be pleased because they know their kids are learning something while playing. 

SUPER SCRIBBLENAUTS – Nintendo DS
Super Scribblenauts might be the coolest DS game we’ve ever played. Due to the creative nature and surprising humor of conjuring up nearly any object you could think of to help solve a problem, Super Scribblenauts is a great educational game.   It encourages creative thinking and multiple approaches to problem-solving, and can be enjoyed as a shared, cooperative experience.  In addition to thinking about nouns, the game also places an emphasis on adjectives, and offers innovative, fun and creative gameplay that can be enjoyed by multiple family members, even though it’s a DS game.  .We highly recommend this one for kids with DSes, and even think parents would be okay playing this game with younger kids, despite the game’s E10+ rating.

DISNEY GUILTY PARTY – Nintendo Wii

With an emphasis on creative thinking and problem solving, Guilty Party is a title that can be enjoyed by a broad range of ages.  For those that view video games as a guilty pleasure, Guilty Party proves that video games can be much more than that.  By asking players to solve mysteries - and to prove why they think what they do - Guilty Party ensures that players will use a variety of creative critical thinking skills as they play.  The game features a hilarious selection of characters will appeal to kids, but also provide a nice grown-up sense of humor.

TAP AND TEACH:  The Story of Noah’s Ark – Nintendo DS

Tap & Teach: The Story of Noah’s Ark is a really cool concept for a DS game, in that it is a interactive storybook that also features some basic learning activities. We found Tap N’ Teach Noah’s Ark to be very easy-to-play, and thought the game provided excellent verbal instructions for each command and activity.  The interactive story itself proceeds at a nice pace, and the additional learning activities are perfect for youngsters who are just learning to read.  We’d love to see more games like Tap N’ Teach Noah’s Ark.  It’s a perfect DS game for young kids, and can even be enjoyed together with a young one on your lap.