Gaming Recommend me some good preschool games?

[choconado]

Hey all. Does anyone know of any good games for the pre-K (I.E. 5 and under) kids? My three year old is very interested in the ds, and is smart enough that with mild supervision does not harm it. I'd love to start getting games for him to play all on his own. He understands how the stylus works and though he doesn't know his letters, he can usually figure out buttons. (right now his favorite stuff to do is browse the galleries in Godzilla, and to scribble in games that allow it).

Anyways, I'd appreciate if someone could recommend some good little kids games to check out for him. Educational content is a plus for obvious reasons, but is not at all necessary.

Thanks for the ideas!

 

[TestedInVN]

Electroplankton

Maestro Jump in Music

Zoo Keeper

 

[Kaze967]

Maestro Jump in Music is a bit hard. I even think that EBA on expert is easier than this on easy. (or maybe it's just because I'm trying to get a perfect)
Anyway I'd suggest "The Backyardigans" (matching shapes, colours, tracing with the stylus, etc.) and other NickJr. games like Go Diego Go and Dora.
Simple platformers would be good like Nemo or Madagascar though might require a bit more coordination.
And Nintendogs should be easy enough.

 

[monzamess]

My kids (5, 3, and 3) like Dora, Build-a-Bear, and Nintendogs. The 5-yr-old likes playing some games with me, like Mario Kart.
They also like watching Gameboy Advance video cartridges (episodes of Spongebob etc) but most other GBA games are too hard because they require reading. They have shown a little interest in the Interactive Storybook series, which *should* be simple enough to play (since it reads you each menu item etc) but they still get frustrated with it. Even if they don't know what they're doing sometimes, a DS with a flash cart full of games keeps them quiet on road trips.

 

[Satangel]

Nintendogs is just made for kids of that age.
And maybe Tetris?

 

[Inunah]

If they use a TV series for kids, then it's good.

There are also many games that are simple enough for younger children to use.

Tetris DS
Electroplankton (Some parts of the game might require you to read instructions on how certain things work, but it's very simple to figure out)
Elite Beat Agents (Or Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan. Either way, you don't need to read anything to figure out what's going on, and it's amusing to see grown men in suits being dancing cheerleaders anyway.)
Yoshi Touch and Go
Yoshi's Island DS
New Super Mario Bros
Daigasso! Band Brothers (As long as they know what color corresponds to what button, they'll be able to play. I don't even look at the letter or arrow to see what button I press anymore.)
Cooking Mama (Easy to follow, and prior instructions for each step if needed.)
Cooking Mama 2
Cooking Mama 3
Sonic Rush
Zoo Keeper
Maestro! Jump in Music
Jam Sessions
Jam Sessions 2
Nintendogs

That's all I can think of right now, and I hope these games are what you were looking for!

If you have a flashcart and an emulator, you could try looking into older games, as well!

 

[choconado]

I hope these games are what you were looking for!

Well, not really. A lot of those look like "Watch as I play" level of games (As I said, he's only just 3). The nickjr. and nintendogs ones are probably good, and I suppose I can't go wrong with electroplankton.

None the less, I appreciate all the input! Thanks!

 

[Uchiha Obito]

Hey man... I think New Super Mario Bros is good... It's very intuitive (and trains coordination of hands as well) it can be a little educational (because you can say that eating mushrooms makes you big and strong like Mario) xD

I think you may consider this one a possibility, They are as good as Nintendogs and NickJr.

 

[choconado]

hey, I bought NSMB when I bought the DS. I know my son's level of play. That's right now a "watch daddy play" game.

Meanwhile, I tried him with Electroplankton today (it's a pretty small file) and he loved it.

Then he went and tried to delete my save of Giana Sisters, so he can't play right now. (he understands how to hard reset the system and select a different game pretty easily)

 

[GoldenTalesGeek]

I dunno if these games qualify, but the Kirby series and The Legendary Starfy are both pretty good. And this is coming from a 23-year-old gamer!

 

[choconado]

:facepalm: Look, he's THREE. He's not going to be able to play real platformers with any skill. Yes, they have cartoony graphics that kids love, but that means nothing gameplay wise.

 

[Uchiha Obito]

I don't think kirby has increased difficulty

 

[choconado]

were you playing kirby when you were three? I don't think so.

I was 8 when I first played SMB 1. I'm now 29, and I STILL can't get past 8-3. (Don't get me wrong, I love it--the genre is just something that looks aimed at little kids, while having way too high of a difficulty curve). Though the 2600 was the most advanced system when I was three, and I played Warlords and Yar's Revenge fairly regularly as a little kid, those are a pretty far cry from the games of today. This is a kid that doesn't even know his letters yet, and you're giving him games that adults love. That's like me asking for a good card game for him, assuming something like memory, or maybe even specially made go fish decks, and you guys recommending bridge or pinochle. Yes, they're good games, no they're not age-appropriate for a toddler.

 

[cman1783]

My 4 year old daughter really excels in Kirby and NSMB. A great game for him to don the stylus skills is Crayola Treasure Adventure.

 

[Uchiha Obito]

What if I told you that I only found the pleasures of gaming when I was 6?

I didn't understand English by that time and I played Pokemon, Pac-man, Lucky Luke and things like that...

Ohhhh, so nostalgic (:

 

[emigre]

OP- I understand what you're saying, my niece is three and she has no aptitude for video games at all i.e. she doesn't know how to hold a DS. The stuff she likes are Diddy Kong racing and she liked messing about with WarioWare and cooking mama. They seemed relatively simple enough to play. I'd also reccomend a homebrew called Colors which is essentially a mini paint programme for the DS and she really liked that.

I guess it's also to remember that children develop differently, the reason why everyone was reccomedning the games they did was because they probably played those games at that age. For example my niece's cousin is two and he has a DSi and he knew what to do despite not ebing to read.

 

[choconado]

Thanks for being the voice of reason, and not another head slamming against the bricks shouting "PLAY MARIO! PLAY KIRBY!"

I'll look into the colors game, as that sounds like something he'd love. Thanks!