Boom Blox Bash Party, Electronic Arts, 2009; $39.99; http://boomblox.ea.com; ages 9 and up.

 

Requires: Wii console. Steven Spielberg and the folks at Electronic Arts have outdone themselves with the second version of the wildly successful Boom Blox game for Wii. With more than 400 new levels that take players through ocean and deep space challenges with new shapes, including cylinders and wedges, players now pick up and toss cute and cuddly characters to knock down blox structures. This game provides hours of big time party fun. Players can even create your own levels online to share with friends, using a special “create mode.”
 

Smith Micro Software, 2008; $49.99; www.mysmithmicro.com; for ages 9 to 11. Requires: CD-ROM for Windows 2000, NT, XP or Vista; Tablet PC; or Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher.
ArtRage 2.5 is awesome! Kids experiment with different kinds of virtual paint tools and styles, including oils, palette knife, pencils, chalk, airbrush, rollers and glitter – all without the fuss, mess and expense of fully stocking an art studio. Kids have virtual stencils and tracing paper features at their disposal to help get them started. An easy-to-use interface and tutorials help them understand the basics of creating great art.

FunKeyBoard & FunMouse, Chester Creek, 2009; $57.95; www.chestercreek.com; ages 5 and up.

 

Requires: PC or Mac. This colorful, standard layout keyboard with mouse is designed to promote letter awareness and typing skills with colored keys: vowels are red, consonants are green, punctuation and symbols are yellow, numbers are purple, and functions are blue. This keyboard is just plain fun to use, and brightens up the family’s PC or home office. One of our kid testers insisted that our judge take this home and use it – all the time! 
 

Walt Disney Internet Group, 2007; free to play with an option to upgrade to an unlimited subscription; www.piratesonline.com; for ages 10 and up. Requires: Web browser.
In this downloadable game module, players create a pirate and start their online adventure; it’s that simple! Pirates is another terrific online experience from Disney and one of its first forays into the massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) space. Unlike other MMORPGs, which are designed for older audiences but attract younger players because of the virtual adventures they provide, Pirates is age-appropriate for advanced tweens and young teens. The game immerses players in a virtual world, where they develop effective communication and collaborative skills as they forge alliances, hunt for buried treasure, battle evil “undead” forces, and develop strategies to outwit their foes.
 

ZiggityZoom.com, ZiggityZoom LLC, 2008; Free; www.ziggityzoom.com; ages 2 to 8.

 

This cute Web site for young children features a variety of simple, yet fun activities, including digital “colorforms,” mazes, printable activities and coloring sheets, as well as parent resources. Our judge’s favorite game here is “Feed the Monster,” in which players drag individual food items into the hands of a goofy little green monster that gobbles them up and exclaims, “Yummy,” after devouring each treat. It may seem simple, but little kids will surely find delight in this and other mini-games on the site. 

 

MLB Dugout Heroes, Games Campus, 2009; Free download; http://mlbdugoutheroes.gamescampus.com; ages 9 to 11.

 

Billed as the first online game from Major League Baseball, Dugout Heroes features real MLB players and stadiums through fun and engaging baseball play. Players power-up and get stronger as they advance through the game. Our kid testers really enjoyed this one.
 

Harumika Style Starter Set and Web Site, Bandai America, 2009; $10 for Starter Set; www.harumika.com; ages 6 to 8.

 

Requires: Web browser with flash; optional Starter Set with plastic fitting form, tools and fabric swatches. There’s no sewing, gluing or cutting with this fun little toy and its corresponding online site for girls to exercise their creativity through fashion design. The pieces of fabric and tiny fashion accessories that come with the starter kit can be used over and over to create a seemingly endless numbers of design options.

 

Girls can then go online to experiment with more sophisticated design tools to create even more designs to share with family and friends. Harumika members can upload photos of their creations and share them in their “Look Book” with other community members. During our kid testing, one little girl played with this non-stop for the better part of the testing period! 

Crayola Art Studio, Core Learning Inc., 2008; $24.95; www.core-learning.com; ages 6 to 8.

 

Requires: Windows 98, 2000, XP or Vista. This powerful creativity application for the PC invites kids to learn to create, edit and transform digital images with fun-to-use digital tools, such as Crayola Pencils, Paints, Markers and Crayons. The easy-to-learn interface provides a perfect introduction to the standard layout of tools, features and functions found across computer applications that kids will encounter as they grow older. “Begin to Draw” is ideal for young digital artists.
 

eMedia Music, 2008; $29.95; www.emediamusic.com; for ages 6 and up. Requires: Windows 98, 2000, NT, XP and Vista; or Macintosh OS X.
These two titles offer good resources for children who want additional support in between formal lessons, or who are self-motivated and want to learn at their own pace. Videos feature professional instruction and demonstration of basic techniques, including an animated fretboard in My Guitar and an animated keyboard in My Piano. Digital recorders and metronomes support learning while dozens of lessons help kids learn to play popular songs. There is optional feedback support when a MIDI keyboard is used for My Piano.

KidJamz Studio
Piano Made Easy
Piano Wizard 

Ether Saga Online, Perfect World Entertainment, 2009; Free; http://eso.perfectworld.com; ages 12 and up.

 

Requires: PC download; large memory footprint needed to download and install, but extracted files can be deleted. Ether Saga Online is a prequel to the ever-popular Chinese classic “Journey to the West.” Players can create a character from one of the three races central to the epic adventure that features the mischievous Monkey King and his traveling companions. As players progress through the game, they meet characters from the novel and eventually can become an emissary on the Journey to the West. This is a great interactive way to introduce young people to a world literature classic.