Turning playtime into learning time.

• Position: What's New? - Educational games

We often hear that young children are "sponges," ready and eager to soak up information. One of the mast common ways that preschoolers learn is through play. By making activities enjoyable and rewarding, kids can pick up all sorts of concepts along the way.

With Hot Dots Jr. ($12.99) from Educational Insights, Gardena, Calif., youngsters use an interactive pen to acquire such important early learning skills as recognizing letters, shapes, colors, beginning phonics, and patterns and sequencing. By pressing the tip of Ace The Talking, Teaching Dog to the dot representing the correct answer on learning cards, children are treated to a glowing green light, cool phrase, and a variety of motivating sounds, shakes, and giggles. Alternatively, they are prodded gently to try again if they make an incorrect selection. The companion card sets ($14.99), which can be used alone as traditional flash cards for added practice, are sold separately. The Numbers & Counting box includes 72 colorful, self-checking questions on 36 double-sided cards. As an example, with the instructions to "find the matching number," a card may show one bear, and three numbers to choose from: the child should touch Ace to the black dot corresponding to the numeral "1."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Laundry Jumble ($29.99) allows participants to use their sense of touch to find a specific piece of doll-sized clothing in a mini fabric clothes dryer. After drawing a game card, kids must feel around inside the dryer to find the matching item, while trying not to grab the skunk's undies. If they're pulled out, the player loses a card. This engaging 3-D game encourages tactile exploration, fine motor skills...