Build-a-Bear

The Game Factory, for Nintendo DS, $36

It's a virtual-pet game with a twist. Just as at the brick-and-mortar Build-a-Bear Workshops, kids create their cuddly companions from scratch—stuffing and stitching them and, of course, dressing them in any of 150 adorable accessories. Then it's all about keeping the little guys happy by baking them cakes, teaching them dance steps, and posing them for photos (kids can even trade the pics with friends via WiFi).

Buzz! Jr.: Robo Jam

(Sony, for PlayStation 2, $40)

Four players customize their own droids—with cute accoutrements like steel pigtails and (literal) spiked hair—and compete in a series of challenges to make it to the top of their robot academy class. You'll be blasting asteroids, squashing space bugs, scanning for differences among a squad of similar cyborgs, and keeping time with a musical rhythm. The special Buzz controllers used to play the game have oversize, color-coded buttons, making them easier for kids (or out-of-practice parents) to use. —Ages 2 and up

Endless Ocean

(Nintendo, for Nintendo Wii, $30)

Less a game than an experience, this scuba-diving simulator doesn't ask much more of you than to swim around lush coral reefs at a Zen-like pace and check out the various colorful forms of sea life that dart across your path. The game's "plot" casts you as a marine researcher out to explore the big blue, but there's no pressure—take time to feed the fish, play with dolphins, and simply enjoy the quiet beauty. —Ages 2 and up

Enchanted Journey

Disney Interactive for Nintendo Wii and PS2, $27

After designing their own princesses—from eye color to tiara style—players enter the richly re-created worlds of Disney's royal heroines. In each, they must help her royal highness save her kingdom from a curse. (Time has stopped in Cinderella's land; music has vanished from the Little Mermaid's.) Casual pacing, cameos by beloved sidekicks, and a fully voiced soundtrack make this one of the smartest games around for this age group, worth overcoming parental resistance to all things princess.

Flipper Critters

Conspiracy Entertainment, for Nintendo DS

With all the 3-D graphics, sprawling fantasy worlds, and epic plotlines in today's video games, how do you get kids into something as beautifully old-school as pinball? You just add those modern elements they're already familiar with. The fun and challenging Flipper Critters makes the combination work adorably. In it, Tiger and Monkey go to visit Bull, who's feeling under the weather. They travel past quaint villages, mountain passes, and towering castles by rolling up into balls and letting giant flippers send them on their way. The speeding critter-balls bounce between trees and lampposts, sink into secret tunnels, and fly up ramps into neighboring lands. So while the game play is pure pinball, the overall package is much more.—Ages 4 and up

Get Puzzled!

Scholastic, for Leapster, $25

If your kids long to play video games, but you want them to develop something beyond hand-eye coordination, consider the handheld Leapster system. This new game for the console offers kids brain teasers in math, reading, and logical thinking: Can they build a bridge with only the strangely shaped pieces they're given? Plot a course home for a rocket lost in an outer-space maze? The game offers all the lessons of a test-prep course, wrapped in a colorful cartoon context that feels nothing like homework.—Ages 5 to 8

Let's Play Sandwich Stacker Cookout Game

(Cranium, $13)

We're not sure if evolutionary scientists have ever pinpointed an innate human "stacking instinct," but take a look at any baby with a set of blocks and it's obvious: Kids are born with an inherent desire to pile things up. And to thrill in the clatter and tumult of knocking said pile over, of course. So pretty much any stacking game is a surefire draw for little ones. Here, Cranium has taken the basic manual dexterity test and sprinkled in exercises in color and shape awareness. After checking the ever-changing sandwich board, a player may need to add a yellow ingredient (like a slice of cheese or a splotch of mustard) or a circular food item (like a slice of tomato or onion) to the Dagwood-worthy burger. The chunky, oversized pieces are easy enough for tiny hands to handle, but savvy players can get more strategic as they learn which ingredients pose bigger challenges for the next stacker—like the slab of Swiss cheese cut at a wicked angle or the ultrawavy lettuce wedge. Good brain food all around. —Ages 2 to 7

Go Figure

Made by Hands, $12

On days when you've had enough of beeping sounds, flashing lights, and pixilated characters, pull out this decidedly low-tech game to remind your kids that fun doesn't require electricity. As simple as it is entertaining, Go Figure! challenges them to build crazy creatures (or people or vehicles, depending on which of the three sets you choose) from a vast selection of colorful cardboard shapes. Players can work cooperatively, taking turns laying down pieces until they've created their oeuvre together; or competitively, seeing who can craft more figures from their selected set of pieces. Go Figure! even makes a great solitaire game. The 150-plus pieces are varied enough to keep things fresh on each play-through, but not so specific in design that they dictate what part the piece has to play: The same curved shape can be used as a smile, an ear, an arm, a tail, a wing—whatever a little imagination requires at the given moment. —Ages 4 and up

Metamorfo

McWiz, $20, (888) 691-2849 for stores

When it's time for a kid to move beyond linear, get-to-the-finish-line games and into the world of strategy, checkers offers the perfect gateway. The rules are easy to learn, and a novice need only play a few times to pick up on the advance thinking required to excel. Metamorfo ups the kid appeal by setting the game in a colorful nature milieu. Get your caterpillars to the other side and, instead of being "kinged," they're transformed into butterflies (your opponent's baby ladybugs become adults). The two-sided magnetic board (with a tic-tac-toe field on the flip) makes Metamorfo an excellent travel game for that big summer road trip. And if your child's not in the mood for competition, the little plush insects make fun playthings in their own right.—Ages 4 and up

The New Touch

Anthony Innovations, $32

Taking the "guess what you're feeling in the brown bag" concept to a whole new level, this game puts your tactile sense to the test. It consists of a half-opaque plastic dome—the mysterious flying saucer-ness of which will be enough to excite younger players—filled with various figurines. Flip a card to see which toy treasures you need to extract from the jumble: With only your fingertips to guide you, can you tell a race car from a skateboard, or a turtle from a crab? Other players watch through the window as you grope around, trying to find your items before the timer ticks down. And you'll need to watch out, as this is one game in which children truly play against adults on a level field. If, in time, you should grow to know the included items like the, um, back of your hand, four new themed expansion packs ($7 to $8 each) offer up figures to add to the mix.

Number Hunt

Beyond Learning, $20

What makes this educational board game stand out is its adaptability. With six different sets of rules, each pegged to a different mathematical skill level, Number Hunt can have value for kids just learning to count as well as those ready for more abstract addition and subtraction. As they race from leaf to leaf along a winding green vine, younger players can engage in simple counting exercises; more advanced learners can instead compare the value on the die to the number of bugs on their leaves. The most challenging level even enters a quasi-algebraic realm. The multiple stages of difficulty will encourage kids to keep pushing themselves. —Ages 3 to 6

Squiggle On-the-Go

Random Line, $7 each

Whether it's the backseat of a car or a window seat of a 747, no kid likes being strapped into a confined space for hours and hours. At such times, travel games are a must—and this one is more than just a time killer. With only a pad of paper, a pencil, and a spinner, it's the perfect low-tech good time. Spin the wheel, draw whatever shape (or letter, if you've chosen the alphabet edition) the arrow points to, then try to craft it into a full-fledged work of art. The simple but fun—and often challenging-concept works equally well as a solitaire or head-to-head pursuit.