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DS Games for Pre-readers?
ProfJonathan writes "My daughter just got a DS from the grandparents for her 6th birthday. She's only beginning to read, but wants a bunch of games of her own rather than just playing her older brothers' games. She got Nintendogs with the DS, so that's taken care of, but other relatives are asking what she might want. Can anyone recommend some good DS games that don't require reading skill, that might be age-appropriate and interesting for a 1st grade girl?" Wouldn't it be creepy if the kid had a really good brain age?
Here are a few.
Diddy Kong Racing
Yoshi's Island
Super Princess Peach
Kirby Squeak Squad
Lego Star Wars
Strawberry Shortcake
Smart Girls Playhouse
I know my 4 year old son loves Mario Kart. Lego Star Wars is his other favorite. That has a lot to do with how much he likes the films also. So if your child isn't familiar with the movies, or doesn't care for them, it would make a big difference of course.
Based on my own daughters - I would also recommend Animal Crossing. Now this involves reading, but that's not bad. It's really going to encourage and motivate her so that she can play. The ideas are pretty much what you get with the whole webkinz rage - and I know my 6 year old and 7 year old girls are totally into that. There so many more ds titles she would probably really enjoy it isn't even funny. Barbie stuff, Disney Princess stuff, etc.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Get the R4 adapter and a microSD card, and put Colors! on it. Look what others have made.
She is 6 and cannot read? I would focus on that part first before letting her play games.
Disney Princess: Magical Jewels is another good one, if she's in to the whole Princess craze.
New York Times Crosswords.
Why not make this a good opportunity to teach her how to read -- you're never too young to learn. If she encounters something she can't read, read it for her, or you can sit next to her as she plays the game. It's a great way to get kids to read without making them feel like it's a chore. The animation of the scenarios can help her understand what she's reading too.
To answer your question, I believe the new Super Mario would be a good choice.
If she is six and cannot read then I doubt it....
Sorry, but Lego Star Wars on the DS--well, Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, at least--is a mediocre game at best. Bad camera angles, unresponsive controls, and a few levels (Endor, especially) with chronic slowdowns that make it virtually unplayable. It's a shame because the game is so good on many other platforms; even the Game Boy Advance version, while much simplified, is more fun to play.
Of the games my wife and I have, Club House Games is probably the only one (aside from the excellent MarioKart) that I would recommend for younger players. There are lots of advanced card and board games, but also quite a few simpler ones (Memory, Aggravation, Go Fish, Old Maid, Uno, Checkers, Shake the bottle) which most anyone could play. Single card multiplayer is available for pretty much all of them if playing with others is a consideration.
Umm, I have a few friends with a 2-1/2 and 3 year olds. They're already starting to teach their kids to read. You may want to focus on that instead of giving her games. Buy her some books. Let her play the DS after spending 30-60 minutes of time a day working on reading.
You might give the Interactive Storybook DS series a look.
http://crummysocks.com
I'm surprised that she's only beginning to read at age 6. Myself and most of my friends were reading Hardy Boys books at that age. My son just turned 3 now, and he's quite able to read Berenstein Bears and similar books by himself. My nephew is 5, and he just finished his first Goosebumps book.
It's too late to rectify the situation now, but your daughter probably should have started to read when she was two or three years old. By the time she's six, she should be quite able to read newspapers, magazines, and novels the size of the Hardy Boys books.
You should get her involved in a local library group for children, where they read actual books. Some of these programs reward children for the more books that they read, which provides the incentive necessary for some children. Of course, many children just end up reading because they enjoy it.
e-board games great for teaching if the family isn't going to play the real games with her. why spend time building bonds when she can love a DS instead?
buy her a book and send some time teaching her.
- Cooking Mama 1 & 2 (everyone seems to love these two)
- Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses
- Elite Beat Agents
Others that she plays from time to time:Six is too young to sit around pounding on a video game. I swear, we're raising a generation of kids who won't know how to walk on dirt and run screaming from squirrels.
Someone else suggested family games. Sounds good.
I'd also suggest:
A subscription for the family for CRAFT and MAKE magazine.
A tub full of craft items and kits. Dollar stores and places like "Joann Fabrics" and Michael's have really cheap, really nifty DIY projects for girls. I visited Harbor Freight yesterday; they had a bin full of kits to build dinosaurs, motorcycles, cars, biplanes. All under two bucks.
http://www.nickjr.com/
Dora the Explorer series.
You've left me wondering why you want recommendations of games that don't involve reading. Six years old is hardly too young to be learning how to read. If anything, you want games that will help teach reading. So what you really want is a game that has reading in it, but can still be understood even by a gamer who isn't a good reader yet. There are many games that fit that bill. As a suggestion, check out Meteos. It's a really great puzzle game with five different levels of difficulty (so she'll be able to win it at least on the lowest level), and after completing the campaign mode, there are a multitude of all-text epilogues explaining how your victory (or lack thereof) in the final level affected events. That's a great way to practice reading. You can sit down with her and read it for her when she's playing; it'll be a good lesson, and she'll be interested because she'll want to know how the game ended up.
Incidentally, I first learned the word "Congratulations" when it popped up at the end of a particularly hard Game Boy game I had been playing for a long while (this was when I was really young). I asked my dad what it said. After that, I was more proud of being able to read such a long word than at having beaten the game.
Cyde Weys Musings - Scrutinizing the inscrutable
Give her games with real text. Those old Monkey Island games taught me English. Was quite fun the next year when we started learning English in school. When most pupils could say "This is a book", I used words as "rubberchicken with a pulley in the middle". You could actually install ScummVM and run Monkey Island on the DS :)
Also, in light of the recent controversy at Gamespot, this is a good site for truly independent reviews (although it can take a while for new games to show up). You can see what one game publisher did after he gave a bad review.
is the game I would recommend.
Many wonderful books in the children's section.
If she can't read them, sit and read them with
her so she can see the book and the words in print.
GameSpot gets a 10/10 in this area.
Show me on the doll where his noodly appendage touched you.
There's plenty of kids who have a mental stumbling block with respect to reading. But generally once you get it, even if it takes till 6 or 7 to get it, they shoot off real quick. It's like a switch that flips in their heads. But not reading at 6 is not the norm. A lot of kids are reading in kindergarten, some in preschool already.
For every 6 or 7 year old 'late' reader there is a 2 year old reader. My son is 2 and sounding out words already, I have no doubt he'll be reading simple books in a few months. Again, part of it depends on mental development of the child but a big part of it is a commitment on the part of the parents. We started reading with him at a few months' age. It's probably his favorite activity, he has about fifty books and for the longest time we read each book every day. Even today we read for at least a half hour each day. Reading and repetition on the part of the parents really does help the kid develop their vocabulary and ability to read well.
And yes, we have a video game ban and restrictions on television - no more than a half hour a day, tied to behavior. When he gets older he can play video games but as a young kid there is way too much they have to learn about this world, they really don't need to waste their time behind a console.
As far as I can remember, I was already reading Chinese. But then, I am chinese. IMO, this is what the US DS market is lacking. Games like this:
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/ybnj/index.html
I miss good and fun educational games that I use to play...
please... let me sleep... a little more... yay, no longer annonmyous coward.
Now is the worst possible time to get her interested (obsessed) with games. She needs to focus on reading.
I'm a gamer, and a parent, and when the time is right I will introduce my son to games, even encourage him. But not until he has mastered the much more fundamental skills of reading and writing.
Giving her lots of games now would probably set her back for years in school. I'm serious.
Six years old and just now starting to read? My son started reading before he was 5. Instead of video games, why don't you spend time reading to her? Get her more interested in books than games. My son has grown up around computers, but he would still rather read than play games.
Life sucks, but death doesn't put out at all. -- Thomas J. Kopp
FYI. Not every kid is the same.
A 6-year-old "pre-reader" with a personal game system? Great - she'll need those gaming skills to keep herself happy when she plows through a series of dead-end jobs in her twenties.
Before it's too late, let the thing run low on batteries and then have her pitch in with her own cash to buy more. (Your 6-year-old IS familiar with money by now, right?) That will get old fast, and she'll be back to playing with other kids, running around the block, setting fire to cats and all the other things 6-year-olds should be doing if you ever want them to move out of your basement someday.
You're welcome. Now get off my lawn.
My 5 year old shares GBA games (DS will play GBA carts) with his older siblings (oldest 10) and plays most every E rated game we have with no problems. He asks us or one of his siblings to read the talking bits, but he just started kindergarden. The other 2 read at or above grade level and he seems right in line, he even makes paper versions of his games. For all we know he'll end up ahead of the other 2 because of his exposure to words above his reading level that deal with something he enjoys and uses almost daily.
Never talk to Slashdot about anything relating to your personal, private life. It's full of ranting, reactionary, opionated, over-educated sociopaths, who think that because they once saw a child out of the office window, they are an expert on pre-school education.
Fact is, if you're posting here (and I include myself in this) you've gone horribly wrong in your life somewhere. This is why I refuse to create an account for myself.
Give her some cool and flashy game that *requires* reading. It will encourage her to read and become a brighter human being. I started to read because I was tired of the drawings on Asterix's comic books. I wanted to know the stories too.
My friends nephew, who's just learning how to read, very slowly, always comes up to me and says, what attack is this? He loves pokemon, and I'm learning to hate what I once too loved. "Umm, this one's grass, will this attack be good?" "Will this attack be good?" "How 'bout this one?" I have never wanted to hit a 4 year old before in my life, until now. You'd think it's innocent and harmless, but I'll be playing a video game against my friend, and his nephew will smack me on the back and go. "Hey, which 'ttack is good for dis one?" I really, really never want a kid, and if I have one, he's playing non-reading videogames like Mario until he learns to read at LEAST small words. Also, I hope it'll have a little common sense. I mean, the kid can sound out letters,but he never thinks to just do it, so I have to make him.
I recommend Oregon Trail. How else will a child learn the words Typhoid and Cholera?
Are there any dating-sims for the DS? I don't speak a word of Japanese yet I tend to make it through these alright.
i remember when i couldn't read, but played banjo kazooie...that final game show part was damn hard when you have no idea what the fuck the answers or the questions are since you can't read
I entered first grade not knowing how to read, but I picked it up plenty fast.
In highschool, I had extremely high standardized test scores, placed out of college english requirements with 5's on the AP english exam, excellent scores on SAT and SAT II for english and german, had a pile of german awards (highest score on the standardized german exam for the state), and a smattering of journalism awards.
In college, I studied german, french, and japanese simultaneously while doing a double major in physics and math, chem minor.
I think what really made the difference for me was growing up in a bilingual environment (english and korean), and studying music before I could read. Growing up, I also watched lots of TV and played video games constantly, which I think had a large influence on the problem solving skills that I have today.
I'm not sure modern games would be as good for this. I played hundreds of games as a kid, each requiring adapting to a new set of rules, objectives, and strategies to complete. Modern software is much larger, and more repetitive, so it may not have the same effect.
This is where I get my recommended daily allowance of "Foot in Mouth."
Having a 5 year old who is fascinated with games, and is in that early reader stage - I think the poster is not asking for games that don't have words, but games that don't depend on a certain reading level to enjoy. My daughter will stop playing a game (and instead watch me play, and try to direct me) if she needs a bunch of help with the words - it gets too frustrating. The games she likes on the computer read the directions to her as well as displaying the text so she can try to read it and still understand the gameplay. That said, I'd suggest looking for some of the GBA puzzle and board games.
I agree with the various posters about the late reading age.. I was already programming in BASIC by that age, and was reading at a grade 6 level by then as well.
It does require some limited reading skills but the puzzles in it are not as complex as the Brain Age ones... while still being tricky enough to drive grownups nuts.
Sorry, no link but it's easy enough to find.
I played video games a LOT when I was a teenager, but it's stories like this that make me extremely happy that my eight year old boy loves going outside, building stuff with wood, taking things apart, reading books, and generally hates video games from the times he's gone over to his friends' houses.
It's only later in life that I realized that video games are basically mental sugary sweets. They're empty entertainment that exist solely to cause your mental wheels to spin. I don't subscribe to them being actively harmful, but the lost opportunity cost for growth is significant.
I personally think this DS needs to "accidentally" get thrown in the bathtub, and then replace it with reading, crafts, piano lessons, etc.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
Better to have her learn at a young age the difference between reasonable, and unreasonable, demands. Fail here, and you'll pay an ever more expensive price each year for decades to come.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Shame on you. My dad started teaching me when I was two.
"There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." - Bertrand Russell.
This is a really good "game" for a younger (starting from three), I let my son play with it. It doesn't focus on 'winning', 'baddies', killing people or whatever, it is just an introduction to music, sounds, ... He LOVES it.
Of course, he likes also me playing with him to it, and making mario boucing into walls at super mario world really makes him laugh.
I still remember how funny I though it was that 'Filch' was on the SATs, and the only place I had previously ever seen it used was in Zork II: The Wizard of Froboz. People definitely underestimate some kinds of entertainment as learning tools.
Can't forget dysentery...
:3
:P But I would really like to get a copy of that one. All I remember was the computers it ran on were PowerPC's running one of the color versions of the Apple OS.
It was a while before it occurred to me to look it up but once I did, I wound up reading up on the history of the Oregon Trail and really made me appreciate dying of natural causes
And speaking of ancient games, as a kid, before we were allowed to start playing Oregon Trail we had to prove we understood the concepts of operating a computer with a mouse. Crap everyone knows by now
I find it strangely interesting (and entertaining) that the sex-starved, pale, anti-social geeks that supposedly frequent this place have so many strong opinions about how someone else should raise their child. The mind boggles...
My brother, at the age of 4, beat Metroid on my NES. Less than a year later, he finished The Legend of Zelda on the same system. Before he could read. From there, he gamed and gamed and today, he's heavily involved in WOW. He's now 17 years old and only knows how to game. He can't even muster up the competence to order a chicken sandwich from Wendy's. I remember when he was about 6 or 7 he knew how many feet were in a mile, could add and subtract fractions, but it was all a waste. I wasn't around, and my parent's let him play video games as he wished.
Games, and instant gratification in general, will always be around. Help her not give into it. Buy her a few books, a model rocket, something other than f8cking games.
Good luck.
-- A cat is no trade for integrity!
You exemplify a growing trend for people to spend way too much fucking time raising everyone else's kids.
How about you just worry about your own, let he worry about his, while I worry about mine?
You OK with that, champ?
Or would you really prefer that everyone else tell you what to do with your own children, too? I'm sure that no matter what you say about them, I can find something sufficiently abnormal about your statement to feed a steady stream of admonishment toward you, your children, and your methods of raising a family...
But I won't. It's not my job to raise your kids.
Kid-proof tablet..
Perhaps a game that taught reading skills? A child in Grade 1 who can't read is a scary thought. My nephew and niece, who are bright but not geniuses, were reading comic books, "How And Why" books and the like at that age.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
http://www.mininova.org/tor/711888
If your daughter is in the 1st grade and not reading much (per your comment she's just learning to read), your daughter is well behind...you should focus more on reading with her books at her age level instead of letting her play games.
I don't know. This seems a little ridiculous. I never owned a system till I got to college and then I gave it away, because I was wasting time playing games instead of doing my reading. I personally think it is disgusting when parents just give their kids a gameboy and let them sit with it at the dinner table playing it instead of making conversation. There is nothing a game can do that a book cant. And your daughter should seriously be reading by age six.
If she can't read, read her some classic stories to get her into reading and then buy her any book she wants.
Recommended books: Redwall, D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths, the Thief.
Seriously... reading is good.
Due to drug resistant bacteria, many children will be learning about those the old fashioned way.
We homeschool out kids. One wanted to start reading when he was four and was reading pretty well by the time he was five.
The other was not keen on reading early on and only really got keen when he was 9 (though he could read at a low level before then). He's now 11 and reads Moby Dick - level books. With **self** motivation fast progress is no problem..
There's a terrible misconception that kids who don't start reading/etc early miss out and are doomed for life. Crap. A slef-motivated kid can learn to read well in less than a year.
As for games, well don't use them as educational tools, they are just games. Games might have some might have some educational spin-off, just like many other activities: riding a bike (3d perception, balance, road user skills...), playing softball (3d perception, basic physics of motion...) etc etc. Buying a game because it is educational is like choosing the vitamin enriched cornflakes: you know they're crap and the vitamins is just guilt mitigation.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
As the parent of a 5yo daughter, I definitely agree with games mentioned in the parent post. Super Princess Peach is probably the best in that group (in my opinion), because it strikes a good balance of being easy for kids to control while still being very fun to play. It also encourages thinking skills -- you can use elemental tools such as fire to melt ice obstacles, water to douse fires, etc.
I also agree that it's okay for games to have words, even if the child cannot yet read them. My daughter is just learning to read "the right way" with phonetics, yet can recognize dozens (maybe hundreds) of words because I've read them to her and she's memorized the combination of letters.
Oh, and that's another good point. Playing these games with your kid is important *and* fun. Read the dialogs to her, help her when she's stuck, play co-op, whatever. It turns an otherwise isolated activity into family bonding.
Because bullets are the universal language!
Circumcision is child abuse.
My wife gave me highlights of an article from one of her medical journals. Kids NEED to know about 5,000 words in order to be successful in kindergarten. The best way to achieve that level was consistent reading to your kids.
Read to your kids for success, park them in front of the TV, or hand them a video game - your call.
Kevin
Irrational Diversions
Perhaps the child is not so brilliant. Perhaps the child is brilliant, but is, for example, dyslexic. Lots of other comments here are also from people saying, 'ooh, but I was a genius, I was reading in the womb!' Well, good for you. But other people do not have a moral obligation to be you.
So yes, in general, this is a bit late to be starting reading.
But have some thought for the specific, why not?
... Or maybe the stereotype of the slashdot crowd as a gaggle of empathy-impaired clods is justified, after all. :(
1. Look at examples such as the Montessori school - many progressive teaching methods leave reading until later in a child's development. There's an argument that learning to read too early can lead to later difficulties in learning emotional and social skills - too much expectation of codified forms of intelligibility leading to an inability to deal with more 'chaotic' structures.
2. Has anybody considered that the child might have a learning disbility? Perhaps the six year old girl is dyslexic. The reactions shown by many people here seem to be examples of the underlying prejudices our society holds against those with different-to-average learning needs or abilities.
3. The argument that some people seem to be giving - that computer games are numbing to the mind - is pretty dodgy. The amount of coordination and strategic planning involved in some games goes way further to improve one's mental abilities than a simple 'family game of charades'.
4. Thought we can assume that most people posting here are geeks, it seems most posters are not taking into account the fact that we (in the richer areas of the world) are moving into a different paradigm of interrelation and employment. Learning to use a computer at a young age can only be a good thing (yes, even if that doesn't involve teh coding).
5. You're all just jealous that you didn't have a DS when you were 6.
Here are some titles that I would consider on the same level as when I was playing games at age 6 (and yes I was able to clock Super Mario Bros at age 6, Zelda at age 8)
All these games I already own (except Nintendogs) and have had young cousins play
New Super Mario Bros
Super Princess Peach
Mario Kart DS
Diddy Kong Racing
Elite Beat Agents
Sonic Rush Adventure (first one may be too difficult for a young one)
When your kid gains some reading ability the following would be suitable Cooking Mama
Animal Crossing
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl
I dont really know todays education standards compared to the late 80's but I in the 3rd grade (age 8) I was able to read the The Hobbit with little difficulty.
Make SELinux enforcing again!
read with her.
Your six year old can't read yet and you're giving her video games that DON'T require reading? Why exactly are you encouraging illiteracy in your own offspring? Take the DS away and replace it with some readers, or get her some 'learn to read' games. No third option.
Cooking Mama is a good game that uses very few words. Most of the instructions are indicated with gestures on screen.
I started reading when I was 1.5. What kind of world is this where kids don't read until they're 6?
Legend of Zelda would be cool`
She's 6 and she can't read?
I'd say,
/. are always complaining about the RIAA, but they consistently prove they are all a bunch of thieves, looking to steal other people's hard work.
EA Playground
Super Princess Peach
Mario Kart
Ignore the comment about the r4DS. These turds on
I for one welcome our six-year-old, illiterate overlords.
"There's someone in my head but it's not me." - Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon
"Why not make this a good opportunity to teach her how to read -- you're never too young to learn."
I have a two year old that I would like to teach advanced calculus. Is it too late to teach him?
Judging by some of the comments here, I'd say some /.ers still can't read...ROTFL
But on a somewhat serious note, have you looked at:
http://free-reading.net/index.php?title=Main_Page
I'd be more concerned about having a 6 year old who 'can't read' yet, (if in fact that is just your perception, based on god knows what).
Spend some time learning about the complexities of reading, etc. (And as a lucky multilingual person, trust me, it is complex.)
http://languageknowledge.googlepages.com/
Wow, I remember playing Oregon Trail on Apple IIe's where only a few mouses (er, mice?) were available and only used for drawing programs. I've yet to play Oregon Trail with a mouse.
Don't try to tell me about global thermonuclear holocaust. When I was a kid, EVERY NUCLEAR WINTER I had to walk FIVE...
Interactive Storybook Series 1
Interactive Storybook Series 2
Interactive Storybook Series 3
I mean, I don't have one but the DS looks pretty cool, I just find it strange that with all of these great "learning companions" we have now, Kindergartens are on average not able to read nearly as well as they were in the early 1800's in the States. Try to get your hands on a copy of "The New England Primer" sometime and read it realizing that it was intended for K-1st graders, you'll see what I mean. As for the people picking this particular little girl out and saying "I can't believe she's just learning to read!?!?!" get a grip, some kids have different timing than others, God's cookie cutter stopped working a while ago.
Not all life is cyber. Extra Income
maybe instead of worrying about "what to waste your money on this girl for the holidays" you could get her a freaking book and teach her to read. I'd be willing to bet that would be a far better investment of your money and payoff into her future.
honestly if she can't read how is she supposed to figure out how to play all the games? I'll never understand people who spoil the kids so blatantly on such garbage. I love video games don't get me wrong; but I wasn't handed them, and I certainly didn't get them before I could read. Whats funnier is handing this moderately expensive handhold console to a 6 yearold. Maybe a better idea for a pre-reader would be to get a home console?
Sorry i just find it hilarious and disgusting the amount of kids 10 and under I encounter with cell phones (often fancier than mine and loaded with games), video ipods, psp's and nintendo ds's. Do people really have nothing better to waste their money on? Honestly put some in the bank or in the kids college fund and let it grow. Maybe its one less shiny toy today; but it will likely pay of in the future.
"Jazz isn't dead, it just smells funny" ~Frank Zappa
EdelFactor
My 5 year old daughter loves Nintendogs. Our family eye-doctor warned that playing handheld games for extended periods of time may lead to myopia. So a game like Nintendogs, which can only be played for a limted time each day is perfect.
1st grade is time to start learning to read
i started reading seriously when i was introduced little ~200 page short story collections at that age
What would be so creepy about her having a good brain age?
It's not you: I'm just this horrifically socially awkward with everybody.
Although the game needs some reading to be enjoyed 100%, my 6yo daughter is having a good time with Cooking Mama. Boy, this game is addictive and fun, I find myself making some dishes now and then...
I would also recommend the Interactive Story Book series. These are specifically directed at pre-readers. I personally use a CycloDS Evolution for my homebrew endeavours and have been very satisfied with it.
It's nothing, just you're carbodyluminocap acting up... just a couple of hours to fix.
You DON'T want to give her games where reading is required?
I had it tough back in the 1980s - badly translated text and not much of it.
Yet games helped me learn to read.
If I didn't know a word I would:
-Figure it out from context.
-Ask someone.
-Look it up.
Kids may be ignorant, but they're still pretty damned good about figuring things out, and they really excel at asking questions.
Arm that girl with a dictionary and some fun games and she'll be ahead of her class in no time.
Don't forget sudoku! Absolutely no reading required.
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
Wario Touched (She played this first and has pretty much mastered it)
Monkey Ball (She only likes Monkey Bowling)
Cooking Mama 1 (We picked up Cooking Mama 2 for Christmas)
Dora Saves the Mermaids (Kind of disapointing, she mastered the game in 10 minutes, and now refuses to play it anymore)
I've got a 4 year old and a 2 year old. They love New Super Mario, Super Princess Peach, Chocobo Tales, Yoshi DS, and especially Cooking Mama and Kirby Canvas Curse. The last two make good use of the stylus and they picked them up easily. The 4 year old likes me to read her the names of the recipies and is memorizing them. Canvas Curse had a few levels she got stuck on which caused some tears, but we just convinced her to move on. The best part is that these are all good games that my wife and I like to play when we get the chance. We bought the DS for us, but the kids quickly stole it.
No game necessary, just use Pictochat. My 4-year-old loves to use Pictochat to doodle and send messages, My 2.5-year old does this to some extent, too. It's pretty nice because it helps them develop their coordination and helps them prepare to write. They seem to like Konami's Lost in Blue, and hunting in the sand for food.
AnimeNEXT anime convention
Sonic Rush
Kirby Canvas Curse
WarioWare
all decent games for a child. WarioWare wouldn't hold an adults attention for more than a week, but it's simple and fun.
Here is a list of my personal recommendations for a pre-reader.
Crayola Treasure Adventures
I Spy Funhouse
Nintendogs Labrador Retriever & Friends
Nintendogs Dachshund & Friends
Nintendogs Dalmatian & Friends
Board Games - Battleship - Trouble - Sorry - Connect 4
Clubhouse Games
Nintendogs Chihuahua & Friends
One thing that can help you is skip a paragraph if it's too boring, and not important. You can usually realize this after 1-2 sentences, and can always go back and re-read if it ended up being important. :) but then, who cares ?
And yes, you're not reading the right books
I bought her a DS for Christmas last year (she was 5 turning 6 in January) and she had limited reading skill, i.e. if you forced her to practice she could do it, but wasn't really excited about it.
It was a bit text-heavy but she was still bright enough to play through Spongebob: Battle for Bikini Bottom. She absolutely loved it, and only occasionally would ask me or her mother to read what was being said between objectives. Plus, she eventually got to the point where she would make a really honest effort at it herself.
I was working at Gamestop at the time, and actually took her to the store to try out a few different games we had in the used shelves, and by far and away she loved all the different incarnations of Spongebob.
I thought you were almost-trolling, and yet -- it's very apropos. Maybe not for a 6 year old, but Crosswords -- ON A DS!? Heck, I could go for that. I know I loved the Sudoku implementation.
You could always get some Bratz doll games, my cousin loves those.
Kids learn to read often motivated by the ability to escape into fantasy. Playing games and reading Potter,Compass,Oz etc. are a part of childhood. I agree with the Animal Crossing game for DS. That is the game I got my 6 yr old granddaughter. It uses a lot more intelligence than most games as it involves critical thought. Yoshi's Island is really fun and its good for the development of mental motor skills. Have a Great holiday all.