gaming with garrett

What happens when your 2-year-old learns to use a mouse with at least a workable degree of precision? Why, the list of games he likes to play on the computer is enhanced, of course. Here's where Garrett likes to spend his time online:

• The online toddler games at Fisher-Price.com. His favorites are Count the Score, the ABC's Zoo, Little People Animal Sounds (which he aces every time he plays), the Musical Instruments Game, and Learn Your Colors and Shapes.
  
• Starfall. He plays the ABCs game.
• Bembo's Zoo. This is an artistic way to learn your alphabet. Garrett likes the animal sounds.
  
• Craymachine. Not really educational (at all), but it's still pretty entertaining.
• JacksonPollock.org. Also not educational, but it sure is a lot of fun!
  

A small part of me feels a little guilty that I let my 2-year-old play around on the computer, even though I monitor both what he's doing and how long he's there. But then he does something that reminds me that he's learning more playing these games than he seems to when I sit down with him. Like yesterday as we headed down into the subway, he pointed to the sign and told me we were going to be riding the R train. I was surprised and impressed; I didn't know he knew the letter R. Down on the platform, and using other signs and advertisements, I quizzed him on other letters to see what else he knew. It turns out that, in addition to U and K, which I already knew he knew, he also knows O, I, and E. He gets A and Z about half the time, and he seems to know P, even though he pronounces it like B.

And it's not just letters. He's learning his shapes and colors. And he's starting to count (he can get up to three, though, I'll admit, they're not always said in the right order. At least he can say those numbers, which is progress for him.)

The computer might be a more engaging teacher than I am, but that doesn't stop me from quizzing him whenever the opportunity to arises. Between the alphabet magnets on the refrigerator, his coloring book and crayons, the shapes we see around us on a regular basis, and when we count to three before he goes down the playground slide or before he throws me a new diaper before a change ("goo cah," or "good catch," he always tells me after I catch it), we get lots of chances to practice and learn together.

And besides, he's growing up in an age where computer skills will be vital to his survival. He'll have to learn to navigate the virtual world eventually, right? No better time to get started than the present, I think, especially if there's already a strong interest I can easily harness.

Do you let your toddlers play games on the computer? If so, what are their favorites?