Miss Spider's Harvest Time Hop and Fly (Nintendo DS)

Young kids familiar with David Kirk's Miss Spider books or the TV spin-off will feel comfortable with the world created in this video game. Kids play with the vegetarian Miss Spider in her magnified world of vibrant vegetation, helping her family gather enough fruits and nuts to survive the winter.

MISS SPIDER'S HARVEST TIME HOP AND FLY features four games in 24 levels that can be played in an adventure game and, once unlocked, as standalone games. The games introduce kids to the basic skills needed to play video games, including how to use a four-directional game pad to navigate in side-scrolling and vertical-falling games. Kids also learn how to jump over objects, perform super jumps, stomp through objects, jump onto moving platforms, and control a flying character.

Little kids who want to learn how to play on the Nintendo DS need simple games that slowly increase in difficulty as they start to master the fundamentals of making characters do their bidding. Miss Spider's Harvest Time Hop and Fly is just such a game.

If parents are willing to help read the instructions and tutorials, this video game is a good introduction for kids as young as 5 because it gradually introduces basic gaming techniques.