He or she is still a kid. Free to take naps, play in the sandbox, and sometimes, have a crack at video games.
But video games are often violent. You've got a gun, you're beating the crap out of people, you're snapping necks. Not exactly age appropriate when you're still enthralled by Goodnight Moon.
There's got to be games for these young players, able to hold a controller, but still a little to young to fire a virtual AK-47. Turns out, there are.
No guns here! Just dancing. Lots and lots and lots of dancing, which means lots and lots of exercise. Getting kids up off the couch made easy.
($50)
Meet characters, get their autographs, and hug them. If Disneyland is the Happiest Place on Earth, then Kinect Disneyland Adventures must be happiest game on Kinect.
($50)
Black or white? That is the question. The latest 笔辞办é尘辞苍 has new Pocket Monsters to catch and train. But be sure to tell your kids, the Pocket Monster Snivy is not really named Snivy. Oh, no. His name is Smugleaf.
($35)
Four-player cooperative gameplay comes to Ratchet & Clank, making it an ideal game kids can play with their parents, with each helping each other get through the platforming and puzzles.
($60)
As Kotaku own Stephen Totilo pointed out to me, owning a 3DS and not having this game is like owning a toaster, but not buying bread. This is the 3DS game. While some parents might worry about the 3D effects, like all Nintendo 3DS games, the effect can be switched off. The Mario awesomeness cannot. Sorry!
($40)
In this app, kids can create puppet shows on the iPad, and THAT'S TOTALLY AWESOME. There's a stage, costumes, props, sound effects, and music. Kids can save and record their performances. If only they had this when I was a kid. If only they had the iPad.
($3)
(Top photo: ) | AP)
You can contact Brian Ashcraft, the author of this post, at bashcraft@kotaku.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.