video game: Maurice Sendak's Little Bear: Toddler Discovery Adventures, Ages 18 months to 3 years

Parents, teachers, and other educators have continuously sought ways to instruct children in a fun and interactive way. Counting games, alphabet blocks, and activity books have long been staples of "fun learning," and these have most recently been supplemented by educational technology. Software programs now teach children math, science, grammar, spelling, typing, and foreign languages. High school students can electronically practice for the SATs, while aspiring lawyers can find sample LSAT questions. Video games such as Math Blasters allow children to explore fantastic worlds based on numbers and equations. The entire Encyclopedia Britannica is now in digital format, allowing for easy searches. Learning has never been easier, nor so enjoyable. Warren Buckleitner, editor of "Children's Technology Review" and a doctor of educational psychology, has donated a representative sample of this diverse and still-growing medium. His extensive collection, which includes educational software of all subjects and for all ages, is an excellent example of the merging of work and play, and helps encourage us all to remember that "Play is our brain's favorite way of learning."