What do kids do with computers? Play, of course. And to encourage them, I've assembled a collection of my favorite online games for pre-readers. Most require Shockwave. If you haven't yet downloaded and installed Shockwave, don't hesitate. I consider it a requirement for families on the Net. One of the benefits of a Shockwave game is there are no delays in the game play because a Shockwave game runs on your computer, not over the Internet. To achieve this, however, the games will take a few minutes to download.

Cyber Jacques

These ten fun, fishy games are not just for kids, I had to pry myself away from them. Try throwing a pie in the face of Punchcard Pete without hitting the swimming fish (in Fish!). Or play the familiar Connect the Dots. I also enjoyed their variation of Concentration (the Memory Matching Game), where each fish animates differently. There are a few games here that involve words (like Hangman), but the majority of them can be enjoyed by preschoolers as well as their older siblings.

Gustown Games

This gallery of eight games is just right for the preschool and kindergarten set. You'll find two memory matching games (Ice Going and Haunted Memory Mansion), three create-a-face games (Macaroni Art, Snow Man and Create-a-Creature), and two music games (Milk Bottle and Rom's Rock Shop). And at last but not least, match the animal to its paw print in "Whose Foot is It Anyway?"

Hop Pop Town

These three ingenious neighborhoods are filled with musical sounds available for the clicking. Similar to the popular Living Books series (which taught our children to click on everything), each clicked object animates and plays a sound. Sequences of sounds can be recorded and played back. For older kids (or parents who take dictation), they also have writing pages based on material from the musical games.

Scrambler

This Scrambler game is fun for the whole family because you are timed as you play at one of three levels of difficulty. Easy divides the picture into nine tiles, medium into twelve, and hard into sixteen tiles. There are ten pictures to choose from, and every time I've visited this site they have added more Little ones will need help choosing a picture, then pressing "Load" and "Scramble". But as soon as they see the scrambled tiles, they will understand what to do next. Can you beat your preschooler? My little mouse clickers are fast.

Sesame Street Kidsite

The folks at Sesame Street are experimenting with a clever way to minimize the wait associated with the Web. Your next game is downloaded in the background while you're playing the current game. When it becomes available, a blue button with a yellow arrow will appear in the lower right corner. Click on this button to proceed to your next game. In the Storybook, your child can create illustrations for a six-page sticker story. Activities include a puzzle with Ernie, another with Telly, and a four-page coloring book. This site requires a Java-enabled browser (no Shockwave), and they recommend a souped-up machine such as a Pentium with Windows 95. About Surfing the Net with Kids: Every week, Barbara Feldman, a mom and Net surfer supreme, brings us some of her favorite Web destinations for kids. A Send her your ideas for interesting topics, site recommendations, and stories about your own Internet explorations.