Computers for 3-Year-Olds

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LeapFrog's new $60 ClickStart is a wireless keyboard for 3- to 6-year-olds that's designed to withstand liquid and drops from as high as two feet. The full QWERTY keyboard is shaped like a green dog with a full-featured computer mouse in its paw. The wireless signal connects with a console that you plug into a television, turning your TV set into a computer monitor for games that familiarize kids with using a keyboard and mouse. "It's the first product that we've ever done that's reflective of the trend that the age of kids using computers continues to decline," says Jeff Katz, chief executive of LeapFrog.

VTech, which says its sales of educational gadgets have been growing at a 25% annual clip, recently introduced the Whiz Kid Learning System. A tablet-like computer equipped with a touch keyboard and stylus, the device features more than 120 activities designed to promote reading skills. The Whiz Pad can also be connected to a regular computer to print out activity pages, play additional games, and let parents track a child's progress. Older kids can transform the Whiz Pad into a piano keyboard.

Gadget-Toting Tots

Meanwhile, demand for kid-friendly laptops has been on the rise. VTech, which introduced its Tote 'N Go laptop for 3- to 5-year-olds in 2004, is about to ramp up marketing for a new one: the $130 Color Blast Notebook for 6-year-olds. Designed to resemble an adult laptop, the color-screen device is programmed to teach topics ranging from Spanish to space exploration.

Among other toymakers, Disney's consumer product division is set to launch a digital video camera that's designed to teach 6-year-olds to edit movies. And Mattel, which last October acquired electronic-game maker Radica, recently introduced Girl Tech Video Journal, a digital camera that lets girls 6 years and older snap pictures and video. The camera comes with a dock that uploads the images to a computer; the child can then use the accompanying software to create collages and journal entries.

For slightly older kids, Mattel plans to release IM-Me, a $65 wireless device that sends text messages to other IM-Me users. The BlackBerry-like handheld transmits messages to a home PC, which forwards them to recipients over the Internet.

With these new gadgets, "you don't have to worry about kids gumming up your mouse. You don't have to be constantly scolding them," says Joanne Oppenheim, an editor of Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, an influential toy review newsletter. "Do preschoolers need computers? No—and they are not going to get your child into Harvard sooner. Do they want to play with computers? Absolutely."

Click here to see a slide show of toddler-targeted gadgets.

Kharif is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com in Portland, Ore.