There are a lot of games geared toward kids – most of them are, well, not very good. Here’s 10 can’t miss games that allow you to spend some quality gaming time with your junior gamer in training.

More importantly, these games have all been field tested (and chosen by) my eight year old daughter, Ashley. I tried to get a few others on this list but she was adamant about these specific games. Keep in mind that this list isn’t just 2008 releases – hey it’s her list so she makes up the rules.

10. Order Up! - Zoo Digital; Wii

Cooking games are a popular sub genre and Order Up! is one of the best around. It uses the Wii to full effect and while not a co-op game you can easily take turns cooking because the game moves pretty fast. The Wiimote is used to chop food, flip burgers, etc. and you also have to do some basic money management.

The word from Ashley: I like Order Up! because the more you play the harder it gets and it gets really crazy when you have to cook a lot of food at the same time. I really like the fast cooking assistsnt helper, too.

9. Spore - EA; PC

Another game that isn't co-op but Ashley got absolutely lost inside the world of Spore – especially in the first three worlds. I still think Spore is just an OK game but for Ashley it allowed her imagination to run wild when building her creation and setting it loose upon the world.

The word from Ashley: I like Spore because you get to make your own guy. You can go crazy with the design you want! You can make stripes, put a weapon anywhere you want, and you can make friends with other creatures. Then you can fight other creatures! And you can get creatures to join you and even see other people's ideas in your game. That was cool.