Sesame Street’s Ernie and Clifford the Big Red Dog take children through one adventure after another--building up brain cells in the process.

Spending time with a preschooler allows you to see the world as a series of adventures--whether it’s going for a walk, reading a book, building a castle with blocks or playing on the computer. Clifford the Big Red Dog and Sesame Street’s Ernie and Bert have new computer adventures that can be great fun for preschoolers.

“Ernie’s Adventures in Space”

Players join Ernie and Bert at their new digs, an apartment in outer space. Fastidious Bert has just finished organizing his prized collections of paper clips, erasers and bottle caps, when Ernie accidentally jettisons them into space.

Players direct Ernie’s spaceship on an adventure to pick up Bert’s collections and, in the process, play five fun games. For example, at Grover’s Cosmic Diner, players help figure out the special of the day. By studying the dishes just served to three martians, children can deduce the rule of the special--things that are orange, for instance--and then choose a meal for Ernie to eat.

With the Count, children launch rockets by arranging objects in order--perhaps from shortest to tallest. Elmo’s friend Zoe needs help sorting objects by listening to their sounds. And the Twiddlebugs hang out on stars, hoping players will connect them to make pictures.

However, Cookie Monster steals the show with his antics to get cookies. The big blue monster enlists players to help devise mini Rube Goldberg devices to launch him to different platforms so that he can eventually reach a cookie hanging out of reach. Figuring out what goes where and watching Cookie Monster go through all the machinations are hilarious and thought-provoking.

Although parents cannot control the difficulty levels presented in the activities, the levels automatically progress depending on how the child is doing. A better way to handle this leveling would have been to also provide parents or teachers with more control. Other blips include the inability to click through repetitive animations and difficulty in locating the activities.

But “Ernie’s Adventures in Space” does an excellent job of helping children who are struggling with the material. The characters provide guidance and children get much-needed mouse-control practice. The feedback is encouraging and supportive and at times motivational. For example, you will hear Cookie Monster remind children to “work hard, use brain, figure out problem and eat cookie!”

“Clifford Thinking Adventures”

Clifford the Big Red Dog is a literary character who has enchanted children for nearly 40 years with his antics. Last fall, he bounded onto PBS to star in his own television show and has recently made the leap onto the computer.

Because Clifford is the size of a house and has enthusiasm to match, he creates situations that are tremendously amusing to children. In “Clifford Thinking Adventures,” children join Clifford’s owner, Emily Elizabeth, as she plans a birthday bash for Clifford. In the process, kids explore different activities and thinking challenges.

Emily Elizabeth asks players to help in the party preparation by:

* Cleaning up the backyard, an activity that involves uncovering Clifford’s buried treasures and matching them.

* Designing and ordering Clifford’s giant birthday cake.

* Making a new collar for Clifford.

* Finding and picking up a special package for Clifford.

* Grooming Clifford.

It all sounds easy, but because giant Clifford is along, things are never as simple as they should be. That’s what makes it fun. To accomplish all the tasks on the party preparation list, players need to help a variety of people in Clifford’s neighborhood. For example, when visiting Mr. Hamburger at the market, Clifford accidentally knocks over the fruit and vegetable stand, requiring children to sort those items before they can design the birthday cake.

“Clifford Thinking Adventures” is lots of fun to play. And because it includes so many activities, it’s a title with longevity. Three separate levels of difficulty create varied story paths that enhance replay value.

In all, “Thinking Adventures” creates a memorable computer experience. As Clifford whole-doggedly participates in this adventure, he creates comical circumstances that allow children to unleash their thinking potential. This is a dog that will definitely become a kid’s best friend.

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Jinny Gudmundsen is editor of Choosing Children’s Software magazine.

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The Skinny

“Ernie’s Adventures in Space”

Ages: 3 to 5

Price: $20

Publisher: Mattel Interactive

Platform: PC

System requirements: Pentium 166 with 32 MB RAM and 20 MB of available hard disk space

The good: Five engaging educational activities

The bad: No control over leveling, repetitive animations and hard-to-locate activities

Bottom line: A good adventure set in outer space

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“Clifford Thinking Adventures”

Ages: 4 to 6

Price: $30

Publisher: Scholastic

Platform: PC/Mac

System requirements: On a PC, Pentium 90 with 16 MB of RAM and 10 MB of available hard disk space. On a Mac, System 7.5 or higher with 16 MB of RAM and 10 MB of available hard disk space.

The good: Clifford’s size and enthusiasm create hilarious predicaments and powerful learning situations

The bad: Some activities hard to navigate

Bottom line: A great Clifford adventure with many activities