Dude, please don't talk. Not because I'm offended, but because the kids you seem to be refferring to sure as heck ought to be.

Children are smart, and the only ones who aren't are the ones who keep getting told that games like Zack and Wiki are too hard for them. As long as the content itself is appropriate for kids then you just stay the F*** out of the way of their ability to challenge themselves.

If they're getting frustrated to the point where they're pitching a fit, their parents need to go "okay, that's enough game time, take a break and try again tomorrow" that's what my parents did for me. Otherwise, let them learn, cause kids don't learn based on how old they are. They don't have to reach age 8 before they can learn the multiply/divide technique. They can learn it as early as they're introduced to it and are given a chance to figure it out.

If it's a game, kids are willing to put themselves up to a challenge, to talk to friends about how to beat the challenge and then keep trying to figure out the challenge until they solve it. What happens when they solve it? TADA, the kid has more knowledge and has just expanded his or her mental reasoning skills.

Oh, and yeah, the professor Layton thing is also a sign of severe paranoia. Older guy + younger guy must = Butt buddies despite absolutely no signs, hints, or any other overt circumstances. Even though no kid would POSSIBLY ever have any reason to think about those circumstances being present, I'll tell him not to play it because I'VE come to the conclusion that bad things are happening to characters that are NOT REAL.