For something a lot more mellow, try Candlestone Production's Yule's Christmas Quest. The gist is this: you are Santa's favorite puppy helper, and it's up to you to find the 12 Gifts of Christmas before the clock runs out. The issue here is that, rather than picking up 12 items, you actually have to grab 78 items -- the list follows the classic 12 Days of Christmas song. So you'll actually have to find seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, etc. Fortunately, there's a full list of the items on the right side of the screen that keeps track for you, and there are no other items to worry about picking up by mistake; everything you can collect, you're meant to collect.

An example of a non-gift item you need to pick up are the clock icons, which increase the seconds on your timer. These are necessary because Yule's travel speed is somewhat ... relaxed. These areas are somewhat large, and there is no associated map for you to consult. You might find yourself doing a lot of backtracking to find an area you missed the first time around.

Some sections are blocked by closed doors, and these require a key to open, which you'll find randomly scattered throughout the map, just like all the other items. One of the slightly frustrating elements of this game is the way the multi-screen layouts seem to hint at a certain configuration. I remember traveling down a stretch of hallway, with part of the screen walled off, and no entrance visible. I thought I was right around the corner from a door, but I ended up walking all the way around the area, with the entrance on the other side. On top of that, I was out of keys. This isn't necessarily bad design, but it's a frequent occurrence.

A slight quibble: Yule looks more like a bear than he does a dog, as you can see in the screenshot. If it helps you to play to think of him as bearlike, it won't ruin anything.

There are no other enemies in the game besides a blue dog/bear, who sends you back to beginning of where you entered the screen. Fortunately, the game pauses to allow this, and doesn't penalize you with time lost. The blue dog's movement is as slow as yours, and somewhat erratic, so you'll want to watch for him.

The only other problem I had with Yule's Christmas Quest was the constant refrain of the 12 Days of Christmas song. For one thing, you can't turn it off. It sounds like a MIDI version of the tune, which means only one voice. It might be a bit more bearable if there were more instrumentation, and, y'know, lyrics. Hearing the same melody played over and over again gets to be pretty maddening after a couple of minutes ... and then it starts all over again.

Given that these titles are both for the kids and freeware, I can't really complain too much. Your children will likely enjoy them for what they are. If you're interested, you can get the full games right here on Big Download: Christmas Crisis for the PC, and for the Mac; Yule's Christmas Quest only for the Mac. Happy holidays!