Remember what your parents said when you entertained yourself with something they didn’t like?

It’ll rot your brain.

TV in the 70s, video games in the 80s, Internet in the 90s, text messages in the 2000s -- all forbidden to some extent. Neanderthals probably told their children not to spend too much time looking at cave drawings.

But thanks to rapidly evolving technology, much of what might be dismissed as rotting brains does just the opposite now. Electronic games help kids learn numbers, letters, colors and more, and the ability to connect with other players over the Internet creates a forum for social development. Minecraft, a video game that has players collect natural resources to build cities, is lauded as a learning tool, especially for children with autism, and the game is even required in some classrooms. Major video game makers, meanwhile, each have developed motion-controlled fitness games.

Mental, social and physical development -- all from entertainment.

Entertainment as child development is powerful. That’s why Essent backed the Robot Turtles board game on kickstarter.com. While it’s not an electronic game, it sneakily teaches kids computer programming under the guise of having turtles collect jewels.

In announcing the donation earlier this year,  Essent CEO Eric Alessi touted the game’s potential to help kids learn technological skills. "Helping teach kids the fundamentals of programming to one day empower their own innovation is a no-brainer,” he said.

In other words, not a brain rotter.

Plenty of others must have felt just as strongly, too, because the game blew away its fundraising goal and is now on the market.