Research indicates that there are numerous opportunities for educators to use computer technology in ways which are developmentally appropriate and which support or enhance preschool children's natural motivation to explore and discover. Since many of the misconceptions about preoperational cognition that form the basis for serious objections to preschool computer use have been dealt serious blows in recent years, the microcomputer should not be viewed as different from any of the other materials commonly used in early childhood classrooms. When the computer is used appropriately, it has the potential to involve children more than television does; it is less static than picture books, and as open-ended as crayons. In particular, discovery-oriented child-computer environments,"microworlds," or simulations have numerous potential uses, such as modeling concepts, exposing processes which are not available in all their facets to the perception of young children, providing intrinsic motivation, connecting different ways of learning, and serving a "scaffolding" function. Finally, the computer is worthy of inclusion in the early childhood classroom simply as a part of the everyday world which is to be explored, manipulated, and understood. To argue that the young child should be protected from exposure to computers is tantamount to keeping the electric toothbrush under lock and key. A 55-item reference list concludes the document. (RH)