It has been mentioned in the Instructional Committee Meeting that our primary students need to begin developing keyboarding skills. ABCya.com is an excellent site with loads of educational computer activities that have been created or approved by certified school teachers. All educational games are free and provide a fun, interactive way for children to learn.
ABCya.com has several activities that are perfectly suited for our beginning keyboarders. See the collection at http://www.abcya.com/kids_typing_games.htm.
Keyboarding Zoo encourages students in Grades K-2 to use their index or pointer fingers to match letters on the screen to their keyboards. Uppercase letters, numbers and symbols are coming soon!
Cup Stacking- Keyboarding is a fun game for children to practice typing quickly. Stack and un-stack the cups by typing the keyboard characters on them. Children should try to use the home row ASDF JKL; while playing. Cup Stacking- Keyboarding is recommended for Grades K-5.
Typing Rocket Junior is a fun keyboarding game for early elementary students. Kids have 3 minutes to type the letters on the rockets. The score is calculated by hits minus misses. Keyboarding practice has never been so fun! Typing Rocket Junior is recommended for Grades K-2.
Typing Race is designed for students Grades 2-5. The object of Typing Race is to drive as far as you can before running out of gas! Correctly enter the letters, numbers and punctuation marks to pass cars and earn gas. Bumping into cars will cause you to lose gas quickly. Typing Race is highly customizable - players can select from several different levels to focus on certain keys.
Do you remember Space Invaders? Do you miss DOS? Keyboard Invasion and Retro Typer are other highly customizable activities designed for Grades 2-5. The retro looks and sounds may remind you of games that you used to practice keyboarding!
For Halloween, try Ghost Typing! This engaging activity is designed for children of all ages to practice keyboarding. Players must keyboard the letters that are on the ghosts before they get too close! If the ghosts get too close the game is over! Ghost Typing is recommended for Grades 2-5.
Consider ABCya.com's other activities for use on your SMART Board. Count money, learn to tell time, convert fractions to decimals, or build a bridge! If you haven't discovered it yet, put this one on your go-to list!
