After a bit of practice, you’ll be able to type without looking down at your hands. You’ll also be able to type faster than writing something down on paper! To get started, first, make sure you are sitting with good posture. In other words, you should have your feet on the floor and a straight back. Also, when you type, you should make sure that your wrists do not slump down to your desk; they should stay up. Now, your fingers will need to find the home row. Your left pinky should land on the letter “a.” Then, each finger should land on the letter next to it. Your ring finger should be on “s,” your middle finger on “d,” and your pointer finger on “f.” Your right pinky should be on the semicolon (which is “;”). Your ring finger should be on “l,” your middle on “k,” and your pointer finger on “j.” Your thumbs should rest gently on the space bar. This is your home row and where your fingers should rest when you stop typing as you practice. When you need to type other letters, you’ll need to raise, lower, or shift your nearest finger to that key. For instance, if you need to type “q,” the pinky finger on your left hand should move up from “a” to “q.” Use these games to first practice typing your home row keys and then other letters:
- Getting Started: Home Row Practice (Beginner)
- Peter’s Online Typing Course: The Home Row (Beginner)
- Touch Typing: F and J Keys (Beginner)
- Type Scout Base Row (Beginner)
- Ready, Set, Type! Game (Beginner)
- Power Typing Practice (Beginner)
- Space Place Typing Game (Intermediate)
- Keyboarding Drills and Practice (Intermediate)
- Typing Game (Intermediate)
- Add Numbers and Characters (Intermediate)
- Typing Ghosts Game (Intermediate)
- Cup-Stacking Game (Intermediate)
- Typing Words Game (Intermediate)
- Timed Typing Test (Advanced)
- Graded Typing Test (Advanced)
- Typing Car Game (Advanced)
- Secretary Typing Test (Advanced)
Mouse Exercises
- Introducing the Mouse (Beginner)
- Library Computer Mouse Tutorial (Beginner)
- Mouse Exercise: Placing the Mouse (Beginner)
- Mousercise (Beginner)
- Mouse Tutorial (Beginner)
- Create a Jackson Pollock Painting (Beginner)
- Mouserobics (Beginner)
- The Internet For Kids: Mouse Practice (Beginner)
- Monkey Faces: Mouse Drag-and-Drop Game (Intermediate)
- Drag-and-Drop Flower Shop Game (Intermediate)
- Drag-and-Drop Matching Game (Intermediate)
- Scrolling with a Mouse (Intermediate)
- Color the Creature (Intermediate)
- How to Make Your Mouse Easier to Use (Intermediate)
- Tidy The Classroom (Advanced)
- Mouse Matching Game (Advanced)
- Take a Trip: Mouse Game (Advanced)
- Drawing with the Mouse (Advanced)