Learn Typing Skills with TypeTastic! for Free

This is a paid, sponsored post in partnership with TypeTastic! All opinions are my own.

Keyboarding Skills

TypeTastic! is a free web-based game that helps teach young elementary students basic typing skills. They have taken a QWERTY keyboard and broken it up into 9 color-coded sections to help young learners remember where the letters are. When you check out their site, TypeTastic.com, you'll notice an area for teachers to sign up for ad-free experience for their class. So far, they have a selection of games teaching the QWERTY keyboard (Games 1-3), keyboard games (Games 4-6), and basic typing from the home row (Games 7-13). Additional lessons and games are being added as the site evolves, so I predict this will be a one-stop website for your keyboarding needs.

Basic Typing Skills

My hubby is still shocked when I mention that I'm a hunt-and-peck typist. After 30 minutes of playing, I noticed a HUGE improvement in typing from the home row. (I only made 5 mistakes in that sentence, which is an improvement for me. I spell-checked this post and corrected them, but I wanted to fully disclose my mistakes were there! Lol!)

The keyboarding practice emphasis is on looking at the screen, not your fingers, while using repetition and visual cues to correctly type the letters.

What Students Will Like

The graphics are engaging, with cute animations, sounds, and rewards. One of the games I played on TypeTastic! rewarded the ladybugs on the screen with a cupcake party when I correctly identified matched the letter to its spot on the QWERTY keyboard. Talk about cute!

Chapters 4, 5, and 6 take it a bit further as students locate the letters to pop Astro Bubbles and help find lost ducklings in Ducky Trouble. I'd play these up to 2nd grade, or if I had older students who need the review.

Grades 2 and up will like the competitive adventures in the "Keyboarding Kickstart!" My favorite game had dropping tropical fruit, and I used the home keys to catch each piece. Like I said, I noticed such a large improvement in my typing after several games.

I am planning to revisit this site to work on my typing skills, because I definitely saw a difference after using the site for 30 minutes!

What Teachers Will Like

• Accessibility - all you need is an internet connection and a device. TypeTastic! works on computers and tablets (external keyboard optional). No installations required.
• Ad-free for teachers - teachers can sign-up to get the Ad-free Edition at edu.typetastic.com for free!
• It's fun - game based learning is easy, fun, and motivating. 
• It's practical - the color-coded keyboard helps kids to memorize the keys better, and exercises start with just one finger! This quickly accelerates the kids’ typing speed.

How to Use TypeTastic!

Games 1 through 6 are definitely geared towards younger elementary typists, and called "Let's Build a Keyboard!" I would use these games with students in Kindergarten-2nd grades to build familiarity with a QWERTY keyboard.

Students in grades 2 and up will enjoy games 7-13, as they move students through practicing with the home keys, all the while encouraging students to look at the screen instead of their hands.

Set these up as an independent activity for early finishers, practice with the whole class in a computer lab, or use as a technology center in your classroom. It is so flexible that I believe you will find a way to incorporate these activities throughout your school year. Want to learn more? Visit the TypeTastic! "About" page here.

This is a paid, sponsored post in partnership with TypeTastic! All opinions are my own.