Practice makes perfect when it comes to keyboarding, and ABCya! can help make keyboarding practice fun for students! I love to use a variety of different typing websites during my occupational therapy (OT) sessions, but most often I give students, teachers and parents these resources for additional practice. See how Sabrina uses ABCya! in her self-contained classroom in her new blog! I tend to target some other skills during my limited OT session time, but it is so important that students have repetitive practice! Below are my favorite ABCya! resources to address keyboarding.
Getting Started
To find the keyboarding games:
- Go to ABCya.com
- Scroll down until you see “Games by Subject”
- Scroll to the side until you see “Typing Games”
- Select which of the games you’d like to play
Note: You may be prompted to “log in”, but all of these games are accessible for free without an account! There are ads, but they aren’t long, and I think the games are SO worth waiting through the ads!
My Favorites
I like the following games the best [based on the skill you want to target!]:
- Keyboard Challenge – visual memory needed for touch typing [reduce “hunt and peck”]
- Koala Paddle Boards – spelling practice [the word is dictated, but not shown on the screen]
- Ghost Typing – keyboarding speed [type words on the screen before ghosts get too close!]
Keyboard Challenge
Students get to pick which keyboard they’d like to use. Once selected, they keys will “fall off” the keyboard and get jumbled. The student is to put all the keys back in the correct spot! I challenge my students to try and not rely on their own keyboard when doing this. If your school uses/has keyboard covers, this would be a good time to use them!
The “slime” keyboard is a fan favorite for my kiddos! There are sound effect as well, so keep the sound on of this activity [or use headphones!]. The kids get a kick out of the slime sounds!
You can select to have only the number and letter keys jumbled [as pictured above], or ALL of the keys. I typically start with just the numbers and letters as it can be very challenging when there are NO keys remaining. The game keeps track of how many tries it takes the student to complete the keyboard. So if they aren’t looking at their keyboard as a model [or even if they are!], it may take several attempts to correctly place each letter. We often keep track of their number of tries, and play the game once a month to see if they can improve [lower] their scores! Kids love to see their own progress and get competitive with themselves!
To encourage self-evaluation and reflection during our sessions, I use the FREE visual self assessment forms. This helps me to know what students need help on and what they perceive as challenging versus with what they feel confident!
Koala Paddle Boards
This is a newer game, but I’m excited to try it out this year! I would definitely recommend this for older students only. This is, in my opinion, the hardest game option for keyboarding. The words are said aloud by the computer [only once!], and the student types the word [without assistance] in the blanks shown below. The computer will let them know if they type an incorrect letter, but the word is not repeated nor spelled for them. The other koala’s don’t move very quickly, so students have time to think and guess, however, if your student is not a strong speller, this might not be for them! There is no way to set the level of the spelling, and the words are challenging. I like Z-Type to work on spelling practice because you can add in your own list of words! The words come up on the screen, but it gives repetitive practice typing out the words which can be helpful when introducing new spelling words.
If you need an easier version of a similar game, I would recommend Owl Planes. It is set up the same away with a race format [and it is multi-player too like Koala Paddle Boards!]. However, the word comes up on the screen, so the child does not have to know how to spell it! I like the ideas that several students can play these games together! It is great for group sessions!
Ghost Typing
While this is great for a fun seasonal game, my students play this all year long! This game is perfect for students to work on the speed at which they type as the ghosts come faster and faster. It typically uses “themed” words, so for students who have a hard time reading/spelling, it can be challenging. They have to look back at the word and the keyboard often as they don’t automatically know how to spell the word. That makes for good practice knowing where the keys are, though!
Try the “Junior” version of this game if the original is too challenging! Instead of typing words, only single letters appear!
Pair with the Simply Special Ed FREE Halloween Task Box 4 Pack to make Halloween-themed centers for your classroom! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays to prep activities for because the possibilities are endless! Read more about Halloween themed ideas here:
- Halloween Read Alouds
- Spooky Fine Motor Activities [on a budget!]
- Halloween Sensory Bins
- How to Improve Fine Motor Skills with October Visual Recipes
