Hobbies And Interests
Games for Kids
Many websites create typing games specifically for kids. For example, the site Learning Games For Kids has many games that teach accuracy and speed for QWERTY keyboarding, the most common keyboard layout. One of the many games included on the site is Typing Tidepool. In the game kids help the dolphin, carrying Milo the cat, to swim faster and win the race. The word that players must type is shown in red and when typed correctly, the dolphin will speed up. If typed incorrectly, Milo and his dolphin don't make any progress. Words are shown repeatedly throughout each round until the finish line is crossed by Milo and his dolphin, regardless of whether or not they win.
Computer software programs offer opportunities for kids to learn typing too. For instance, the SpongeBob Squarepants Typing computer software is available for use on both Windows and Mac and features the cheery, enthusiast star of the cartoon to keep kids entertained while they learn. The game features more than a dozen typing lessons and it is geared toward beginners.
Beginner to Advanced Games
Online and software-based typing games offer learning opportunities for beginning typists who need the basics through advanced learners who are looking to master certain typing skills. Typing Master Pro software offers a typing course with a free demo available on its website. It also offers a variety of free games and customizable tests. One of those games is KeyMan. Players must help KeyMan navigate throughout a maze, eating the stationary food within the maze and avoiding the ghosts, which want to eat KeyMan.
The FreeTypingGame website also has many games, most of which have action and adventure themes. In all of the site's games, players can choose between beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. The lesson of each game is also highly customizable, allowing players to place emphasis on anything from the home keys to a specific finger that is a weak spot in their typing. One of the site's action games is the Save the Sailboat Race. As words fall from the sky threatening the racing sailboats, players must type the words to make them vanish. If a word falls onto a boat, the boat vanishes. The game continues until the player loses all of the 12 racing boats.
Non-Standard Keyboard Games
In the United States QWERTY keyboards are the standard, but there are other keyboard options available and typing sites with games for them. For example, on the Power Typing website, players can play the free online lessons for the U.S. standard QWERTY keyboards and for Dvorak keyboards as well. The site doesn't have as many games as some of the other sites, but all of the games it has available have lessons for both QWERTY and Dvorak keyboards. Its game Alphabetic Rain has five different speed/skill levels. The game is simple: It's raining letters. Players must type as many of the letters as they can before they hit the bottom.
Typing Pal 5, available on Windows, offers standard U.S. keyboard lessons and 10-key lessons, too. The software also teaches learners to improve their speed and dexterity in using Internet shortcuts and special characters.
WPM Games
For those learners looking to improve their typing, it can be important for them to know how much progress they are making. Others just want to work on improving their typing speed, or words per minute (WPM). Some online typing sites offer games to do just that. For example, the Typeracer site is very simple: Players race against each other as vehicles and at the end of the race each vehicle's WPM are shown. The Girl Games website has Fast Typer, a game in which players start out typing three-letter words, then four, then five and so on. The game is timed and it tells players both the amount of words typed and their accuracy.