Typing games for Grade 3

Start with words that stay on the home row. Then let the hands take turns, and give each hand a lap of its own. Every right key moves the dinosaur along the road.

For Grade 3 in Canada. In the United States, see 3rd grade. In Australia, see Year 3, and in England, KS2.

How to play

Pick a set above the game and type the lit key. The hands on the screen reach for it with the finger that should press it. A lap is ten words from the set, in a new order each time. Nothing is timed, and the stars at the end are for careful typing.

The five choices

A name in the table opens this page on that set. The first four sets are words from the Bumpy Keys word list that fit the rule: three letters or more, or four or more for Hand to hand.

What touch typing technique is

Each key belongs to one finger, each finger belongs to one hand, and the fingers rest on the home row between presses. The sets take that a piece at a time.

• Home row. A, S, D and F for the left hand, and J, K, L and the semicolon key for the right, with an index finger on each of the bumps on F and J. Every word in this set can be typed without leaving that row.
• Hand to hand. In these words the hands take turns, a letter each: left, right, left, right. It is the easiest rhythm to keep.
• Left hand, right hand. A word that sits on one side of the keyboard is all one hand's work. The other hand stays on its home keys and waits.

To see every key and its finger, open the home row keys chart. Our guide to touch typing for kids explains the rest.

The words in each set

Home row

add all ask dad glad flag fall has had hall salad dash flash flags

Hand to hand

dish field fuel rush tidy world work name hens duck ducks lake rock sock eight chair robot island mane fish whale city laps cozy

Left hand

add dad sea see seed red fast tree street sweet greet feet deer read were great water after cat car cave wax text zebra bat bag bed bee are was get few bear bears star stars dress race rex egg eggs gear gears radar wave waves crab save brave crew racer

Right hand

puppy jump oil pool you joy hill look poppy hoop lily loop mom moon milk him lion pink hop

Canadian spelling

colours favourite neighbour humour travelled modelling centred practise judgement organize recognize

Each of these 11 words is in Canadian spelling: "our" in colours and favourite, a double L in travelled, "re" in centred, and "ize" in organize and recognize.

Your keyboard

The game draws a US keyboard. Microsoft's list of default keyboards for Windows gives English (Canada) the US keyboard, so on a Windows computer set up that way the picture on the screen matches the keys. On a Mac, the Unicode keyboard chart for Apple's Canadian English layout shows every letter in the same place as well.

For teachers

The page runs in a browser on Chromebooks, laptops and iPads, with no accounts and nothing to install, so a whole class can use it at once. Nothing typed is saved or sent. Teachers can request free classroom codes for the full game.

Other grades

These choices are a starting point for Grade 3, not a rule: children start typing at different times. For a first day at the keyboard, begin with typing for beginners. From Grade 4 on, sentence practice and the typing test for kids go further.

Questions