Typing Test for Kids

A friendly first typing test

This test is made for young typists. The words are short and easy, the letters are big, and the timer lasts one minute. When it ends, kids see how many words per minute (WPM) they typed and how accurate they were. There is no sign-in and no personal information needed.

Grown-ups can sit with a child and treat it as a game: try once, then try again and see if the number goes up.

How your score is calculated

Your speed is shown in WPM, words per minute. A "word" here is a standard five characters, so the count does not depend on how long your words happen to be. The engine takes the characters you typed correctly, including correct spaces, divides by 5, then divides by the minutes you spent typing. In the one minute test, 150 correct characters is 30 words, so the result is 30 WPM.

Accuracy is the number of correct keystrokes divided by all the keystrokes you made. A wrong letter that you fix with Backspace still counts as a keystroke, so careful typing at a steady pace usually beats rushing and correcting. For beginners, a score in the single digits is perfectly fine. Everyone starts somewhere.

For parents and teachers

Use the test about once a week, rather than every day, so it stays fun. Praise effort and accuracy as well as speed. If your child is still learning where the keys are, start with typing practice for kids, which has no pressure, or play some typing games. The Learn to Type lessons teach each row step by step.

Reading your result

After the timer ends, look at both numbers together. A high WPM with low accuracy means you are rushing, and a high accuracy with a lower WPM means you have room to speed up. The best plan is to raise accuracy first and let speed follow. Try to type a little each day, even for five minutes, and track your WPM and accuracy from one session to the next. Small steady gains add up, and comparing against your own earlier scores is more useful than comparing against other people.

Tips for young typists

• Sit up straight with feet on the floor or a step.
• Rest your fingers on the home row: ASDF for the left hand and JKL; for the right.
• Try to look at the screen, not at your hands.
• Go slow and get the letters right first. Speed comes later.
• Take a short break if your hands feel tired.

Frequently asked questions