Keyboard finger chart for kids
Which finger presses which key? This color chart shows it at a glance. Print it and put it next to the screen, so your child can check a finger without looking down at the keyboard.
Which finger presses which key?
US keyboard (QWERTY)
- Left pinky
- Left ring finger
- Left middle finger
- Left index finger
- Right index finger
- Right middle finger
- Right ring finger
- Right pinky
- Thumbs: space bar
Outlined: the home row. Feel the bumps on F and J.TYPCOON · typcoon.com
Fits on one page, landscape.
Start from the home row
Every finger has a home. The left hand rests on A S D F, the right hand on J K L ;, and the thumbs on the space bar. F and J have small bumps, so your child can find the home row without looking. From there, each finger moves up and down its own slanted column of keys, then goes back home.
The index fingers work hardest: each one also covers the column next to it, toward the middle. That is why G, T, B and the 5 belong to the left index finger, and H, Y, N and the 6 to the right one.
Finger by finger
The same chart as a list, from the left pinky to the right pinky:
- Left pinky: Q A Z (and 1 on the number row)
- Left ring finger: W S X (and 2 on the number row)
- Left middle finger: E D C (and 3 on the number row)
- Left index finger: R F V T G B (and 4, 5 on the number row)
- Right index finger: Y H N U J M (and 6, 7 on the number row)
- Right middle finger: I K , (and 8 on the number row)
- Right ring finger: O L . (and 9 on the number row)
- Right pinky: P ; (and 0 on the number row)
- Thumbs: the space bar
For capital letters, the pinky of the other hand holds Shift. More about each finger in Typing Finger Placement: Which Finger, Which Key?
How to use the chart
- Next to the screen, not under the keyboard. The point is to look up, not down.
- Check, don't study. Nobody learns to type by memorizing a chart. Glance at it when a key is unsure, then keep typing.
- Watch the fingers, not the speed. As a parent, use the colors to see whether the right finger presses the right key.
The colors are the same ones Typcoon uses on its on-screen keyboard, so the chart and the game teach the same fingers. The whole method, step by step, is in Touch typing for kids.
Frequently asked questions
Which keyboard is this chart for?
For the US QWERTY keyboard, the standard keyboard in the United States. On other keyboards a few keys sit elsewhere, but the idea is the same: every finger has its own column, starting from the home row.
How do I print the chart on one page?
Click "Print the chart" and choose landscape if your printer asks. The chart fits on one A4 or letter page. It looks best in color.
Should my child learn the chart by heart?
No. The chart is there to check, not to study. Kids learn finger placement by typing a few letters at a time with the right finger, over and over.
Why are the index fingers on F and J?
Because F and J have small bumps you can feel. That lets your child find the home row without looking, and from there every key has a fixed finger.
Learn to type while you switch a city back on
In Typcoon: Nightcode, every command your child types switches a piece of a blacked-out city back on. Typing neatly earns the most, so your child learns to touch type without even noticing. Free to try, no account needed.
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