Keyboard Town PALS is an interactive, educational tool for teaching children ages 7-12 how to type. Through the use of associative learning, drills and speed tests are eliminated and children can learn to type words and sentences in as little as one hour without the pressure to perform.

Though I was not able to demo the entire software package, what I did see really impressed me. I put it to the ultimate test, I started using it while my children were in the other room. Before I knew it, they were asking if they could use it too.

You'd think that puppets wouldn't interest children in the 21st century but there's something magical about good puppeteering that draws in children of all ages. In fact, the voice acting and puppeteering is exceptional in this software. The reason for this is because some of the people working on this project were part of the crew of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. The quality really shines through and really helps to make it engaging for children.

Through the associative learning system, children associate their "PALS" with keys on the keyboard. This helps them to memorize the locations of the keys much easier than rote repetition. My six year old son was more interested in the characters than typing but I could see that he was learning something despite his rapt attention on the puppets. Though his attention span is very short, I could see how 10-15 minutes a day with this tool could have him typing within a week or so.

Keyboard Town PALS comes in two flavors: an online version that can be used with any OS that has a broadband connection and a browser with the Adobe Flash player or a PC-only home version. I'd advise going with the web-based version because your children can start typing sooner. Keyboard Town PALS will have your children keyboarding their way to success.