Peripherals/Child Friendly Mouse: Difference between revisions

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Many young children don’t have fully developed motor skills (fine motor skills in the hand and fingers typically develop fully between the ages of 5 and 6) and often have trouble using traditional mouse buttons. Children of this age often click next to targets, find pressing down unintuitive, and grip all their fingers at the same time so that the mouse is squeezed rather than clicked. This can lead to frustration and detract from the educational experience.
Many young children don’t have well-developed motor skills (fine motor skills in the hand and fingers typically develop fully between the ages of 5 and 6) and often have trouble using a traditional mouse or touchpad. This can lead to frustration and detract from the educational experience.


*Some mice made by Apple use the entire body of the mouse as a single button.
This [http://wiki.laptop.org/images/e/e7/Mouse_Squeeze_Flyer.pdf document] describes one possible solution. Besides being small, it has a single wide soft button under the front.


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*A track ball works for some children. It can be easier to coordinate than a mouse, with the positioning -- rolling the ball, and selection -- clicking a button on the base actions separated. Being self contained, the track ball also removes the need for a relatively clean and smooth surface to operate on.
*The one button apple mice are intuitive and easy to use for my 3 year old daughter. One simply has to press down on the mouse to click. She can use this mouse where all others were not usable.


*The pressure-sensitive bump in the middle of the keyboard on some laptops may be a good option. It is certainly resistant to fouling with debris.
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*Another solution may be a track ball. I had one for my son when he was younger, and he found it easier to coordinate than a mouse, with the positioning -- rolling the ball, and selection -- clicking a button on the base actions separated. Being self contained, the track ball also removes the need for a relatively clean and smooth surface to operate on.

*The "analog" thumb joysicks found on many Nintendo controllers are proven with kids.


[[category:peripherals]]
[[category:peripherals]]

Latest revision as of 09:14, 12 January 2008

Many young children don’t have well-developed motor skills (fine motor skills in the hand and fingers typically develop fully between the ages of 5 and 6) and often have trouble using a traditional mouse or touchpad. This can lead to frustration and detract from the educational experience.

  • Some mice made by Apple use the entire body of the mouse as a single button.
  • A track ball works for some children. It can be easier to coordinate than a mouse, with the positioning -- rolling the ball, and selection -- clicking a button on the base actions separated. Being self contained, the track ball also removes the need for a relatively clean and smooth surface to operate on.
  • The pressure-sensitive bump in the middle of the keyboard on some laptops may be a good option. It is certainly resistant to fouling with debris.
  • The "analog" thumb joysicks found on many Nintendo controllers are proven with kids.
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