"Virtually Indestructible Keyboard" goes nicely with baby- and toddler-friendly software

Ben is a smart, smart man.

I recently read your post on Giggles Software for babies and toddlers. The idea seemed great, but I was reluctant to let my baby get his hands on my MacBook Pro. Nor did I want to toss perfectly good money away on "disposable" keyboards that took up a lot of space.

I was at the computer store the other day and saw the Virtually Indestructible Keyboard and thought it was a perfect match for the Giggles software. It was inexpensive, rubber coated, and water (drool) proof. I grabbed one, downloaded the Giggles software, plugged in the keyboard, and sat down with my wee one for a little fun. He pounded away at the rubber keys without causing any damage. When he was done, I rolled the keyboard up and stored it away. Now whenever he wants to play with Daddy's computer, I just unroll the VIK and let him have fun.

Related:
Keeping your toddler off your keyboard
Alphababy protects your Mac desktop from sneaky fingers

Comments

[Annette]

Great find! Would also work well in the kitchen.

[Brandy]

Good idea! Hubb already had a few extra keyboards when we set up our kiddos play computer. (An old computer he fixed up just for them, nothing but the very very basic on it.) But when it came to my laptop, I just grabbed one of their extra keyboards and plugged in.

Lots of thrift stores have old keyboards for sale that may have a problem or two with a key, but most of them are in good shape!

[Cathy N]

We found these a few weeks ago at the Aldi store in our town. The cost was only $5.99! My son (2 yrs) loves using it and he can't pop the keys off like he does on my laptop keyboard.

[Tiffany]

You know what's funny about this keyboard (or rather my co-workers)....my children used it for a couple of years and never damaged it at all--hence the name. But when we were looking for a quieter keyboard for our courtroom, I brought it in so that they could test it out before buying one. Can anyone guess what happens next?? A co-worker broke it, yes broke it. So for children it's great, the work environment, apparently not. :-P

[Lisa]

For my Imac G5 i bought a skin for my key board at compucover.com. It works pretty well to protect it from anything getting into the keys. I think hey also sell skins for laptops.

[Carole]

Another related hack - disable the right click on an old mouse to turn it into a 'one button' mouse. Prevents a lot of "mommy, help with the computer!"