Finished Dance Mat Typing? Here's what to practice next

Last reviewed October 24, 2026

Dance Mat Typing is a lot of kids' first typing program, and for good reason. It's free, it's silly in the best way, and it teaches the letters in a sensible order. Then one day your child finishes Level 4 and asks, "Now what?"

Here's how we'd think about the next step.

What Dance Mat Typing covers

According to the BBC's own page, Dance Mat Typing has four levels, each split into three stages:

That's every letter, plus a few punctuation keys and Shift. It's a real accomplishment. Tell your kid so.

What's left to learn

Finishing the letters is a big milestone, but there's more keyboard to go:

• The number row. The digits 1 to 0 across the top, and which finger reaches each one. See number row typing.
• More punctuation. Question marks, exclamation points, quotation marks, and the symbols that share keys with the numbers. See capital letters and punctuation.
• The number pad. The block of number keys on the right side of a full keyboard. It's a separate skill, and handy for math. See number pad typing.
• The special keys. Tab, Esc, Enter, Backspace and Delete, the arrows, Ctrl, and the F-keys. See keyboard keys explained.
• Real sentences. Lots of practice typing whole sentences without looking down. This is where touch typing turns into a habit.

One small thing: Dance Mat is British, so it says "full stop." If your child is in the US, mention that the full stop is what we call a period.

A simple plan for the next month

1. Week 1: Review. Go back through all four levels once. If any stage feels shaky, repeat it. Kids are often surprised how much faster it goes the second time.
2. Week 2: The number row. A few numbers a day, left hand then right.
3. Week 3: Punctuation and capitals. Practice sentences with periods, commas, question marks, and capital letters.
4. Week 4: Real typing. A short paragraph each day: a narration, a journal entry, a letter. Eyes on the screen.

Keep sessions to about ten minutes. That's still the sweet spot.

Should they jump to a speed game?

Racing games are fun, and they're a great reward once a child types without looking. But a kid who has just finished the letters usually isn't there yet. If speed comes first, they often start peeking at their hands again to go faster. We'd hold racing games back until accuracy is steady, then use them as a treat.

Options for what's next

• Keep it free. Typing.com and TypingClub both offer longer free courses that go past the letters. Both have ads on the free versions.
• Something for older kids. If your child is 11 or older and finds cartoon programs babyish, a plain adaptive site like Keybr may suit them better.
• A program that goes further. If you want the number pad and special keys covered as well, look for a program that teaches them directly.

For a side-by-side look at prices, see our honest comparison of homeschool typing programs.

Where Home Row Mojo fits

Home Row Mojo picks up nicely where Dance Mat leaves off. Kids review the letters in guided lessons, then move into drills with words, phrases, and sentences. There are bonus lessons for the number pad and the full keyboard, including Insert, Delete, Page Up and Down, Ctrl, and the F-keys, with a Mac and PC toggle. Twelve arcade games make practice something kids want to come back to.

One note: the number pad lessons only work on a keyboard with a number pad. If your keyboard doesn't have one, an inexpensive plug-in USB number pad works. Many Chromebooks don't have the keys the full-keyboard lessons cover. If that's your setup, try the free version first.

You can try it free as a guest, and Chicken Run and Checkers are free to play. The full version is $29 once for the whole family. No subscription and no ads.