Who has little'uns? And what is the best way to keep them away from the keyboard?

[erikistired]

my older daughter did that. thankfully my youngest hasn't. but she would pull off all the keys, and unfortunately eventually broke the retention mechanism (laptop style desktop keyboard). time is what finally stopped her, and remembering to keep my keyboard up off my desk while i was away. kids are curious, and if they are like mine they like to explore and see how things work. i can't get mad because when i was a kid i took the first family computer apart to see how it worked (sanyo green screen ftw) back when computers were something you didn't see in homes.

anyway, just remember kids like to play, and keep your keyboard or laptop out of reach, or show him/her how to type a bit, perhaps that'll keep the little one from wanting to remove the keys!

 

[dale.albiston]

part of the attraction for little monsters to computers is 'playing being grownup' they love it. what i did with my three is reasonably simple. keep a computer where they can get at it, (either an old one or a cheap one - but one you do use) and don't make too much fuss when they touch it (make it robust, i used an ibm desktop, sprayed purple...)

the 'touch it cuz i'm not allowed to' wore off pretty quick since it didn't get the fuss they were looking for half as much as torturing the cat.

step two is *let* them play with it, sit with them, put a text editor up set the font big and a bright colour and let them play, even the very young like it, for the under ones somethign that makes a noise as they press a key works very well (garage band works with my other halfs sisters kids, wish i'd had that for mine).

yes they view it as a toy, but one they play with *with* you, not one they playwith without you. plus you get a warm feeling from playing with them. eventually you can work on one machine while they play on the old one. it just becomes something else thats in the room and the facination goes.

oh and as an aside they grow up learning how to use these things.

spraying one purple (with montior & speaker to match -total cost about 100ukp inc the paint) earned some serious kudos with a nine year old and her friends too.

 

[GraceMolloy]

Mace

And whether that's the chemical version or the 30Lb version is up to you.