What age is it normal for a child to be able to use a computer mouse (as in drag and click) competently?

[Ceebee74]

And well enough to pretty much play a PC game by themselves with only a little bit of guidance?

DS1 has been using mouse competently since his 4th b'day possibly before (can't really remember)

Hmm, I'm not sure. But dd1 is exactly 4 and has been using the Cbeebies website independently for about 8 months I guess. I'm sure many children have beem doing this a lot earlier, I suppose dd1 didn't have the opportunity before then!

my boys used to use the pc at nursery - so definitely pre-school age

DD is 5 and is finally mastering this
She is really good on the cbeebies games site now that I let her get on with it and dont interfere

I think DS was 3 when he could use it. Now at the age of 5 he is better than me at some things on the computer

3 - now 4 can use paint box and create some rather nice pics. She can also turn on, launch browser, and find paintbox on the desktop, print and so on.

Just shows how intuiative it is and how there is no excuse for my crapness really....

DS2 could do this at 22 months, if not earlier ( I only remember as he would go on cbeebies website when I was bfeeding DD) however he couldn't talk and didn't start speaking until he was 3.5.

He is 5.5 now and his speech and computer abilities are very much the same as his friends of that age

DS2 is 6.8 and severely autistic - he has very limited speech and his academic and cognitive skills are at least 3 years behind his peers in every area. Yet he learnt to use an internal mouse (on a Mac) competently when he was 5 and then transferred to an external mouse when he was 6. He mainly uses it to access Youtube clips of Thomas, Miffy, Rosie and Jim et al but can do this independently. I find it fascinating - he can do something as complicated (to me) as this, but can't yet call out to me or recognise any letters or numbers.

My ds was just over 2 when he could do it, hes 3 next month and now doesnt need help at all on the cbeebies website.

Ds1 can at 3.2 years. Only tried for the first time recently (and now he is a poissonrouge addict).

Thanks for the replies

DS1 is nearly 3 and is able to direct the mouse (albeit 2-handed) to where he wants it and then click which is great.

The only problem is that a lot of the websites we use usually require reading skills for the games which means he can't play them by himself. What do you all do about that?

poisson rouge is good - no reading needed as far as i remember. ds1 (4)is an expert on laptop/pc and ds2 who is 2 is just learning and can move mouse but struggles with drag and click.

dd was 2 and potty training (and would grab her potty, balance it on the computer chair and climb on to play cbeebies. that was when I decided she should use the loo instead!)

My DD has been using the computor for over a year, she is nearly 4. She can navigate her way around cbeebies website without any help. She is clearly a genius!

Why do you want a 3 year old to access on line games unsupervised?

my 3 year old charge can navigate his way around ceebeebies quite competantly.

he is 3 years 9 months

When dd was 4, she was a deft hand at drop-and-click. She did not use a mouse but the laptop pad on my Mac.

Mine practised on poisson rouge

mrsz - it's not about a 3yo accessing online games alone, it's letting them play alone so you can get one with something productive instead of watching them play Sesame Street or Kerwizz games and helping them do so.

My DD is 3.10, she's been playing on the computer by herself for a while now. I'd say she got proficient at clicking, dragging and dropping at around 3. She started with Poisson Rouge, moved on to CBeebies and is now into Sesame Street. She knows where they all are in Favourites by their logo.

As for the games that require some reading - mostly if you have sound someone explains the game as well as it being written. If not, she just clicks around until she figures it out, or gives up and tries another game.

The only thing that worries me is that she's the only leftie in our family, so mouse it set up for right-handers. Doesn't seem to slow her down though, and most computers she will encounter in life will be set up that way so I guess it's no bad thing if she learns to mouse right-handed.

Sorry, that would be get on* * with something productive...

dd1 has been v competent with a mouse from 3 yo. she's been using it since 18 months with help on poissonrouge.com

we bought a smaller laser mouse to make it easier for her at the time.

Annie thank you for your reply to Mrz - I get so fed up on MN sometimes of people misunderstanding what you are trying to ask - either deliberately or not - and just wading in with unnecessary comments implying you are a bad parent!

In our office, where the computer is, there is a comfy chair aswell, so I want to be able to sit there and read a magazine/newspaper (assisting where necessary) whilst DS1 is playing on the computer - surely that is not wrong??

Anyway, I will check out poisson rouge although I am not sure how much DS1 will be interested as it is not a blue train called Thomas

at 3 i she could surf poissonrouge independently for at least half an hour so i could really sit and get into a book and a cuppa without being called for.

Having just undertaken CEOP (Child Exploitation Online Protection) e-safety training and seen what can happen when children are left unsupervised on the internet Annie I wouldn't use this as a way of getting on with my work. Sorry if that offends you and Ceebee but I'd much rather upset you as your child come to harm.

ThinkUknow/Parents

Small children can quite innocently click on links that take them where you don't want them to go and it only takes a second.