Search for baby smash and you get a tangle of names: Baby Smash!, BabySmash, BabySmash.app, babysmash online, baby smash for Mac. They are not all the same thing. There is one original, a free program for Windows and now Linux, and around it a handful of browser toys that share the idea and sometimes the name.
This guide sorts them out: which one to use on which device, what each version locks and what it does not, and where to download the real one safely. The notes on the Windows and Linux programs come from the project's own site and instructions, which we link; the browser toys we played ourselves.
The short answer
| Your device | What to use |
|---|---|
| Windows laptop or PC | The original Baby Smash!, free from babysmash.com, GitHub or winget |
| Linux | The same Baby Smash!, as a .deb, .rpm or tarball |
| Mac | There is no Mac version; use a self-locking browser site such as TinyFingers |
| iPad or Android tablet | A browser site, with Guided Access or app pinning turned on |
| Chromebook | A browser site in a guest session, with the fullscreen key |
The original: Baby Smash! for Windows and Linux
Scott Hanselman wrote Baby Smash! in 2008 for his own children, and his site credits AlphaBaby, an old Mac program, as the inspiration. It is free and open source, and it is still maintained: the newest release when we checked came out in June 2026. The code and the downloads live on GitHub; babysmash.com is the friendly front door.
Every key press puts a coloured shape, a letter or a number on the screen, and a voice says what it is ("red circle", "B"). The voice follows your keyboard language, and French, Spanish, German, Portuguese and a few others are built in. Because it is an installed program rather than a web page, it can do the one thing no website can: take over the keyboard.
On Windows
- Install it with the Windows Package Manager: in Terminal or PowerShell, type
winget install Hanselman.BabySmash. There is also an installer, BabySmash-Setup.exe, that keeps itself up to date, and a portable zip if you would rather not install anything. It needs 64-bit Windows 10 or later. - What it locks: its website says it blocks the Windows key, Ctrl+Esc and Alt+Tab, the usual ways out of a full-screen program.
- The grown-up keys: Ctrl+Shift+Alt+O opens the options, four keys at once that no toddler will hit by accident. Alt+F4 quits.
- The touchpad gap: Windows handles touchpad gestures itself, and the project's own notes say no app can block them, so a three-finger swipe can still open Task View. Before handing over a laptop, open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad, expand Three-finger gestures and set Swipes to Nothing. Do the same for four-finger gestures.
- Ctrl+Alt+Delete always gets through on Windows, whatever is running. Think of it as your emergency exit rather than a flaw.
On Linux
Since version 4 there has been a Linux build for 64-bit PCs. Download the .deb (Debian and Ubuntu) or the .rpm (Fedora) from the releases page, install it, and Baby Smash! appears in your applications menu under Games. The packages bring the voice and sound tools with them; if you use the plain tarball instead, install espeak for the voice and paplay or aplay for sound.
The Linux version locks less. Alt+O opens the options, and the Escape key quits, which a toddler can press by accident. On Linux it is a sit-alongside toy: keep a hand near the top-left of the keyboard.
The mini-game on babysmash.com
The website also has a small browser version you can play before installing anything. It is a taste of the idea rather than the full program, and like any web page it cannot lock the keyboard.
BabySmash.app is a different toy
Similar name, different maker. BabySmash.app is a small web toy built by a parent, not a web version of the Windows program: stars and shapes appear with each press, a random animal turns up now and then, and one button goes fullscreen. It does not try to lock the screen and says so, pointing you to Guided Access on an iPad or screen pinning on Android. On a tablet with the device lock on, it is a good first smash toy.
Is there a Baby Smash! for Mac?
No. The official Baby Smash! is for Windows and Linux, and there is no Mac download.
If you want an installed app on a Mac, the closest thing we found is Baby Games: ABC Keyboard on the Mac App Store, from an unrelated developer. It costs $2.99 and needs macOS 12.3 or later, and its App Store listing says it has letter and shape modes and can switch off keyboard shortcuts and Spotlight while it runs. We have not bought or tested it, so that is the developer's description, not our review.
For most families a browser site is the better answer on a Mac. TinyFingers and TypeChars go fullscreen and hide their exits behind a two-second hold on the top-left corner, and the lockdown guide shows how to turn off the Spotlight shortcut for the session.
Pages that borrow the name
A search for babysmash download also turns up pages that are not the project: download mirrors, web tools and app pages that use the name. Some carry ads, and one we saw was a download page for an unrelated Mac app. We have not reviewed them and do not link to them. The safe places to get the real thing are the project's own: babysmash.com, the GitHub releases page and winget.
Baby smash online: browser versions
If you cannot install anything, on a work laptop, a Chromebook or a tablet, a browser site does the same job with a lighter lock. These are the ones we would open first:
TinyFingers is the closest in spirit: every key, tap or click sets off colour and sound, it goes fullscreen, and the exit is hidden. TypeChars is the calm one: each key floats up as the letter or number that was pressed, much as in Baby Smash!. Shiny Smash is ours: every press drops gems into a glass until it tips over. It is free with no tracking, but like all our games it has no parent lock yet, so play it together. The safe websites guide has the full list, and baby typing games by age has the ones with letters.
Questions parents ask
Is Baby Smash! free? Yes. It is open source and has always been free. If a page asks you to pay for it, you are not on the real download page.
Is the download safe? Get it from babysmash.com, the GitHub releases page or winget. Those are the project's own channels, and the code is public for anyone to read. We would not take it from anywhere else.
How do I get out of it? On Windows, Alt+F4 quits and Ctrl+Shift+Alt+O opens the options. On Linux, Escape quits and Alt+O opens the options.
Is there a Baby Smash! online? Not the full program. Its website has a short browser mini-game, and the browser sites above do the same job without installing anything.
Is BabySmash.app the same thing? No. It is a separate web toy with a similar name. Our review has the details.