Toddler-proof the keyboard: lockdown tips for Mac, Windows, iPad and Android

Two facts about handing a keyboard to a toddler:

1. They will press every key, including the ones you did not know existed.
2. A fullscreen game hides the browser's buttons, but it does not disable the keyboard shortcuts behind them.

This guide is about the second fact. It goes device by device, from the free built-in options to the one or two extra steps that make a laptop genuinely toddler-proof.

Start with fullscreen, then lock the device

No game we list has a parent lock yet, ours included, so the device is the lock. That is the honest version of this guide: get the game into fullscreen, then use Guided Access, app pinning, kiosk mode or a separate account to stop the keys that the page cannot.

These three go fullscreen on the first press and stay there, which is the half of the job a web game can do:

Play them together, or on a tablet with the device lock on. The parent lock column in the directory shows where every game stands, and we will update it the day that changes.

The shortcuts that get through

A web page cannot stop these, on any site:

Two-key combinations need two fingers on two specific keys, which toddlers manage less often than you would fear and more often than you would like. Single keys (Escape, the Windows key) are the real problem.

iPad and iPhone: Guided Access

The easiest lock of all, and the reason a tablet is the low-stress choice.

1. Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access. Turn it on and set a passcode (Face ID or Touch ID can be allowed too).
2. Open the game in Safari or Chrome and let it go fullscreen.
3. Triple-click the side button (or the home button on older devices), then tap Start.
4. To leave, triple-click again and enter the passcode.

Guided Access disables the home gesture, the notification centre and the other apps. If the game's own page has a link or a button you want to block, you can draw a circle around it on the set-up screen to disable that area.

Android: app pinning

1. Settings > Security (or Security and privacy) > App pinning (older versions say Pin windows). Turn it on and turn on "Ask for PIN before unpinning".
2. Open the game in Chrome.
3. Open the recent-apps view, tap the icon at the top of the Chrome card, and choose Pin.
4. To leave, hold Back and Overview (or swipe up and hold, depending on the phone) and enter the PIN.

Pinning keeps Chrome on screen, but Chrome's own address bar still exists. Turn on the game's fullscreen first, and pin after that.

Fire tablets use Amazon Kids profiles instead; add the browser to the child's profile and the profile does the locking.

Windows: the built-in options

The free, five-second version: open the game, press F11 for the browser's fullscreen, close every other window first. This handles the mouse and stops Escape from revealing the toolbars. It does not stop the Windows key or Alt+F4.

The Windows key. This is the key that ends most sessions. Options, from simplest to most thorough:

• Many gaming keyboards have a Win Lock key or a switch that disables it. A cheap one makes a good dedicated toddler keyboard.
• Windows 11's Settings > Accounts > Other users > Set up a kiosk restricts a separate account to a single app, usually Microsoft Edge in kiosk mode. Availability varies by Windows edition; if you see the option, it is the most complete built-in lock.
• Chrome or Edge in kiosk mode: create a shortcut and add --kiosk https://kidsmashgames.com/shiny-smash to the end of the target. Fullscreen, no toolbars, and only Alt+F4 gets out.

The touchpad. Windows handles touchpad gestures itself, so nothing running in the browser can stop a three-finger swipe from switching apps. On a laptop, open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad (Settings > Devices > Touchpad on Windows 10), expand Three-finger gestures and set Swipes to Nothing; do the same for four-finger gestures. An external keyboard with the laptop lid closed on a stand sidesteps the whole problem.

Mac: fullscreen plus a few settings

macOS has no equivalent of Guided Access, so a Mac is the device where the browser's own fullscreen and a tidy desktop do the most work.

1. Open the game in Safari or Chrome and press Control+Command+F for the browser's fullscreen.
2. Close everything else, or at least save it. Command+Tab still works in fullscreen.
3. Spotlight: Command+Space opens a search box on a fullscreen page. You can remove that shortcut in System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Spotlight for the duration.
4. Chrome kiosk mode works on a Mac too. In Terminal: open -na "Google Chrome" --args --kiosk https://kidsmashgames.com/shiny-smash. Command+Q still quits, and that is fine; it is a two-key combination on opposite sides of the keyboard.
5. If a small child is a regular visitor, a separate macOS user account with Screen Time limits and no email set up turns a wrong key into a non-event.

Chromebook: guest mode and fullscreen

Sign out and use Browse as Guest. Nothing you care about is in the guest session. Press the fullscreen key (the one above the number row) after the game loads. There is no consumer kiosk mode on a Chromebook, but a guest session plus fullscreen is close enough.

Linux: a kiosk browser

F11 for the browser's fullscreen, or Chrome started in kiosk mode with google-chrome --kiosk https://kidsmashgames.com/shiny-smash. As on Windows, Alt+F4 usually still closes it, and the desktop's own keyboard shortcuts (the super key, workspace switching) keep working; most desktops let you clear those shortcuts in their keyboard settings for the afternoon.

A guest session, or a second user account with nothing signed in, is the lower-effort version of the same idea.

The physical layer

• Silicone keyboard cover. Stops crumbs and drool, and stops keycaps being pulled off, which matters because a loose keycap is a choking hazard.
• A spare USB keyboard. Cheap, big keys, no attachment to it. Plug it in, unplug the laptop's own keyboard from the equation by closing the lid on a stand, and let them go.
• A tablet stand with a handle. Flat tablets get leaned on; a leaning toddler is thirty taps a minute.
• Volume. Down before the first key. Every game here makes a sound per press.

The two-minute checklist

1. Save and close.
2. Open the game, press one key, let it go fullscreen.
3. Press the browser's fullscreen key as well.
4. Tablet: Guided Access or app pinning on.
5. Windows: Win Lock or kiosk mode, with the touchpad swipes off.
6. Mac: Spotlight shortcut off, or a separate account.
7. Linux: a browser in kiosk mode, or a guest session plus F11.
8. Sit within arm's reach for the first few sessions and see what they go for.