Muppet Learning Keys Atari Adapter Disk ATR

electronizer · September 2, 2019

Some time ago I got a Muppet Learning Keys "keyboard." This colorful flat membrane keyboard (similar to the 400's keyboard) connects to joystick port 2 and has a kid-friendly layout. For example, in one corner of the keyboard there is a chalkboard with letters in alphabetical order instead of the usual QWERTY layout.

The keyboard came with a disk that had C-64 application software on one side, and an "Atari Adapter Disk" on the other side. The adapter disk isn't a game, rather, it loads drivers that map the keys on the membrane keyboard to actual keys on the Atari. It then pauses to allow you to switch disks, and will boot whatever you insert with the drivers resident so that you can use the keyboard. I used it with "Hodge Podge" as suggested in this post and it works very well! One neat feature is that there is a row of "paint pots" on the keyboard in standard colors, and pressing a paint pot will change the background color of the screen.

I did some searching for an ATR of the adapter disk and couldn't find it. It may be out there somewhere, but I digitized my copy and will post it here in case anyone is looking for it.

MuppetKey.atr

After playing around with the ATR in an emulator, I discovered it requires an XL or XE computer, and will check to see whether you actually have a Muppet Learning Keys connected.

If you know of any other games for kids that work well with this keyboard, I'd love to hear about them! Most keyboard-based games should work, but I think Hodge Podge is particularly nice since pressing a letter does something related to that letter (e.g. pressing "C" gives you a picture of a cat, "V" gives a volcano that erupts, etc.)