Web Design for Kids (and Curious Grown Ups)

Posted by Lorren on August 29, 2009

by ecaggiani
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I was recently sent a copy of Web Design for Kids. My husband was a little worried. Since our daughter is seven, he doesn’t really want her to actually surf the internet and look for things. Fortunately, with Web Design for Kids, you don’t have to worry about kids going to places that they shouldn’t. Almost all of the web design is done offline.

Web Design for Kids (and Curious Grown Ups) is actually a little bit too advanced for my daughter. I think that in a couple of years, she would be old enough to use it. She is not yet comfortable writing her own sentences and paragraphs. Although there is minimal writing used in the video, having a little bit of spelling and writing background is a plus.

Web Design for Kids does a great job of explaining how to code basic HTML. It is divided up into seven segments, with each segment building upon the other. It helps if your child has access to a laptop computer, or watches this on the computer. Otherwise, your child might find him or herself pausing the video many times in order to do the activities on their own.

All of the basic tags are discussed, including HTML, HEAD, TITLE, BODY and their / equivalents. They use this to help kids create their very own web page. All of the coding is done offline, and nothing is uploaded, so you don’t need to worry about kids uploading something that they shouldn’t. In addition to basic coding, Web Design for Kids teaches children how to save the files they create in a special folder.

I’ve been coding in HTML for about 15 years now, and I actually learned something by watching this video. I’ve always used the #12AB00 method of coding my colors, but I didn’t realize that you can change text color using text color names like blueviolet and royalblue. There are a ton of different colors that you can call up just by their color names (you can see them at w3schools.com.

By the end of the video, your child will be able to create a basic page, change the size of the text using H1 and H6 tags, center the text, use the MARQEE tag, create a horizontal line with the HR tag, change the background and text colors, and put a picture on their web page.

There are two places where the child is asked to go on the internet. The first site they are asked to visit is AllFreeBackgrounds.com and FreeFoto.com. I visited both sites, and they looked pretty harmless, but if your child is young and you are concerned, you may want to supervise when they go on the internet.

I think that Web Design for Kids would probably be a great video for kids that are about nine and older. Kids that are advanced and have a special interest in designing web pages might be able to use it a little younger than that. One of the things that I really LOVE about this company is that they donate some of their proceeds to charities like the Ronald McDonald House, Children’s Miracle Network, and American Foundation for the Blind. If you have a child that has an interest in HTML (or if you do, and don’t know how to start), this video can help.