Web Design for Kids (…And Curious Grown-Ups!) is an instructional DVD about how to design a simple web page using html code.  It is geared toward upper elementary aged children who have a basic understanding of how to navigate on the computer.  Instruction is based around the Windows OS using Notepad and Internet Explorer (Notepad and IE come with Windows).  The instructor is Brian Richardson, founder of Click Drag Solutions and Foundation.  Mr. Richardson is a middle school computer literacy teacher and technology expert.

The DVD is approximately 1 hour and 25 minutes long and is divided into 7 segments:

• Ten Basic Lines of Code
• Sandwiches and Colors
• Make Subject Stand Out
• Stand Alone Tags
• Designing Backgrounds
• Fonts and Paragraphs
• Pictures

There is also a bonus segment about Folder Management.  In each segment, Mr. Richardson provides step by step and easy to follow instructions of how to build a simple web page using html code.  He also teaches what the tags mean and how they function.

This DVD, I have to admit, was more helpful to me (the “curious grown-up”) than the kids.  I think if the boys were older and had a little more understanding about how to navigate on the computer, as well as type, this would be something that would interest them.  This video is a great introduction to html.  Even though the end result is a basic and simple web page, the instruction gives the foundation of understanding how html works.  If I had learned the basics of html a couple years ago, it would have saved a whole lot of headache as I was getting my feet wet in building DH’s company website and getting into the blogging world.  When I first saw html codes, it was all very foreign, and I relied heavily on WYSIWYG software (“what you see is what you get”).

Once our kids have better navigation and keyboarding skills, we will re-introduce this video to them and maybe they’ll be so good at building web pages, they’ll be contributors to this website!  We still rely heavily on easy-to-use programs (WordPress, for example, is the backbone for our blog/website), but now at least I know enough about html to be able to make adjustments and changes that suit our website.

Web Design for Kids (…And Curious Grown-Ups!) sells for $40, and proceeds from the DVD sales go to 5 charities:  Ronald McDonald House, The Smile Train, Childrens Miracle Network, Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, and the American Foundation for the Blind.  The DVD can be purchased from the website, www.WebDesignforKids.net, or by calling toll free (1-866-932-9122).  The website is currently having a 50% Off Summer Special ($19.99 plus $3.99 shipping) for a limited time only.

You can read more reviews of this DVD by TOS Crew Members at the Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew blog.

Disclosure:  This product was provided to our family for free as members of the 2009-2010 Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.  Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are our own.