by Traci Best
(Indianapolis, In)
What an interesting product! Web Design For Kids(...and Curious Grown-Ups!) came across my desk recently to review and I was intrigued. I have always wanted to learn HTML code...but never really had a need to in this world of instant blogging! I am ever so glad that I took the time to look into this product!
Web Design For Kids(...and Curious Grown-Ups!) comes to you as a DVD that you watch on your TV while you work at your computer! It is broken down into manageable mini lessons that could be done all at one time or broken up into several lessons. For my purpose I chose to do all the lessons at once. It took me about an hour and a half with some pausing here and there to make sure I understood everything or was caught up to where I needed to be. The demonstration machine was running an older version of windows, but I was able to easily follow along in using Vista.
The subjects covered were:
1. Ten basic lines of code. (Getting started.)
2. Sandwiches and colors.
3. Making subjects stand out.
4. Stand Alone Tags.
5. Designing backgrounds.
6. Fonts & Paragraphs.
7. Pictures
Also, the disk includes a lesson on File Folder Management if you or your child need to learn more about that before you begin.
I really enjoyed these lessons. They were very clear and easy to follow...and fun. It is targeted as a product for children so it is done in a very cute manner. An adult can easily follow along and do something a little more serious than what the children are doing in the demonstration...I was able to do so easily. I was pleasantly surprised to learn several things about web design that I did not know previously and I found a couple of new-to-me resources too. (In the picture above if you look closely you can see the web page I created as I followed along with the lesson! )
This DVD is easy enough to understand for any child who can type and follow directions to do these lessons...especially with a little guidance from a parent if needed. This would be a great resource for a beginning level computer class for your homeschool students, or simply as an entertaining pursuit for any child.
Finally, you need to know that a portion of each DVD sold will be given to the following charities who are blessed each year by a donation from the founder of Web Design For Kids(...and Curious Grown-Ups!): The Smile Train, Ronald McDonald House, Children's Miracle Network, Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, and the American Foundation for the Blind.
I hope you have fun creating your own website soon!