Website Creation for Children

Building a website can be accomplished from many different angles. If you are building a website with elementary aged students, you may want to start with basic templates that offer drag-and-drop features instead of trying to teach them html or CSS code. Drag-and-drop features can offer a rewarding and creative experience for the new web designer, while allowing them to learn other, more difficult parts of web creation at a slower pace.

There are many free website builders and hosting sites available, as well as those that cost very little. NING is a relatively new web creation site that is completely free and all-inclusive. With the use of the templates, color, and font choices, a few photos and some graphics, your child can create a page or an entire social network that can become a virtual playground where their friends and family can join them online.

Other sites, such as Weebly and Homestead, offer free tools and templates to build a site without requiring any technical or web creation knowledge.

If you'd like to tackle true webmaster skills, the site called Lisa Explains provides hundreds of pages of easy to read and understand instructions on every area of web creation. This site has been online for over 10 years and includes everything from basic html to building flash applications.

In order to help you from becoming overwhelmed with the project, it is best to decide in advance what type of website you will build with your students and exactly how detailed it will be. Create a to-do list of the things you will need to accomplish. An example of the checklist may look like this:

Choose a topic for the website

Register a Domain Name

Select a web hosting service

Finding Graphics and Photos

Build home page

Writing content

Adding extras (such as music, hit counter, photo album, or video)

As the project progresses, each child or student will quickly gain self confidence as they see what they have created. The wonderful thing about building a website is that the student can continue to add to it and redesign it for years to come. It can lead to online sales and teaching the student about owning a business, handling payments, and basic accounting skills, or it can become a family album, filled with information and photos. The possibilities are endless.

The links provided below will give you and your student all the resources necessary for creating your first website together.

Website Creation for Children:

HTML Code Tutorial: Very detailed site

Lisa Explains it All: Excellent Web Creation Site Featured on CNN

Wigglebits: Designed for beginners but technically correct

Colors on the Web: A site for webmasters dedicated to teaching about the use of color combinations

Yes Mag Science Website Project: Building a Simple Web Page

How to Build Websites: "The Easiest Web Tutorial on the Web"

Web Designers Handbook

The CSS Tutorial

Website Templates: Explains What they are and How to Use them

WIX: Build a Free Website with Templates

Basic Web Creation

Microsoft FrontPage: Basic Web Building Tutorial

2 Create a Website: Where Beginners Learn to Create a Website

Fluffbucket: Web Creation

For Very Young Children:

A Fill in the Blanks Type of Web Page Builder: Non-Technical

Article from a Teacher: 4-6 year olds creating websites

Free Website Hosting and Creation Sites:

Education World: Free Website Creation and Hosting for Teachers and Students

Weebly: Build a Free Website in Less than an Hour. No Technical Skills Required

WebSpawner: Free Hosting and Creation Tools

Homestead: Offers Free Tools to Create a Website and Low Monthly Hosting Fees

What is Design Training?

Design Training is a resource for anyone looking to get the most from their creative capabilities. Visitors to the site can research web design schools by state or by city, such as: