hotoshop is a great place to start when introducing young students to Web design. They can create their own picture, scan in and edit a picture, or use a photo taken with a digital camera. This sort of work is fun and instantly rewarding. If you don't have Photoshop, there are a number of inexpensive programs available that perform similarly. Take a look at the Graphics section of Tools for more information.

Here are some ideas for how to get the ball rolling.

Creating their own images
Demonstrate how to open a new document. Show them how to change colors and how to use the pen, pencil, and line tool to create an abstract design. Then show them how to fill spaces in their design with the paintbucket. Finally, size the image and save it as a GIF or JPEG.

Scanning an image
I often start with having kids scan in their hands. Hands make a great palette and present endless design possibilities. After they have scanned their hands, open up the file in your image editor and set the kids free to color and design them any way they want.

Using a digital camera
Digital cameras are another great hook to get little ones interested in Web design, and they're getting less expensive all the time. You might want to invest in a Barbie digital camera, which costs about US$70. Demonstrate how to drag and drop the photo icon onto your desktop's image editor alias. And show them how to adjust the colors or apply filters for interesting effects.

Now that they have some images created, let's show them how to put them on a Web page.