HTML and CSS lesson 9: Choices: checkboxes, radio buttons and menus

US version. US grades and US spelling. · UK version of this lesson

Radio buttons pick ONE choice (they share a name), checkboxes pick many, and <select> makes a drop-down menu of <option>s. A complete 40-minute HTML and CSS lesson for beginners (Grades 6–7), from Unit 3: Forms. You build real web pages right here in your browser – nothing to install.

Time: 40 minutes + 20 min homework
Grade: Grades 6–7 (ages 11–12)
You need: A computer or tablet, paper and a pencil
Graded: Instantly, with explanations

For parents: how to use this lesson

You don't need to know HTML yourself. The lesson explains each step on screen, the way Mr Babbage, our Head of Computing, likes it: a worked example first, then a go for your child. When your child builds a page, the browser draws it straight away and Classfern grades it with a checklist.

Read what your child will learn together.
Press Start the lesson below. Sit with your child for the teaching and the worked example (about 15 minutes): ask them to point at each tag and say what it does.
Let them do the practice on their own. If a page doesn't look right, the checklist says what is missing – let them find the mistake before you help.
Finish with the exit questions and the talk question: “Look at a form you have used. Which kind of box did each question use, and why?”
Later that day or the next day: the homework (20 minutes), then a practice test.

Watch out for

Radio buttons with different names still work as a group. Only buttons with the SAME name are one group.
Checkboxes for "choose one". Use radio buttons for one choice.

Miss Lovelace's tip for home: ask your child to change one thing on their page – a word, a color, a size – and predict what will happen before they look. Predicting first is how programmers learn fastest.

What your child will learn

Learning goal: make a group of radio buttons.

Success looks like

I can make a group of radio buttons.
I can choose between radio buttons and checkboxes.
I can make a drop-down menu.

Key words

radio button · checkbox · name · select · option · required

What to have ready

A device with a web browser (pages are built and checked right in the browser – nothing to install)
Paper for planning and sketching
A keyboard helps for typing code (a tablet works too)

The big ideas (for the adult)

Radio buttons are for "choose one": Small, Medium or Large. They work as a group because they share the same name – choosing one un-chooses the others. Each still needs its own id and <label>.

Checkboxes (type="checkbox") are for "tick all that apply". A drop-down menu is a <select> holding one <option> per choice; it saves space when there are many choices.

Adding required to a box asks the browser to check it isn't empty before the form is sent. Good forms are short, clearly labeled and only ask for what they really need.

Worked example: radio buttons

<form>
<input type="radio" id="cats" name="pet">
<label for="cats">Cats</label>
<input type="radio" id="dogs" name="pet">
<label for="dogs">Dogs</label>
</form>

The lesson, step by step

40 minutes in 5 parts
Part	Time	How it is checked
Starter	5 min	Graded by Classfern
Learn	8 min	Read, watch and talk
See it	7 min	Graded by Classfern
Practice	15 min	Graded by Classfern
Check and reflect	5 min	Graded by Classfern + self-check

The lesson

It runs here on the page. No sign-up and no names – nothing you type is sent anywhere. Each visit picks a new mix of questions.

Homework

20 minutes: predict what the browser will do, build or fix a short page, and check the key ideas – then a short reflection. New questions every time, all graded instantly.

Practice tests

All computer science practice tests · All 20 HTML and CSS lessons

Curriculum

CSTA K–12 Computer Science Standards (2017), grades 6–8: 2-CS-01 – Suggest device design improvements based on how users interact with them.

The standard codes are CSTA's; the descriptions are our own words.

Our lessons and questions are our own. They are not written or endorsed by any government department, testing agency or exam board. HTML and CSS are open web standards; Classfern is not affiliated with the organisations that publish them.