What is HTML? The skeleton of every website

⏱ 20 min learn Ages 9 & 12

💡 The big idea

HTML is the language that gives structure to every webpage on the internet. It uses tags — labels in angle brackets — to tell a browser what each piece of content is. You don't need to memorise all the tags — you need to be able to READ them. That's the skill that lets you understand any webpage.

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The LEGO analogy

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"HTML is like LEGO. Every tag is a brick. The bricks snap together to build structure. A webpage is bricks in the right order. And just like LEGO, you must follow the rules — close every brick you open."

Critical rule: Every opening tag <like this> needs a closing tag </like this>. The closing tag has a forward slash. Content sits in between.

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The 6 essential tags

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<h1>

Heading 1

The big title at the top of the page

<p>

Paragraph

A block of normal text

<a>

Link

A clickable link to another page

<img>

Image

Displays a picture on the page

List

A bullet-pointed list of items

<div>

Division

A container that groups things together

<h1>My Favourite Animal</h1> <p>I love penguins because they are funny.</p> <ul> <li>They cannot fly</li> <li>They live in Antarctica</li> </ul>

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Lesson quiz — test yourself!

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Wrap-up discussion questions

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1️⃣ Every opening tag needs what at the end?

2️⃣ What is the difference between <h1> and <p>?

3️⃣ If you see <ul> in HTML code, what does that tell you is coming next?