The CSS Flexbox Playground is a visual, interactive tool for learning and generating CSS Flexbox layouts. Adjust container and item properties with intuitive controls and see the results instantly in a live preview. When your layout looks right, copy the generated CSS code — no more guessing at flex property values.
Step-by-Step
Configure the container — Set the flex container properties: flex-direction, flex-wrap, justify-content, align-items, and align-content using dropdown controls.
Add flex items — Click the + button to add child items to the container. Each item starts with default flex properties.
Customize items — Select any child item to set its individual flex-grow, flex-shrink, flex-basis, align-self, and order properties.
Preview the layout — The live preview panel updates instantly as you change any property, showing exactly how the flex layout behaves.
Copy the CSS — Click the copy button to grab the complete CSS code for both the container and all child items.
Features
Live Visual Preview — See your Flexbox layout rendered in real time as you adjust properties. Colored items make it easy to track individual elements.
Container Properties — Full control over flex-direction (row, column, row-reverse, column-reverse), flex-wrap, justify-content, align-items, align-content, and gap.
Item Properties — Configure individual flex items with flex-grow, flex-shrink, flex-basis, align-self, order, and custom width/height.
Responsive Testing — Resize the preview container to see how your flex layout responds to different viewport widths.
Code Generation — Generates clean, minimal CSS that includes only the properties you've changed from their defaults.
Preset Layouts — Quick-start buttons for common patterns: centered content, navigation bar, sidebar layout, card grid, and holy grail layout.
Common Use Cases
Navigation Bars — Build horizontal or vertical navigation layouts with proper spacing and alignment using justify-content: space-between.
Card Grids — Create responsive card layouts that wrap and distribute evenly using flex-wrap: wrap and calculated flex-basis values.
Centering Content — Finally get vertical and horizontal centering right with justify-content: center and align-items: center.
Sidebar Layouts — Build sidebar-plus-content layouts where the sidebar has a fixed width and the content fills the remaining space.
Learning Flexbox — Experiment with property values and instantly see how they affect the layout — the fastest way to build muscle memory for Flexbox.
Why Use This Tool
CSS Flexbox is powerful but has a notoriously steep learning curve with dozens of property combinations. This playground removes the trial-and-error cycle by giving you immediate visual feedback for every property change. It's invaluable for both beginners learning Flexbox concepts and experienced developers who need to quickly prototype complex layouts without writing CSS by hand.