.children()

jQuery

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.children()

Categories: Traversing > Tree Traversal

.children( [selector ] ) Returns: jQuery

Description: Get the children of each element in the set of matched elements, optionally filtered by a selector.

  • version added: 1.0.children( [selector ] )

    • selector
      Type: Selector
      A string containing a selector expression to match elements against.

Given a jQuery object that represents a set of DOM elements, the .children() method allows us to search throughthe children of these elements in the DOM tree and construct a new jQuery object from the matching elements. The .children() method differs from .find() in that .children() only travels a single level down the DOM tree while .find() can traverse down multiple levels to select descendant elements (grandchildren, etc.) as well. Note also that like most jQuery methods, .children() does not return text nodes; to get all children including text and comment nodes, use .contents().

The .children() method optionally accepts a selector expression of the same type that we can pass to the $() function. If the selector is supplied, the elements will be filtered by testing whether they match it.

Consider a page with a basic nested list on it:

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                                      <ul class="level-1">
                                    
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                      <li class="item-i">I</li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                      <li class="item-ii">II
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                        <ul class="level-2">
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                          <li class="item-a">A</li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                          <li class="item-b">B
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                            <ul class="level-3">
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                              <li class="item-1">1</li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                              <li class="item-2">2</li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                              <li class="item-3">3</li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                            </ul>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                          </li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                          <li class="item-c">C</li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                        </ul>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                      </li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                      <li class="item-iii">III</li>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                    
                                      </ul>

If we begin at the level-2 list, we can find its children:

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                                    $('ul.level-2').children().css('background-color', 'red');

The result of this call is a red background behind items A, B, and C. Since we do not supply a selector expression, all of the children are part of the returned jQuery object. If we had supplied one, only the matching items among these three would be included.

Examples:

Example: Find all children of the clicked element.

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                                        <!DOCTYPE html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <style>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        body { font-size:16px; font-weight:bolder; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        div { width:130px; height:82px; margin:10px; float:left;
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                              border:1px solid blue; padding:4px; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        #container { width:auto; height:105px; margin:0; float:none;
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                              border:none; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        .hilite { border-color:red; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        #results { display:block; color:red; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        p { margin:10px; border:1px solid transparent; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        span { color:blue; border:1px solid transparent; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        input { width:100px; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        em { border:1px solid transparent; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        a { border:1px solid transparent; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        b { border:1px solid transparent; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        button { border:1px solid transparent; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        </style>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <div id="container">
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          <div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            <p>This <span>is the <em>way</em> we</span>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            write <em>the</em> demo,</p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          </div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          <div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            <a href="#"><b>w</b>rit<b>e</b></a> the <span>demo,</span> <button>write
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            the</button> demo,
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          </div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          <div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            This <span>the way we <em>write</em> the <em>demo</em> so</span>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            <input type="text" value="early" /> in
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          </div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          <p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            <span>t</span>he <span>m</span>orning.
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            <span id="results">Found <span>0</span> children in <span>TAG</span>.</span>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          </p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        </div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <script>
                                        
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          $("#container").click(function (e) {
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            $("*").removeClass("hilite");
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            var $kids = $(e.target).children();
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            var len = $kids.addClass("hilite").length;
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            $("#results span:first").text(len);
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            $("#results span:last").text(e.target.tagName);
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            e.preventDefault();
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                            return false;
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          });
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </script>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </html>

Example: Find all children of each div.

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                                        <!DOCTYPE html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <style>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        body { font-size:16px; font-weight:bolder; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        span { color:blue; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        p { margin:5px 0; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        </style>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <p>Hello (this is a paragraph)</p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <div><span>Hello Again (this span is a child of the a div)</span></div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <p>And <span>Again</span> (in another paragraph)</p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <div>And One Last <span>Time</span> (most text directly in a div)</div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <script>
                                        $("div").children().css("border-bottom", "3px double red");
                                        </script>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </html>

Example: Find all children with a class "selected" of each div.

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                                        <!DOCTYPE html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <style>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        body { font-size:16px; font-weight:bolder; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        p { margin:5px 0; }
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        </style>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          <span>Hello</span>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          <p class="selected">Hello Again</p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          <div class="selected">And Again</div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                          <p>And One Last Time</p>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        </div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <script>
                                        $("div").children(".selected").css("color", "blue");
                                        </script>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </html>
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