A dad needs help with Minecraft mods

Hello. Please bear with me and understand that I am only trying to help my 9 year old and I am somewhat new to this. I consider myself pretty tech saavy and just went through a very frustrating experience with trying to install a "mod" on my son's Minecraft.

The first most difficult part was actually finding the download link. After looking at a dozen hidden advertisements disguised as download buttons I found a link to download a zip file.

I downloaded this .zip file and the instructions to install the mod looked like a way to really ruin a computer. ie: Run > %%appdata%% etc.

WTF? Do they expect young people to be able to install these mods or is there an easier way?

Also, are there tutorials online that can help me? I'm looking like a noob to my son and I need to restore my reputation as someone who generally knows what they are doing when it comes to computers.

Thanks for any help.