KS1-Structures
This list supports learning about structures with 5–7-year-olds. It provides ideas for developing skills used in D&T through focussed practical tasks as well as ideas for projects. In the resources there are lots of opportunities for children to work on exploring different structures looking at their purpose and how they are have been designed and built. This will help them when designing and making their own structures, then evaluating them deciding on how and what they can use to make them stronger, stiffer and more stable. Ideas for D&T projects include a range of relevant contexts including home, school, industry and the wider environment so children may design and create structures for a particular purpose and audience.
Den Day
This is a lovely activity for children to explore materials available to them either at school. home or in an outdoor setting. It links into the wider context of shelter and how communities around the World may be suddenly in need of shelter due to a natural disaster. Having learned about natural disasters and how they affect people in many ways, children then plan their own dens and work together to build them. Following the build, children can play in their dens and find out how sturdy they actually are. They can then be challenged to make their structures sturdier and suitable for purpose, in this case to play in. This can be adapted so if children are building outside they may need to be stable enough withstand wind and rain for a few weeks, so they can visit the structures they made a week before and see then still standing.
Cownet
This resource allows children to practice their cutting, folding and sticking skills. It contains a printable pdf file of a flattened cube with plan and elevation views of a cardboard cow. Children cut and stick this to produce a three-dimensional, stand-up model of a cow.
Ball Run
In this activity children are challenged to design and build their own Marble run and test their creations. This activity may be adapted, so children use materials available to them to create a marble run, rather than using the dowels suggested. They will still be measuring, cutting, strengthening their designs using materials that they have chosen themselves.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
This resource provides an introductory video with a STEM Ambassador reading the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and a follow-on activity for children to carry out. In the activity children think like engineers in order to help Goldilocks build a chair that seats ALL the bears at once. First children find the problem that needs solving, then they come up with designs that can solve this. They consider the special features required by each of the bears and of the purpose of the chair. They then work together to build, test and improve their design. They communicate their findings explaining their reasons for the features of their design.
Rapunzel
In the activity children act as engineers in order to help Rapunzel escape from her tower. Children work in teams to think about creative solutions for helping her escape, then design and build them. They then test and evaluate their designs and make improvements. This activity links to D&T and also could be part of a cross-curricular learning based around Fairy Tales. Within this resource is an introductory video with a STEM Ambassador reading the story of Rapunzel, which may be used to set the context for children to design their products.
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
In the activity children are challenged to help the three Billy Goats build a bridge. The bridge needs to be 40cm long and be strong enough to support three soft toys. They should build, test and improve a design and then demonstrate how their design works. There are lots of opportunities for children to test the strength of their bridges and decide how to trengthen them to be able to support the 'three billy goats'.
An Early Start to Technology
This ia an older resource, but still provides lots of ideas that can be run in class. The contexts for the projects are linked to science topics that children may have learned. It allows children to explore practical experiences for children aged five to eight which will involve them in looking at the structure of things, at the materials things are made of. It includes ideas for designing and making bridges, towers, pop-up cards, plant stems, amongst many others from other areas of D&T.
The Three Little Pigs
This resource provides an introductory video with a STEM Ambassador reading the story of The Three Little Pigs and a follow-on activity for children to carry out. In this activity children work like engineers in order to help the three little pigs build a house that protects them from the wolf. They design and build their houses then test how their designs withstand the wolf’s puff! They think about how they can strengthen their designs and work together to improve them. They then share what they have done with each other and compare their different models. This activity links well with D&T and allows children to also explore the science of the properties of materials.