Key Stage 1 art and design · Artists, craft makers and designers

KS1 art: artists, craft makers and designers for parents

In Years 1 and 2 children look at the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers, talk about what is similar and different about the way they work, and link what they see to their own making. The point is not to memorise names. It is to learn that people make things for a living in many different ways, and that children can borrow ideas from them.

Artists, craft makers and designers, explained

The National Curriculum uses three different words on purpose. An artist usually makes work to share an idea, a feeling or a way of seeing: painters, sculptors, printmakers and photographers are all examples. A craft maker is skilled at making objects by hand from a particular material, such as a potter, weaver, woodworker or jeweller, and what they make is often useful as well as beautiful. A designer plans how something will look and work before it is made, often so that many copies can be produced: a chair, a poster, a coat or a toy. The lines blur, and one person can be all three, so teachers don’t expect children to sort people into neat boxes.

The statutory wording doesn’t name anyone, so each school chooses whom to study. A good selection includes women and men, people from the past and people working today, and makers from different countries and cultures. The curriculum’s wider aim is that children begin to understand how art forms have developed over time and in different places. Many schools pick a few makers each year and link them to a project, for example a potter before a clay unit or a textile maker before a weaving or collage unit, but this varies from school to school.

In class, children usually start by looking closely at a real object or a large picture and describing it: what is it made from, what colours and patterns can they see, how do they think it was made? Teachers then ask children to compare two pieces, saying what is the same and what is different, and to try a technique themselves, such as printing, weaving or modelling. Making links to their own work can be as simple as “I used wavy lines like the ones in this textile”. Some schools also invite a local maker to visit or take children to a gallery or museum.

Why does this matter at five, six and seven? It shows children that making things is a real activity that real people do, and that art is not only paintings in frames. It gives them ideas and words to describe their own work. It also builds the habit of looking carefully and saying what you notice, which supports speaking and listening across the curriculum. Children are not expected to remember dates or biographies. Knowing a name and one thing about how the person works is a good outcome at this stage.

Words your child will hear

Artist: Someone who makes art to share ideas or feelings, for example by painting, drawing or sculpting.
Craft maker: Someone who makes objects by hand with skill in one material, such as clay, wood, cloth or metal.
Designer: Someone who plans how a made thing will look and work, such as a chair, a poster or clothes.
Sculptor: An artist who makes solid, three-dimensional work.
Potter: A craft maker who makes pots, plates and cups from clay.
Portrait: A picture of a person, which could be a painting, drawing or photograph.
Landscape: A picture of the countryside, a town or the outdoors.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 1 says:

Pupils should be taught about the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers, describing the differences and similarities between different practices and disciplines, and making links to their own work
Aim: pupils know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: finding out about a maker

Your child is shown a photograph of a blue-striped jug made by a potter. How could they find out about the person who made it, and link it to their own work?

Look closely and describe. What shape is the jug? Where are the handle and the spout? What colours and patterns can you see? Are the stripes straight or wobbly?
Ask how it was made. The potter shaped it from clay by hand or on a potter’s wheel, a spinning disc. After it dried it was fired, which means heated in a kiln, a very hot oven used for pottery. Then it was coated with glaze and fired again, which makes it shiny. Using the right words helps children remember the process.
Ask why it was made. A jug is for pouring, so its maker is a craft maker whose work has a job to do. A painting of a jug on a wall would be different, because it is made to be looked at. A plastic jug made in a factory was planned by a designer, so that many copies could be made.
Compare it with something the class has made. “My pinch pot is also made from clay. The potter’s jug is smooth, and mine has fingerprints.”
Link it to a next step. “I could add stripes to my pot like the potter did, using a pencil to scratch lines.”

A model answer: “The jug was made by a potter. A potter is a craft maker who shapes clay by hand and fires it in a very hot kiln so it is hard enough to use. It has blue stripes and a curved handle. My pot is made from clay too, but mine is not smooth yet. Next time I will try stripes.”

Common mistakes and how to help

Thinking artists are all dead, or all painters

Pictures in books and on classroom walls tend to be of famous paintings from long ago, so children assume that is what an artist is.

What helps: Look at the work of living makers too, and at different kinds of work: sculpture, textiles, pottery, photographs, posters. Ask “Who made this and how?” about everyday things at home.

Believing craft and design are not “real” art

Children often think art means a picture on a wall, so a jug, a quilt or a chair doesn’t seem to count.

What helps: Talk about the skill and decisions in something made by hand. Ask why the maker chose those colours or that shape. The curriculum names all three groups side by side on purpose.

Thinking “making a link” means copying the work exactly

When shown a famous piece, children may try to reproduce it and feel they have failed if theirs looks different.

What helps: Encourage borrowing one idea: the colours, the pattern, the way the material was used. Your child’s version should look like their own work, influenced by what they saw.

Deciding that work they don’t like is bad

Young children say “yuck” or “I like it” quickly, and have not yet learned to give reasons.

What helps: Accept honest opinions and then ask for one reason: “What do you notice that makes you say that?” Liking something and finding it interesting are different things.

How to help at home

Who made it? Pick up a mug, a chair, a blanket or a toy and ask who might have made it and from what. Was it made by hand or in a factory? Who planned how it should look? This is the artist, craft maker and designer question in everyday form.
Look at real work together. Local galleries, museums, craft fairs, churches, public sculptures and murals are often free to look at. Let your child choose a favourite piece and say why. There is no need to read the labels.
Borrow one idea. After looking at a picture, pot or textile, make something that borrows only one idea: the colour scheme, the pattern or the shapes. Talk about what you borrowed and what you changed.
Talk to a maker you know. Someone in the family or neighbourhood may knit, sew, bake, carve, paint or mend things. Ask your child to interview them: what do you make, what do you use, what is hard?
Borrow art books. Libraries have picture books about artists and makers from many countries. Read one together and ask which person your child would like to meet and what they would ask.

Leads on to

Key Stage 2: Great artists in history
Key Stage 2: Great architects in history
Key Stage 2: Great designers in history