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

KS1 art: comparing artists’ work and talking about it

In Years 1 and 2 children learn to look at two pieces of work, say what is similar and what is different, and explain what they think using simple art words. They also link what they see to their own work. This is the beginning of evaluating art, and it relies far more on careful looking and talking than on writing.

Comparing artists’ work, explained

Art is made in many different ways, which the curriculum calls different practices and disciplines. A painter works with paint on a flat surface, a sculptor shapes solid forms, a printmaker presses an inked design onto paper, a weaver builds cloth from threads, and a designer plans objects or pictures to be made. Children compare pieces from different practices and from the same one. A painting and a sculpture of an animal share a subject but differ in how they are made. Two paintings might share a material but differ in colour, mood or brushwork.

A comparison has two halves. Teachers ask for what is similar and what is different, and they want both. Children often say only “this one is bigger” or “I like this one”, so adults prompt them with sentence starters such as “I can see…”, “They are the same because…”, “They are different because…” and “I think… because…”. Describing comes before judging, and giving a reason matters more than the opinion itself.

To talk about art, children need words. In Years 1 and 2 these are mostly the elements they use in their own making: colour, line, shape, pattern, texture, form and space, plus words for materials and tools. Teachers model them, point at the work, and show how to use them in a sentence. Telling a child their drawing is “lovely” teaches little. Saying “I can see you pressed hard to make dark lines” teaches them what to say next time.

The second half of the objective is making links to their own work. After studying a piece, children might try a technique, borrow a colour scheme or take one idea and use it in their own way. They then look back at what they have made and say what worked and what they would change. Schools differ on whether this is spoken, drawn, written on a sticker, or recorded by an adult, and at this age talking is just as valid as writing. Expect short comments, not paragraphs.

Words your child will hear

Compare: Look at two things and say how they are alike and how they are different.
Similarity: Something the same in both pieces of work.
Difference: Something that is not the same in the two pieces of work.
Medium: The material an artist uses, such as paint, clay, pencil or fabric.
Describe: Say what you can see, using careful words, before saying what you think.
Opinion: What you think or feel about a piece of work, with a reason.
Evaluate: Say what is working well in a piece of work and what could be better.

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 evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design.

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

Try it: comparing two pictures of the same subject

A teacher shows two pictures of a sunflower. One is a painting with thick yellow and orange paint and visible brush marks. The other is a print made with flat shapes in yellow, orange and brown. How could a child compare them?

Describe first. “I can see a sunflower in both pictures. The painting has thick paint and the print has flat shapes.” No opinion yet, just what is there.
Find similarities. Both show the same flower. Both use yellow and orange. Both have a dark circle in the middle.
Find differences. The painting looks bumpy and soft at the edges, because the paint is thick and the brush marks show. The print has clear edges and the same flat colour all over. One was made with a brush and one by pressing shapes onto paper, so the medium is different.
Say what you think and why. “I like the painting more because the paint looks like petals that you could touch.” A different child might prefer the print because it is neat and bold, and both answers are fine if there is a reason.
Link to your own work. “I could try painting a sunflower with thick paint, or I could cut out shapes and print them.”

A model answer: “Both pictures show a sunflower and both use yellow and orange. The painting has thick brushstrokes and the print has flat shapes with sharp edges. I like the painting best because the paint looks bumpy. Next time I will try thick paint in my own picture.”

Common mistakes and how to help

Saying “it’s nice” or “I don’t like it” and stopping there

These are quick, honest reactions and most children have not been shown how to say more. Short answers are not laziness.

What helps: Follow up with “What can you see that makes you say that?” or “Show me the part you like best.” Describing something specific is the real skill.

Only noticing differences, or only similarities

Children often notice what is most obvious, such as size or colour, and stop. Others assume things in the same subject must be the same.

What helps: Ask two separate questions every time: “What is the same?” and “What is different?” Counting out three of each makes a good game.

Believing art is good only if it looks real

Children admire pictures that look like photographs, so a loose or flat picture can seem wrong or unfinished.

What helps: Ask what the artist wanted you to notice, and what colours, lines or shapes they chose. A picture can be about mood or pattern as well as what something looks like.

Deciding their own work is worse than the artist’s

Comparing a seven-year-old’s picture with professional work can feel like a contest they have lost.

What helps: Make clear that comparing is for noticing, not ranking. Ask “What is one thing you tried that worked?” and “What did you borrow from the artist?”

How to help at home

Three the same, three different. Take two pictures or objects, such as postcards, book covers or cards, and challenge your child to find three things that are the same and three that are different. Use real art words like colour, line, shape and pattern when you can.
A toy and its drawing. Draw a favourite toy, then compare the drawing with the toy itself. What can the real toy do that the drawing can’t? What can the drawing show that the toy can’t?
Use sentence starters. Keep three simple starters in your pocket: “I notice…”, “I wonder…” and “I like… because…”. Use them yourself when you look at pictures, packaging or buildings so your child hears how it sounds.
Reflect on their own work. When your child finishes a picture, ask which part took the most care and what they would do differently next time. Write down their words, even if they are short.
Make a small response. After looking at a piece of art, ask your child to make something that takes one idea from it, such as a colour or a pattern. Then compare the two and say how they link.

Leads on to

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