Key Stage 1 art and design · Drawing, painting and sculpture

KS1 sculpture and 3D art: a guide for parents

Sculpture is art you can walk around and hold. At Key Stage 1, children are taught to use sculpture, alongside drawing and painting, to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination, and to use a range of materials creatively to make products. They squeeze, roll, pinch, join and build with clay, dough, card and found materials, discovering that a made object has a front, a back, a top and a bottom.

Sculpture and 3D art, explained

The word “sculpture” covers anything made in three dimensions, so it can be a clay animal, a dough snail, a model made from boxes and tubes, a paper sculpture or something built from natural objects in the playground. The curriculum does not list the materials, so schools decide. Clay, dough and papier-mâché are popular because they can be shaped by hand, while cardboard, tubes and clean packaging let children build and join. Children usually begin by handling the material freely and then move to making a particular idea.

A set of simple hand skills is taught. With clay or dough, children pinch, roll, squash, flatten, twist and pull to shape. They make a ball, a sausage or a coil, and learn to join parts by pressing them together firmly. With clay, this often means scratching both surfaces and adding a dab of water or runny clay before pressing, which some teachers call scoring and slipping. They learn to add texture and pattern by pressing in a fork, a leaf or a button. With card and boxes, they learn to fold, bend, cut, tape and glue. These skills are small but they build to something real.

Form and space are the heart of sculpture. Form means the solid, three-dimensional shape of an object, as opposed to a flat shape on paper. Children learn that a ball has a different form from a cube, and that a sculpture has to be looked at from all sides. They also begin to notice space: the space around the sculpture, the space inside a hollow shape and the gaps between parts. Because the object has weight, they learn practical lessons too. A very thin neck will droop and a heavy head needs a wide base.

As with drawing and painting, the focus is on ideas, experiences and imagination. Children might model an animal they met on a trip, an invented creature, a favourite character, or a home for a toy. Teachers encourage them to talk about their ideas, to try changes and to say what they like. Some schools bring in real sculptures or photos to look at, such as outdoor sculptures in a park, but the work itself is based on what children can do with their hands.

Words your child will hear

Sculpture: A piece of art made in three dimensions that you can look at from all sides.
Form: The solid, 3D shape of an object, such as a ball or a box.
Clay: A soft, earthy material that can be shaped and then left to dry or be fired in a kiln.
Pinch: To squeeze clay or dough between finger and thumb to shape it.
Coil: A long, rolled snake of clay that can be curled or stacked.
Join: To attach one part to another so that it stays, for instance by pressing, scoring or gluing.
Model: A small version or a made version of an idea, built to show what it looks like.

What the National Curriculum says

In Key Stage 1, pupils should be taught to:

Use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination
Use a range of materials creatively to design and make products

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

Try it: modelling a creature from a ball of dough

Use a ball of clay or dough to model an animal, such as a hedgehog.

Think and plan. Decide which animal it is and what it needs: a body, a head, a face, legs or feet, and perhaps spikes. Look at a picture if you want to.
Make the main form. Roll a piece into a ball, then gently squeeze one end into a point for the face, so the head and body are one piece. Press it lightly on the table so that the bottom flattens and it sits steadily.
Add the feet and face. Roll four small balls for feet. Scratch both touching surfaces, add a tiny dab of water and press each one on, smoothing the join with a thumb. Press in two tiny balls for eyes and one for the nose.
Add texture. Use a fork or the blunt end of a pencil, held carefully, to press in spikes, or pinch out little points all over the back with finger and thumb.
Look from all sides. Turn the model around. Is it steady? Do the parts stay on? Fix anything that is wobbly, and then say what you like about it.

A good model is stable, has parts that are joined firmly, and shows the idea the child had, for example a hedgehog with a pointed face and a spiky back. A child might say, “I pinched the back to make it look spiky, and I gave it four short, fat feet so it can stand.”

Common mistakes and how to help

Sticking parts on lightly so they fall off when the model dries or is moved

Children press pieces together just enough to make them touch. Clay shrinks as it dries, so a loose join cracks and comes apart.

What helps: Show how to join firmly: roughen both surfaces, add a dab of water, press and smooth the join. Or make the model from one piece and pull the parts out of it.

Looking at a sculpture from one side only, so the back is flat or blank

Most of a child’s art is two-dimensional, so they think of a front view only.

What helps: Put the model on a turntable, or spin it slowly on a plate, and ask, “What can we see from here? What about the back?” Encourage them to walk around real objects.

Making thin, delicate parts that snap or sag

Fine details such as thin legs or long necks look right but cannot hold the weight of the clay.

What helps: Test it: “Will that leg hold up the body?” Make legs thicker, add a base, or use shorter parts. Learning what a material can bear is part of sculpture.

Thinking sculpture means only statues of people

The word makes many children think of marble figures in museums.

What helps: Explain that a sculpture can be an animal, an abstract shape, a building or a pile of stones. Talk about 3D things you see in a park, and decide if they count.

How to help at home

Playdough or clay time. Shop-bought or homemade dough works well. Ask your child to make something to show how they feel, a favourite food or a pet, and talk about how they shaped it. Wash hands afterwards, remind your child that dough is not for eating, and keep salty homemade dough away from dogs.
Junk modelling. Clean boxes, tubes and cartons can become a castle, a robot or a rocket. Use child-friendly tape and glue, and ask what shape each part is and where it should go.
Natural sculpture. In the garden or park, build something from sticks, leaves, stones and pine cones. It can be a nest, a face or a small tower. Photograph it from three sides, then let it go back to nature.
Look at 3D things in your area. Look at statues, play structures, garden ornaments or even a pile of fruit in a shop. Ask, “What shapes can you see? What would it look like from behind?”
Test it. Ask whether a model can stand up on its own, whether the top is too heavy, and what would help. This is how children begin to understand form and balance.