Key Stage 1 · ages 5 to 7
Key Stage 1 design and technology: what your child learns
In Years 1 and 2 children design for particular people, draw and talk through ideas, then make with tools and materials chosen for how they behave. They build stronger, more stable structures, try mechanisms such as levers, sliders and wheels on axles, and prepare dishes using the basics of a healthy, varied diet while learning where food comes from. They also explore existing products and judge their ideas against design criteria.
Guides for parents
Key Stage 1 design and technology
Drawings, templates and mock-ups
How Year 1 and 2 children share design ideas by talking, drawing, using templates and making quick mock-ups, with a worked example and simple ways to help at home.
Key Stage 1 design and technology
Design criteria and users
How Year 1 and 2 children learn to design a product for a real person using design criteria, with a worked example, common mix-ups and easy ideas to try at home.
Key Stage 1 design and technology
Evaluating against criteria
How Year 1 and 2 children check their own ideas and finished products against design criteria and decide what to improve, with a worked example and home ideas.
Key Stage 1 design and technology
Exploring existing products
How Year 1 and 2 children explore and evaluate everyday products to learn how they work, with a worked example, common mistakes and simple things to try at home.
Key Stage 1 design and technology
Healthy and varied diet
How Years 1 and 2 learn the basics of a healthy, varied diet and use them to prepare simple dishes, with a worked example, common mix-ups and safe ideas for home.
Key Stage 1 design and technology
Levers and sliders
How Year 1 and 2 children explore and use simple mechanisms such as levers and sliders in card products like pop-up pictures, with a worked example and home ideas.
Key Stage 1 design and technology
Choosing materials
How Year 1 and 2 children choose construction materials, textiles and ingredients by their characteristics, with a worked example, common mistakes and home ideas.
Key Stage 1 design and technology
Strong, stiff, stable structures
How Year 1 and 2 children build structures and learn to make them stronger, stiffer and more stable, with a worked tower example, common mix-ups and home ideas.
Key Stage 1 design and technology
Using tools safely
How Year 1 and 2 children learn to choose and use tools for cutting, shaping, joining and finishing, with safe habits, common mistakes and ways to help at home.
Key Stage 1 design and technology
Wheels and axles
How Years 1 and 2 explore wheels and axles in design and technology, build a model that rolls straight, and learn what makes a structure strong, stiff and stable.
Key Stage 1 design and technology
Where food comes from
How Years 1 and 2 learn that food comes from plants and animals, trace a sandwich back to the farm, and avoid common mix-ups, with simple ideas to try at home.
Everything in the Key Stage 1 design and technology curriculum
The National Curriculum topics for Key Stage 1, in the order the National Curriculum lists them.