Key Stage 1 design and technology · Make

KS1 design and technology: choosing materials

A good product starts with the right material. In Years 1 and 2, children are taught to select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics. That means looking closely at how things feel and behave, such as whether they bend, stretch, soak up water or hold their shape, and choosing the one that suits the job.

Choosing materials, explained

The three groups named in the curriculum are construction materials, textiles and ingredients. Construction materials are things like paper, card, wood, plastic, clay and recycled packaging. Textiles are fabrics and threads, such as felt, cotton fabric, wool and embroidery thread. Ingredients are the foods used in making something to eat, such as bread, fruit, vegetables or cheese. Components are the smaller parts that join or add to a product, such as split pins, buttons, wheels or elastic. Schools decide which ones to use, so what your child handles depends on the project.

Characteristics are the ways a material behaves. Teachers help children to find words for them: bendy, stiff, strong, soft, rough, smooth, stretchy, waterproof, absorbent, see-through. A common first activity is to handle a collection of materials and sort them. Children then test them in simple ways, for example folding a strip of card to see whether it springs back, or dripping a little water onto different fabrics to see which soaks it up. This is where design and technology and science meet.

Once children know the characteristics, they match them to the purpose. A rain hat for a teddy needs a waterproof material, a pillow for a toy needs something soft, and a model bridge needs something stiff. For food, the characteristics include taste, texture, colour and smell, and children think about what the person eating will like. They might say “I chose crunchy cucumber because it is fresh and fun to bite.” Any food activity is supervised, and schools check for allergies beforehand.

The curriculum does not give a fixed list of materials, so teachers choose them to suit the unit. What matters is that children use proper words to describe a material, test it where they can and give a reason for their choice. The material also affects which tools and joins they pick: scissors cut paper easily but struggle with thick card, and tape holds plastic better than glue does. That reasoning is often more valuable than the finished product, and it prepares for Key Stage 2, when they weigh up the function and appearance of a material at the same time.

Words your child will hear

Material: What something is made from, such as card, wood or fabric.
Characteristic: A feature that describes how a material looks, feels or behaves.
Component: A part used to build or join a product, such as a button or split pin.
Textile: A fabric or cloth, such as felt, cotton or wool.
Ingredient: One of the foods used to make a dish or snack.
Waterproof: Does not let water through.
Flexible: Able to bend without breaking.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 1 says:

When designing and making, pupils should be taught to select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics
When designing and making, pupils should be taught to select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks [for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing]

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

Try it: choosing a material for a teddy’s raincoat

Which material is best for a raincoat for a small teddy: paper, felt, a plastic bag or kitchen foil?

Say what the product must do. It must keep the teddy dry, and it should be easy to wrap round his body.
Look and feel. Paper is thin and light, felt is soft and thick, the plastic bag is smooth and bendy, and foil is shiny and crinkles.
Test each material with a few drops of water over a tray. Paper goes soggy, felt soaks the water in, and the plastic bag and foil let it roll off.
Compare the two that passed. Foil tears and stays creased when it is bent into a coat shape, while the plastic bag bends easily and folds round the teddy.
Choose and explain. An adult cuts the bag open flat, the child cuts a coat shape from it and joins it with tape, then tries it on the teddy. Tape works better than glue here, because glue does not stick well to a plastic bag.

The plastic bag is the best choice because it is waterproof and flexible. A model answer says both: “I chose plastic because water runs off it and it bends round the teddy.” In reality, the choice depends on the criteria, so a child who picked felt for a warm winter coat could also be right.

Common mistakes and how to help

Choosing a material because of its colour or because it is their favourite

Young children are strongly drawn to colour and texture, and appearance is the first thing they notice.

What helps: Ask “What must this part do?” before “What do you like?” Colour is a valid choice for appeal, once the material works for the job.

Thinking a thick material is always strong, or a thin one always weak

Children link size with strength. But a thin sheet of card folded into a tube can be stiffer than a thick pad of tissue paper.

What helps: Test it: ask your child to predict, then try loading each with a small weight. Find out what changes the result.

Using “waterproof” and “absorbent” as if they mean the same thing

Both words are about water, and children meet them together. They are actually opposites: one keeps water out, the other soaks it up.

What helps: Link each word to an object, such as a raincoat (waterproof) and a sponge (absorbent), and test both with a few drops of water.

Believing there is one right material for every product

Children sometimes look for the answer their teacher wants, rather than thinking about the user and the purpose.

What helps: Ask “What if the teddy needed to be kept warm instead?” and let your child see that the best material depends on the job.

How to help at home

Material hunt. Go round a room and find something bendy, something stiff, something soft and something waterproof. Ask your child to say why they think so, and test it where it is safe to do so.
Simple water test. Lay scraps of paper, kitchen roll, plastic and fabric on a tray and drip a little water onto each from a spoon. Ask your child to predict first, then see which ones soak it up and which let it run off. Keep plastic bags away from babies and toddlers afterwards.
Talk about ingredients. When making a cold snack such as a fruit pot or a sandwich, ask your child to describe each ingredient in words: crunchy, juicy, soft, sweet. Check for allergies first and stay close by.
Sort and label. Collect clean scrap packaging and fabric offcuts and sort them into groups. Ask your child to name the group, such as “see-through” or “stretchy”, and then to choose one to make a toy boat or a bag.

Leads on to

Key Stage 2: Using tools accurately
Key Stage 2: Choosing materials