Just a toy?

Cardboard & Paper - Level 1

Overview

This project investigates toys, builds skills of cardboard construction and gives pupils the opportunity to make a toy for a friend.

We have included a range of exploration activities. They have been designed to promote curiosity and give pupils a sophisticated knowledge base with which to create their tinker time project. However, if time is short, please feel free to select the most appropriate activities for your pupils.

What makes a toy a toy?

Ask pupils to create a shared definition

Perhaps use a sentence starter: Toys can be …

If your pupils need more structure: Toys can be made out of ...

It would be helpful to have their ideas displayed so they can be refined throughout the exploration. They will also use this to help them with the tinker time activity.

A computer is a toy ...

Use this probing question to develop pupils' thinking

What makes a good toy?

Ask pupils to find out about what sort of toys their classmates like most (and possibly least). This could be extended by asking pupils to create questions to find out what things are important about toys to their classmates.

Use the editable slide opposite. Can pupils think of more or different ways of asking these questions?

Ask pupils to represent their answers in a table, pictogram or tally chart.

Capture pupil responses to use in Tinker Time.

What makes a good toy?

This activity could be done as whole class and then copies printed for each group OR groups could work to create their own questions on a pre-printed copy.

What sorts of toys are there?

Q1) Can you guess what toy was awarded the oldest toy prize by the National Toy Hall of Fame?

It was the stick! Other early toys were small stone and clay balls or marbles. Marbles were found in a child’s grave in Nagada, Egypt and date from 4000 BC.

Explain to pupils that children have always played with toys.

Thinking deeply ...

Have you read the picture book Stick Man?

Can you remember the different ways stickman was used as a toy?

Why might a stick be such a good toy?

Q2) Which of the following would you rather play with?

Which of these would you rather play with?

Q3) Would we change or add anything to our definition of a toy or what makes a good toy now?

toy design

Q4) Can you name as many toys as possible in the following categories?

Use the google slides for this higher order thinking activity

Let’s get our toys sorted

How can we use toys to explore the past?

Children explore the world through playing with toys and they reflect what matters to us. We can learn a lot about the past by studying toys.

dolls

Use these slides to help pupils think about how we can use toys to study the past

Q) What sorts of things we could learn about the past from toys?

Answers may include things like technology, materials and popular culture.

Pupils may also be able to suggest how toys might tell us about the values and beliefs of societies in the past.

Ask pupils to bring in a toy or game from home. Compare these toys with some pictures of Victorian toys. Ask pupils to find similarities and differences between their toys and the Victorian ones.

Bring in a collection of toys (or use the pictures, or a mixture) - can pupils speculate about which toy is the oldest and which is the newest? What clues did they use?

Paper rods & Cardboard construction

Use the resources below to build the skills pupils will need for tinker time. You may use these as whole class activities or enable pupils to use them to teach themselves and others. Who are your expert paper rod makers? Can they help others?

Making paper rods

(level 1)

Video tutorial

0 - 3.50 mins making paper rods3.50 - 5.30 mins cutting5.30 - 11.54 mins attaching

Paper Rods: Skill Builder

Making paper rods

(level 1)

Google slide

slotted cardboard skill builder.pdf

Slotted Cardboard Construction

(Level 1)

Printable guide

Cardboard types

Cardboard tools

Cardboard attachment (strength)

Cardboard attachment (Movement)

Exploratorium

This website has some great resources and the blog is perfect for developing skills in using cardboard

Can you make a great toy for your friend?

Use your ideas from exploration to think about different toys
To find out what makes a great toy, ask your friends about the toys they enjoy.
Use the techniques from the skill builder and the maker cycle to help you.

Maker{cycle}

tinker time toy

Use the maker cycle google slides to help pupils to produce their best work.

Essential

Carboard and paper

Cardboard cutters/scissors

Masking tape

(Optional)

Pipe cleaners

String

Craft materials and recyclables

Key Stage 1: National Curriculum links

Maths

interpret and construct simple pictograms, tally charts, block diagrams and simple tables

ask and answer simple questions by counting the number of objects in each category and sorting the categories by quantity

ask and answer questions about totalling and comparing categorical data.

This project also makes connections to this topic in year 3.

History

Changes within living memory. Where appropriate, these should be used to reveal aspects of change in national life

Science

Distinguish between an object and the material from which it is made identify and name a variety of everyday materials, including wood, plastic, glass, metal, water, and rock describe the simple physical properties of a variety of everyday materials compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of their simple physical properties.

Design and technology

Design

design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria

Make

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

Evaluate

explore and evaluate a range of existing products
evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria

Technical knowledge

build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable

Key Stage 2: National Curriculum links

Maths

Year 3 - Pupils should be taught to: interpret and present data using bar charts, pictograms and tables solve one-step and two-step questions [for example, ‘How many more?’ and ‘How many fewer?’] using information presented in scaled bar charts and pictograms and tables.

Year 4 - Pupils should be taught to: interpret and present discrete and continuous data using appropriate graphical methods, including bar charts and time graphs. solve comparison, sum and difference problems using information presented in bar charts, pictograms, tables and other graphs.