Design Technology - Charity Soft Toy (Lower Key Stage 2)

Charity Soft Toy is a Design Technology unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 7-9.
Design Brief: Design and make a stuffed animal toy to use in a wildlife charity fundraising appeal.

The package provides the medium-term plan, six lessons (each lesson has a MS Powerpoint presentation). Any additional resources are provided as PDFs or as Powerpoint Presentations. This unit of work fulfils the National Curriculum (England) Design Technology requirements for this age group in the following strands of learning:

• Textiles
  In this unit of work children design and make a stuffed toy sample for a charity to use as part of a fundraising campaign. Children begin by investigating stuffed cuddly toys to identify how they are made and what makes them attractive. They apply this knowledge later when developing design specifications for their own product. They develop their skills in working with textiles and creating pattern templates. They learn the technique of overstitching to create a three-dimensional textile product. Applying this learnt knowledge, they design a unique animal soft toy as part of the design and make activity by creating a mood board and using this to develop a pattern template from which to make their product. They add decorative features to their soft toy product and develop a fundraising appeal poster as part of the evaluation process.

This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:

1. IDEA Task 1: Investigating Soft Toys & Focused Practical Task 1: Decorative Stitching
2. IDEA Task 2: Finding out about animal charities & Focused Practical Task 2: Designs and Patterns
3. Focused Practical Task 3: Making a Soft Toy
4. Designing Session
5. Making Session
6. Evaluation Session