• Name and explore a range of everyday products and begin to talk about how they are used. 
• Follow rules and instructions to keep safe. 
• Identify products that use electricity to make them work. 
• Explore, build and play with a range of resources and construction kits with wheels and axles. 
• Create collaboratively, share ideas and use a variety of resources to make products inspired by existing products, stories or their own ideas, interests or experiences.
• Use digital devices to take digital images or recordings of their creations to share with others. 
• Construct simple structures and models using a range of materials. 
• Choose and explore appropriate tools for simple practical tasks. 
• Adapt and refine their work as they are constructing and making. 
• Recognise that it is possible to change and alter their designs and ideas as they are making them.
• Select appropriate materials when constructing and making. 
• Follow instructions, including simple recipes, that include measures and ingredients. 
• Suggest healthy ingredients that can be used to make simple snacks. 
• Begin to identify the origins of some foods.

Throughout Year 1, children will develop their designing, making and evaluating skills through a range of practical projects. They will begin by exploring different types of shelters, considering their purpose and the materials used to make them before designing and constructing their own shelter prototypes and working collaboratively to build a play den. Children will then investigate wheels, axles and chassis, learning how these components work together to create movement before designing and making their own model vehicle. Later in the year, they will explore where food comes from and develop a range of food preparation skills, including peeling, tearing, slicing, chopping, mashing and grating. They will use these skills to design and make a supermarket sandwich that meets specific design criteria. Across the year, children will learn to make purposeful choices about materials and components, follow their designs and evaluate how successfully their finished products meet their intended purpose.

Throughout Year 2, children will build on the designing, making and evaluating skills developed in Year 1, applying them to increasingly detailed practical projects. In Marvellous Mechanisms, children build on their understanding of movement from the Year 1 On the Move unit by exploring a new range of mechanisms, including sliders, levers and linkages. They make and test examples of each before designing and creating a greetings card with a moving part. In Seaside Structures, children develop the structural knowledge introduced in Year 1 Den Designers, learning how to join and strengthen materials securely and exploring how different design choices affect a structure's stability and function. Later in the year, Stitch, Sew, Create! introduces children to textiles and sewing, where they learn to follow simple patterns, use a running stitch and add embellishments before designing and making their own sewn bag tag. Across the year, children become increasingly confident in selecting appropriate materials, components and techniques, testing their ideas and evaluating how successfully their finished products meet their intended purpose.

In the autumn term of Year 3, children continue to learn about food, understanding the concept of a balanced diet and making healthy meals in the project Cook Well, Eatwell. In the spring term project Making it Move, children extend their understanding of mechanisms by exploring cams and using joining and finishing techniques to make automaton toys. In the summer term project Greenhouse, they continue to develop their knowledge of structures, using triangles and braces for strength. They design and build a greenhouse, using their understanding of opacity and transparency and the needs of plants from science learning to inform their design.

In the autumn term of Year 4, children continue to develop their understanding of food in the project Fresh Food, Good Food. They learn about food safety and preservation technologies before designing and making packaging for a healthy snack. During the spring term project Functional and Fancy Fabrics, children continue to explore textiles, learning about the work of William Morris before designing, embellishing and finishing a fabric sample. In the summer term project Tomb Builders, they build on their knowledge of mechanisms, learning about six simple machines and using their knowledge to create a lifting or moving device prototype. They also explore and use electrical systems and IT monitoring and control in the science project Electrical Circuits and Conductors for the first time.

In the autumn term of Year 5, children deepen their understanding of mechanisms by studying pneumatic systems in the project Moving Mechanisms. They learn about the forces at play and create a prototype for a functional, pneumatic machine. In the spring term project Eat the Seasons, children continue to explore food and nutrition, learning about seasonal foods and the benefits of eating seasonally. In the summer term, they learn more about structures in the project Architecture, studying the history of architecture and developing new ways to create structural strength and stability. They use computer-aided design and consolidate their making skills to produce scale models. They also explore the electrical conductivity of materials before making products incorporating circuits in the science project Properties and Changes of Materials.

In the autumn term of Year 6, children learn about processed and whole foods in the project Food for Life, creating healthy menus from unprocessed foods. In the spring term project Engineer, children consolidate their knowledge of structures, joining and strengthening techniques and electrical systems by completing a bridge-building challenge. In the summer term project Make Do and Mend, they extend their knowledge of textiles by learning new stitches to join fabrics and using pattern pieces to create a range of products.