Textiles and Design — Year 5 Lesson Plan
National Curriculum: Art and Design KS2 — To improve their mastery of art and design techniques, including using textiles; to know about great artists, craft makers and designers and the historical and cultural development of their art forms.
Overview
Pupils explore textiles as an art form with a rich global history. They study weaving techniques on card looms, learn basic embroidery stitches and investigate textile traditions from West Africa, India and the Bauhaus. Pupils design and produce a textile panel that combines at least two techniques, developing an understanding of how the functional and aesthetic aspects of textiles have been valued across cultures throughout history.
Learning Objectives
- To understand the craft of weaving and produce a woven piece on a card loom
- To learn and apply at least two embroidery stitches with increasing accuracy
- To know about textile traditions from at least two different cultures
- To design and make a resolved textile panel combining at least two techniques
Key Vocabulary
Suggested Lesson Structure
Show pupils examples of West African kente cloth, Indian block-printed textiles, Japanese shibori and Bauhaus weaving. Discuss: what techniques have been used? What do the patterns mean in their cultural context? Introduce the card loom — pass one around the class — and show the over-under rhythm of weaving with a thick yarn.
Demonstrate setting up a card loom: cut notches, thread the warp and tie off. Show the over-under weaving action with a weft thread on a bodkin needle. Demonstrate two variations: plain weave and a simple colour-change stripe. Then demonstrate three embroidery stitches on a fabric swatch: running stitch, cross stitch and chain stitch.
Pupils set up their card looms and begin weaving. Teacher circulates helping with the over-under rhythm and managing thread tension. After 10 minutes, pupils take a break from weaving to practise the three stitches on a fabric sampler, labelling each stitch name. This builds towards the combined panel they will make in subsequent sessions.
Pupils develop their weaving by introducing a second colour and trying a simple design: a stripe, chevron or colour block. They annotate their sketchbook with a diagram of the over-under structure and a note about which cultural tradition has most influenced their colour and pattern choices.
Pupils hold up weavings and discuss: what does the weft colour sequence you have chosen remind you of? Is it inspired by any of the cultural traditions we looked at? Plan the next stage: which stitch technique will they combine with their weaving in the final panel?
Common Misconceptions
- Pupils often pull weft threads too tight, causing the edges of the weaving to curve inwards — teach them to form a small arc in the weft thread before pushing it down, which provides enough slack for even tension
- Some pupils confuse the direction of warp and weft — use a visual reminder: warp goes up the wall like a wardrobe, weft goes across like a shelf
Prior Knowledge
Pupils should already be able to:
- Basic knowledge of textile arts from EYFS threading and weaving activities
- Pattern design from the Year 5 Printing and Pattern unit
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