Design Studio walks children through the design process used by real designers and engineers. Pick one of 14 Australian design challenges (a bird feeder for native birds, a shade structure for the playground, a bushfire-ready garden, a wind-powered car and more) or write your own brief. Explore a library of 51 materials and what they are good at, run material tests and record the results, draw up to three idea sketches with labels, arrows and measurements, then plan the parts, tools, safety and making steps. Finish by setting design criteria, including sustainability, and rating your idea. Everything comes together in a printable design folio.
Top Tip
Designers always start with the person who will use the design. Before you draw, finish this sentence: "My design is for ___ and it needs to ___." Then check every idea against that sentence.
Skills You Are Practising
Working out who a design is for and what they need
Choosing materials by their properties and explaining why
Testing materials fairly and recording results in a table
Sketching ideas with labels, views and measurements
Listing parts, tools and safety steps and putting making steps in order
Planning time and resources for a project (Years 5 and 6)
Setting design criteria including sustainability and evaluating against them
In the real world
Architects design school shade sails, engineers design electric cars, and product designers make lunchboxes, lamps and garden tools. They all write a brief, test materials, sketch ideas, plan the making and check the result against criteria before anything is built.
For parents & teachers
Build the design for real on the weekend using the folio as the plan, then come back and rate it.
Ask "Who is this for?" and "How do you know it will work?" before your child starts drawing.
Let them test materials in the kitchen: drip water on paper, bend a paddle-pop stick, hang weights from string.
Talk about sustainability: could you use something from the recycling bin instead of buying new?
Who it suits: Foundation to Year 2: picture choices, simple words, a few materials and smiley star ratings. Years 3 and 4: material properties, fair tests, labelled sketches with measurements and criteria including sustainability. Years 5 and 6: everything above plus exact part sizes in millimetres or centimetres and a project plan with who does what, how long it takes, resources and a week-by-week timeline chart.
Australian Curriculum v9.0
This game practises these content descriptions. Tap a code to see its full wording and other games for it.
AC9TDEFP01(Foundation Design and Technologies)generate, communicate and evaluate design ideas, and use materials, equipment and steps to safely make a solution for a purpose
AC9TDE2P01(Year 2 Design and Technologies)generate and communicate design ideas through describing, drawing or modelling, including using digital tools
AC9TDE4P01(Year 4 Design and Technologies)explore needs or opportunities for designing, and test materials, components, tools, equipment and processes needed to create designed solutions
AC9TDE4P02(Year 4 Design and Technologies)generate and communicate design ideas and decisions using appropriate attributions, technical terms and graphical representation techniques, including using digital tools
AC9TDE6P01(Year 6 Design and Technologies)investigate needs or opportunities for designing, and the materials, components, tools, equipment and processes needed to create designed solutions
AC9TDE6P02(Year 6 Design and Technologies)generate, iterate and communicate design ideas, decisions and processes using technical terms and graphical representation techniques, including using digital tools
AC9TDE6P05(Year 6 Design and Technologies)develop project plans that include consideration of resources to individually and collaboratively make designed solutions
AC9TDE8P01(Year 8 Design and Technologies)analyse needs or opportunities for designing, and investigate and select materials, components, tools, equipment and processes to create designed solutions