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Art and design at key stages 1 and 2    (Year 5/6)

Unit 5A: Objects and meanings
Section 1: Exploring and developing ideas (1)

QCA

Objectives
Children should learn:
  • to collect visual and other information to help them develop their ideas
  • to question and make thoughtful observations about starting points and to explore ideas for a still-life arrangement

Activities

Outcomes
Children:
  • Ask the children to collect a variety of visually interesting objects. Guide them by discussing the kind of objects they might collect, eg roots, old ironware, objects from the coast or sea, crockery, fabric remnants, bottles, objects chosen for their shape, colour and personal significance.
  • Discuss and list the qualities of the objects selected. Ask the children to sort and group the objects, considering their similarities and differences. Discuss the idea of contrasts, eg straight and curved, bright and dull, coloured and plain.
  • Ask the children to work in small groups and arrange the objects into a composition for a still life. Encourage them to put large pieces at the back, to create interesting overlaps between the objects, to use a background cloth that contrasts or blends with the objects and to think about the shapes made by objects and groups of objects.
  • collect, sort and group a collection of visually interesting objects
  • arrange objects to create a visually interesting composition for a still-life painting

Points to note
  • Use boards so that children can move their arrangements. Or use cardboard boxes, opened on one side, to 'contain' objects.
  • Children will need different levels of help to make their arrangements.
  • Still life - representation of inanimate objects such as flowers, fruits, musical instruments - has been practised by artists since ancient times and survives in murals and mosaics from Pompeii and Rome. It developed in the West in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and Dutch painters made 'vanitas' - paintings that held meanings that reminded the viewer of the vanity of earthly pleasures.

Sections in this unit

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This unit is divided into sections. Each section contains a sequence of activities with related objectives and outcomes. You can view this unit by moving through the sections or print/download the whole unit.
1. Exploring and developing ideas (1)
2. Exploring and developing ideas (2)
3. Investigating and making
4. Evaluating and developing work (1)
5. Evaluating and developing work (2)