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

• 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.

• Guide the children to make a range of small studies in their sketchbooks by using a viewfinder to select parts of the arrangement. Encourage the children to choose media that reflect the focus of their work, eg charcoal and chalk to represent tonal contrasts. Ask them to think about:
• the arrangement of shapes
• the 'colour families' they work with
• the idea of contrasts
• the effect of light and shade
• the textures of objects
• Discuss the use of line, colour, tone, texture and composition in selected artists' works as well as the ideas that inform still-life painting. Ask the children to compare the methods and techniques of others' with their own work, identifying similarities and differences in subject matter, contrasts, viewpoints and techniques.
• After this discussion, ask the children to review their choice and arrangement of objects. Talk about the possibilities for arrangements that highlight the meanings in their chosen objects and the association of objects. Encourage the children to develop and refine their ideas.

• Ask the children to choose an idea from their sketchbook studies to develop into a larger picture. Ask them to draw in the main shapes of the composition.
• Demonstrate how to apply paint to create large, flat areas of colour. Guide children about brushwork and methods of painting to the edge of a shape. Talk about using colour symbolically.
• Ask the children to paint the main shapes using large flat areas of colour. Ask the children to decide how they will develop their work. They could choose to:
  either
• use a 'family' of colours, eg blues and purples, reds and yellows. They could consider how the main colours can be complemented by the limited use of another colour. Consider how contrasts can be achieved by using light and dark tones of colour and by overpainting large bold shapes to emphasise contrast and qualities of shape and tone
or
• eliminate tone and details, focusing on shape, colour and composition

• Review the use of methods and techniques in the children's paintings. Discuss whether the paintings communicate the ideas that the children intended.

• Ask the children to compare and comment on a range of examples of still-life painting. Ask them to look at:
• the subject matter, eg the group of objects
• the contrasts that artists used in the work, eg colour, light and dark
• the viewpoints, eg a whole arrangement shown or parts of objects
• the painting techniques, eg flat or varied areas of colour, textured or plain surfaces, painting that shows brushstrokes or conceals them
• the strengths and difficulties of working in the different media
• the ways in which three-dimensional objects can be represented in two dimensions
• Ask the children to compare these paintings with their own work.