What are toys made from? - The Complete Series (6 lessons)

This Materials Year 1 Science Pack includes six downloadable lessons. Each lesson contains a detailed lesson plan, a slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.

This scheme of work is also part of a Topic Bundle. Perfect if you are teaching 'Toys' as a cross-curricular topic.

Download this handy Materials Word Mat for free to support your children during this topic.

The first lesson in this practical series encourages your class to identify a variety of toys and think about the materials they are made from. During a hands-on, practical activity your class will observe, sort, name and describe toys, while beginning to think about their purpose.

This downloadable lesson comes with a lesson plan, a slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.

During this lesson on wooden toys your class will develop their ability to think scientifically when asking and answering questions and to use the appropriate language to describe them. The children will apply their knowledge to find and describe other wooden items around the classroom and sort material label cards on classroom items.

This downloadable lesson comes with a lesson plan, a slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.

Explore plastic and the many different forms and purposes it has with your class. Your class will begin by identifying and describing some common toys that have different properties. They will be encouraged to think carefully about why a product’s purpose affects the properties the material needs. Your class will then have the opportunity to sort and describe a variety of the same toys that are made from different materials. Alternatively the children will sort different plastics into categories and see if their peers can use their observation skills to work out what categories the objects have been sorted into.

This downloadable lesson comes with a lesson plan, a slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.

In the fourth lesson of this series children will identify toys that have been made from metal and consider why the properties of metal make it a suitable material for certain toys. The children will begin to also explore toys that are made from more than one material and why this is so. The children will have opportunities to look closely at toys and sort them into material categories as well as have the chance to deconstruct some toys and explore the functions and properties of the different parts.

This downloadable lesson comes with a lesson plan, a slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.

This lesson encourages your class to think about why some materials are more suited to certain purposes than others. They will explore toys that are made from different fabrics and why fabric is a good choice over other materials for certain toys. Your class will help some confused people work out which materials they should use for a variety of tasks, based on what they know about materials, as well as choosing the best material for a variety of objects.

This downloadable lesson comes with a lesson plan, a slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.

The final lesson in this series gives your class the chance to recap what they have learnt about materials and consolidate their knowledge through some exciting open-ended activities. The lesson begins by asking the children to think about and answer questions on the materials they have looked at during this series of lessons. During the activity part of the lesson your class will have the opportunity to apply their knowledge of materials when identifying the toy being described. This lesson ends with an end of unit quiz.

This downloadable lesson comes with a lesson plan, a slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.