Year 2 Design and Technology Resources
Explore ready-to-teach Year 2 DT resources, lesson plans and activities for teaching Design and Technology in Year 2. Our practical Year 2 DT projects give children opportunities to design, make and evaluate purposeful products while developing skills through structures, mechanisms, textiles, cooking and nutrition. Each scheme of work is designed to support the Year 2 DT curriculum and make planning engaging Design and Technology lessons simple.
Popular Year 2 DT Schemes of Work:
What should children learn in Year 2 Design and Technology?
Year 2 Design and Technology builds on children’s early experience of designing, making and evaluating by giving them opportunities to work with increasing independence and purpose. They should investigate existing products, develop and communicate ideas, choose suitable tools and materials, practise a range of practical skills, and evaluate how well their finished products meet simple design criteria.
Develop purposeful design ideas
Encourage children to think carefully about who a product is for, what it needs to do and how it should work. They can communicate ideas using drawings, labels, templates, models and simple design criteria before beginning to make.
Build practical making skills
Give children opportunities to select and use tools, materials and components with increasing confidence. They can develop skills in cutting, shaping, joining, assembling and finishing while making functional products for a clear purpose.
Develop technical knowledge
Help children deepen their understanding of structures and mechanisms by exploring how products are made stronger, stiffer and more stable, and how components such as wheels, axles, sliders and levers create movement.
Evaluate products and develop food skills
Encourage children to compare existing products, test their own designs and suggest improvements against simple criteria. Year 2 DT can also develop children’s understanding of healthy eating, where food comes from and safe techniques for preparing simple dishes.
Explore our Year 2 DT Resources
Browse our complete collection of Year 2 Design and Technology resources, lesson plans and schemes of work. Discover engaging Year 2 DT activities and projects covering structures, mechanisms, textiles, cooking and nutrition, with ready-to-teach lessons designed to develop children’s designing, making and evaluating skills and support the Year 2 Design and Technology curriculum.
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Planning Year 2 Design and Technology
When planning Design and Technology in Year 2, give children opportunities to develop their designing, making and evaluating skills through purposeful practical projects. Year 2 DT activities can explore structures, mechanisms, textiles and cooking and nutrition, helping children become more confident in selecting and using appropriate tools, materials and components to create products for a particular purpose and user.
Encourage children to investigate and evaluate existing products, generate and communicate their own design ideas, and use drawings, templates and simple models to develop their thinking. As they make, children can practise measuring, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing techniques, before evaluating their finished products against their original design criteria and considering possible improvements. Revisiting these skills across different Year 2 Design and Technology projects helps children develop greater independence, creativity and technical understanding while meeting the requirements of the KS1 DT curriculum.
Planning Design and Technology for your whole school? Explore our DT Curriculum Packs →Frequently Asked Questions about Year 2 Design and Technology
What is taught in Year 2 Design and Technology?
In Year 2 Design and Technology, children develop their skills in designing, making and evaluating purposeful products. They should have opportunities to explore areas such as structures, mechanisms, textiles and cooking and nutrition. Children also learn to investigate existing products, generate and communicate ideas, choose appropriate tools and materials, and evaluate their finished designs.
What does the Year 2 DT curriculum include?
Year 2 forms part of the KS1 Design and Technology National Curriculum. Across Years 1 and 2, children should learn how to design purposeful products for themselves and others, communicate their ideas, select and use tools and materials, and evaluate existing products and their own creations. They should also develop technical knowledge of simple structures and mechanisms and learn about the principles of nutrition and food preparation.
What are some good Year 2 DT activities?
Good Year 2 DT activities give children a genuine purpose for designing and making something. Projects might involve creating a strong structure, designing a moving product using wheels, axles, sliders or levers, making a simple textile product, or preparing food as part of a cooking and nutrition project. Ideally, children should experience the complete design process rather than simply following instructions to make a predetermined object.
What mechanisms should children learn about in Year 2?
At KS1, children should explore and use simple mechanisms such as levers, sliders, wheels and axles in their products. Year 2 projects can build on children's previous experience by asking them to investigate how mechanisms work and decide how they could incorporate them into their own designs.
What should Year 2 children learn about structures?
Children can investigate how structures are made stronger, stiffer and more stable before applying what they discover to their own designs. Practical structures projects give children opportunities to test materials, experiment with construction techniques and evaluate whether their finished structure successfully meets its design criteria.
What cooking and nutrition is taught in Year 2?
Within KS1 Design and Technology, children should learn about the basic principles of a healthy and varied diet and use this knowledge when preparing dishes. They should also begin to understand where food comes from. Year 2 cooking and nutrition activities can combine these ideas with practical opportunities to prepare food safely and evaluate the finished product.
How can I teach textiles in Year 2 DT?
Year 2 textiles projects can introduce children to selecting fabrics, joining materials and creating a simple product for a particular purpose. Children can investigate existing textile products, develop their own designs, practise techniques such as cutting and joining, and evaluate their finished product.
How should children evaluate their DT work in Year 2?
Evaluation should be part of the design process rather than something children only do at the end. Encourage children to discuss existing products, identify what makes them successful and create simple design criteria for their own work. Once they have made their product, they can test it against those criteria, identify what worked well and suggest changes that could improve it.
Where can I find Year 2 DT lesson plans and resources?
PlanBee's Year 2 DT resources include ready-to-teach lesson plans and schemes of work designed to develop children's designing, making, technical knowledge and evaluation skills. Projects cover a range of Year 2 Design and Technology topics and include the teaching materials and activities needed to deliver engaging DT lessons.
