Year 6 Design and Technology Resources
Explore ready-to-teach Year 6 DT lesson plans, activities and projects for teaching Design and Technology in Year 6. Our practical schemes of work support the Year 6 DT curriculum while helping children apply increasingly confident designing, making, evaluating and technical skills through structures, mechanical and electrical systems, textiles, cooking and nutrition, and a range of materials and techniques. Each Year 6 Design and Technology project includes the planning and resources you need to teach purposeful, engaging DT lessons.
Popular Year 6 DT Schemes of Work:
What should children learn in Year 6 Design and Technology?
Year 6 Design and Technology should give children opportunities to apply their practical and technical knowledge with increasing independence, accuracy and creativity. Children should research and analyse existing products, identify the needs of users, develop and refine detailed design ideas, select appropriate tools, materials and components, and evaluate how successfully their finished products meet their intended purpose and design criteria.
Develop and refine sophisticated design ideas
Encourage children to use research to understand the needs, preferences and requirements of an intended user before developing a range of possible solutions. They can communicate and refine ideas through annotated sketches, diagrams, prototypes, models, design criteria and computer-aided design where appropriate.
Work accurately and independently
Give children opportunities to select tools, materials and components independently according to their functional properties and the requirements of their design. Year 6 DT projects can develop precision in measuring, marking out, cutting, shaping, joining, assembling and finishing a range of materials.
Apply secure technical knowledge
Help children apply their understanding of structures, mechanical systems, electrical systems and programming to increasingly complex functional products. Year 6 DT activities might involve strengthening structures, using gears, pulleys, cams or linkages, incorporating electrical components or using computing to monitor and control a product.
Test, evaluate and improve products
Encourage children to test their ideas throughout the design and making process, respond to feedback and make informed refinements. Cooking and nutrition projects can also develop confident preparation and cooking skills while deepening understanding of healthy diets, seasonality and how ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed.
Explore our Year 6 DT Resources
Browse our complete collection of Year 6 Design and Technology resources, lesson plans and schemes of work. Discover engaging Year 6 DT activities and projects covering structures, mechanical and electrical systems, textiles, cooking and nutrition, with ready-to-teach lessons designed to develop children’s designing, making, evaluating and technical skills and support the Year 6 DT curriculum.
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Planning Year 6 Design and Technology
When planning Design and Technology in Year 6, give children opportunities to tackle complex, purposeful design challenges and apply their practical and technical knowledge with increasing independence and precision. Year 6 DT activities can include exploring structures, mechanical and electrical systems, textiles, cooking and nutrition, while encouraging children to make informed decisions about the tools, materials, components and techniques best suited to a particular product, purpose and user.
Encourage children to research and evaluate existing products, investigate the needs of intended users and develop and refine detailed design ideas using annotated sketches, diagrams, prototypes, models and clear design criteria. As they make, children should work accurately when measuring, marking out, cutting, shaping, joining, assembling and finishing, testing their ideas and making improvements throughout the process. Year 6 Design and Technology projects should give children opportunities to draw together the designing, making, evaluating and technical skills they have developed across KS2, preparing them for increasingly independent design work at secondary school.
Planning Design and Technology for your whole school? Explore our DT Curriculum Packs →Frequently Asked Questions about Year 6 Design and Technology
What is taught in Year 6 Design and Technology?
Year 6 Design and Technology gives children opportunities to design, make and evaluate increasingly sophisticated products for a particular purpose and user. Children can develop their knowledge and practical skills through projects involving structures, mechanical systems, electrical systems, textiles and cooking and nutrition. They should also become increasingly confident in researching products, developing design criteria, communicating ideas and selecting appropriate tools, materials and components.
What does the Year 6 DT curriculum include?
Year 6 forms part of the KS2 Design and Technology curriculum rather than having its own separate statutory programme of study. Across KS2, children should learn how to research and develop design ideas, make products using a range of tools and materials, evaluate existing products and their own work, and apply technical knowledge. They should also develop their understanding of cooking and nutrition.
What are some good Year 6 DT project ideas?
Year 6 DT projects can challenge children to combine several skills and areas of technical knowledge within a purposeful design brief. Projects might involve designing and making structures, products incorporating mechanical or electrical systems, textile products or food products. Children can also explore computer-controlled products where appropriate, giving them opportunities to apply computing alongside their DT skills.
What skills should children develop in Year 6 DT?
By Year 6, children should be able to approach the design, make and evaluate process with increasing independence. This can include researching users and existing products, creating detailed designs and prototypes, selecting appropriate materials and tools, measuring and cutting accurately, joining and assembling components, testing products and making informed improvements.
What mechanical systems can be taught in Year 6 DT?
Year 6 children can apply their understanding of mechanical systems such as gears, pulleys, cams and linkages when designing functional products. Rather than simply investigating how a mechanism works, children should increasingly be able to choose and incorporate suitable mechanisms into their own designs.
What electrical systems can children explore in Year 6 DT?
Year 6 DT activities can involve electrical components such as switches, bulbs, buzzers and motors. Children can use their understanding of electrical systems to design functional products and may also use programming and computing to monitor or control their designs.
What should Year 6 children learn about cooking and nutrition?
Cooking and nutrition in KS2 should help children understand the principles of a healthy and varied diet and prepare and cook a range of predominantly savoury dishes using different techniques. Children should also understand seasonality and know more about where and how ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed.
How should Year 6 children evaluate their DT projects?
Children should evaluate their finished products against their original design criteria and consider how well they meet the needs of the intended user. They can test functionality, gather feedback, identify strengths and weaknesses and suggest or make improvements. Evaluation should also take place throughout a project rather than only once the product has been completed.
How can I plan Year 6 DT lessons?
Start with a purposeful design brief that gives children a clear product, purpose and intended user. A sequence of Year 6 DT lessons can then include investigating existing products, developing design criteria, generating and refining ideas, practising relevant technical skills, making the product and evaluating the finished outcome. This helps ensure that practical making is part of a complete design process rather than a standalone craft activity.
Where can I find Year 6 DT lesson plans and resources?
PlanBee's Year 6 Design and Technology resources include ready-to-teach lesson plans, activities and projects designed to support teaching across KS2 DT. Complete schemes of work provide the planning and supporting resources needed to take children through the design, make and evaluate process while developing their practical and technical knowledge.
