Make a minibeast kit
Design and make a minibeast using wood and textiles for the flexible joints. The timber used is either the standard 10mm x 10mm strip or slightly wider 25mm x 5mm  readily available for Primary schools from design and technology suppliers such as TTS or Commotion
The aim of this activity is to encourage pupils to produce accurate plans for items they intend to produce.
Using the minibeast kit pupils can cut out the pieces they require. these can then be assembled on a blank piece of paper to produce prototypes of their design ideas.
Pupils should be encourages to experiment - how many body parts will you use? How many legs? Does it have to have only one head? etc. Get the children to record their ideas by 'prit' sticking the arrangements to blank paper.

The design on left is typical of the kind of designs produced by pupils. Linking to a story or theme is a good way to stimulate pupils and get lots of different ideas.
The next stage is to build the chosen design. Emphasis should be placed on the pupils ensuring that the finished product matches the sizes and dimensions of the paper design.
To build the device we are going to use timber which matches up with the dimensions of the paper strips. The two sizes are 10mm x 10mm and 25mm x 5mm, pupils will need to cut these to the length they require.
Small alterations can be made by the children, chopping off corners, drilling holes for eyes, adding wool and textiles. In order to make a minibeast with moveable joints the children will need to link the wood with strips of cotton or thin fabric - this can be glued with PVA.
Click on the images below to download the worksheets:
Cover sheet Worksheet with guide for teacher / pupil Minibeast kit to cut out pieces to make prototypes Same as previous sheet but for use photocopying onto coloured paper Design sheet for sticking down prototypes