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Lesson details

Learning outcome

I can explore fabrics and their properties.

Key learning points

  1. There are many different types of fabric, including felt.
  2. Felt is a fabric usually made of wool and other fibres formed by heat, moisture, chemicals, and/or pressure.
  3. Felt is strong and easily shaped.
  4. Felt can be joined using glue, staples or stitching.

Keywords

  • Properties - words to describe what a material is like

  • Fabric - a material used to make clothes, blankets, curtains, etc

  • Man-made - materials that come from sources made by humans, such as plastic

  • Natural - materials that come from natural sources, such as cotton or leather

Common misconception

All fabrics are the same.

There are lots of differnet types of fabrics, some are man-made and others are natural.

Teacher tip

To introduce sewing, soft felt is an easier fabric to use. The soft felt is strong and can be cut with scissors. It is also able to be sewn together or joined in multiple ways. Other materials are shown in this lesson as examples of other fabrics.

Equipment

Range of fabrics, magnifying glasses, senses sheet, feely bags, sorting hoops, a range of joined materials to explore (especially stitches, safety pins, pins), stapler, double-sided tape, PVA glue

Content guidance

Risk assessment required - equipment

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

4 Questions

Q1.
To have a close look at how a puppet is made, we might take it apart. This is called ...

assembling.
Correct answer: disassembling.
building.
unbuilding.

Q2.
Wood, plastic, fabric and glass are all types of ...

Correct answer: materials.
sounds.
smells.

Q3.
What are puppets used for?

Correct answer: to tell a story
to tie your shoelaces
Correct answer: to put on a show

Q4.
Match the keyword to its meaning.

Correct Answer:puppet,toy or model which moves, helps tell stories and can put on a show

toy or model which moves, helps tell stories and can put on a show

Correct Answer:material,what an object is made from

what an object is made from

Correct Answer:disassembly,taking something apart to see how it works

taking something apart to see how it works

4 Questions

Q1.
A material is ...

what sound an object makes.
Correct answer: what an object is made from.
what an object does.

Q2.
Which of these are types of fabrics?

Correct answer: silk
Correct answer: soft felt
wood
plastic

Q3.
What are the two different types of fabrics?

plastic
Correct answer: man-made
wood
Correct answer: natural

Q4.
When we talk about properties of fabrics, we might use our ...

five choices to help.
five food to help.
Correct answer: 5 senses to help.

To help you plan your 1 design and technology lesson on: Fabric properties, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...