Tuesday, 22nd December 2020

Learning at Home: Packaging - Discover & Design activities for children aged 4-11 years

Can you create your own packaging just like our designers at M&S?

You will need:

•       Food packaging – boxes, wrappers, cartons, bottles – it doesn’t matter if the food is still inside

•       Craft equipment – scissors, glue, colour pens/pencils

•       Box Net Pattern worksheet printed on thick paper or card

Younger children will need some assistance with the activities

We see packaging all around us. It’s everywhere! Have you ever wondered why there are so many different shapes, colours and designs?

Click here to watch the film and find out more

ACTIVITY IDEA: Look around your kitchen. Can you choose 5 different pieces of packaging to look at more closely? 

• ·       What is the object inside?
• ·       How do you know what it is?
• ·       What colours and shapes can you see?
• ·       Does it have any textures?
• ·       What different types of information can you find? Look for writing, symbols, pictures, numbers
• ·       Who is it aimed at? Is it for adults, children or a special occasion?

You could also think about;

• ·       Why do you think there is so much information on the packaging?
• ·       Which bits of the design tell you what the packaging contains?
• ·       Which bits of the design tell you who the product is for? Is it for children or adults? A special occasion?

Let’s have a go at designing our own packaging for a box of biscuits! Our designers at M&S start out by creating a mood board to help them collect all their ideas into one place. Here is an example:

ACTIVITY IDEA: Can you create a mood board for your biscuit box? Choose a theme as a focus like nature, autumn or a birthday. You could sketch, write or cut and stick images from magazines and other packaging.

ACTIVITY IDEA: What will you call your biscuits? Here’s an idea to help you generate your own tempting name!

Name Your Biscuit Activity

ACTIVITY IDEA: Can you use the ideas from your mood board to design a box for your biscuits?

Print the Box Net Pattern worksheet onto card or thick paper. What we have here is a net of a 3D shape. A net is a 2D pattern that can be folded to make a 3D shape. 

Click here to watch the film and find out more

Now it’s your turn;

• ·       What food product is your box for?
• ·       What information/design would be best on the front of your box?
• ·       What information should go on the back, sides and top of your box?
• ·       What sort of recycling information do you want to include?