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Year 1

Make a windmill

I can make my windmill freestanding.

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New
New
Year 1

Make a windmill

I can make my windmill freestanding.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Windmill structures can be made from different mixed materials.
  2. Consider the right shape and size when choosing the windmill material.
  3. Adding ballast or base support can make structures stable.
  4. Finished windmills are decorated.

Keywords

  • Ballast - a heavy material used to keep something upright or in position

  • Structure - how something is built or put together

  • Freestanding - something standing up by itself

  • Stable - something is in place and will not fall over

Common misconception

Windmills just need a wide base to stand by themselves.

When the wind catches them, they move or fall - windmills need ballast to secure them.


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

Have a wide variety of resources for pupils to choose from. Time outside, if weather permits for testing. Skills focused upon such as scissors, scooping ballast, using joining methods.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

Scissors, recyclable materials, sticky tape, masking tape, PVA glue, glue sticks, rice, oats, sand, small stones, food bags, pencils, felt pens, crayons, paint and other decorating materials.

content-guidance

Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - equipment
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision required

copyright

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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4 Questions

Q1.
What is a material?
A material is an object.
A material is how big an object is.
Correct answer: A material is is what an object is made from.
Q2.
Which of these are materials?
Correct answer: wood
table
Correct answer: plastic
boat
Q3.
Which of these objects are made from more than one material?
lego brick
Correct answer: chair
Correct answer: scissors
jug
Q4.
Match the object to the material it is made from.
Correct Answer:window pane,glass
tick

glass

Correct Answer:teaspoon,metal
tick

metal

Correct Answer:book,paper
tick

paper

Correct Answer:jumper,wool
tick

wool

4 Questions

Q1.
What does freestanding mean?
falls over
Correct answer: can stand by itself
needs holding up
Q2.
Ballast is something __________ that helps keep a structure stable.
light
Correct answer: heavy
strong
flexible
Q3.
Which of the following is a good material for ballast?
feathers
Correct answer: sand
cotton wool
Q4.
To help to stabilise a paper windmill you can use __________ or __________ to stick supports to the base.
water
Correct answer: glue
Correct answer: tape
sand

Additional material

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