Build “adventure rooms” for a hamster or mouse, using clay. Assemble the pieces inside a box and watch from the top as the pet explores its environment.

KS2

Divide the class into groups, each of which must design and produce a standardised unit for a class model of a large-scale futuristic tower block. One group will make the living quarters for many people, others will produce the leisure, shopping and eating sections. These will have to be assembled as a single unit, with interconnecting passageways and transport facilities.

Collect items of rubbish and build a small-scale model for a house. Then make a large-scale version that’s built in such a way that it’s presence is disguised in the environment where it’s situated.

KS3

Ask students to redesign their bedrooms to include the requirements of a post-modern teenager. They must draw the interior walls in correct perspective, as if designing an open stage set, then research contemporary furniture and fittings and paste items cut from magazines into their room. Ask them to position the items so they are correctly in scale with each other.