DESIGN TOPIC FOR STUDENTS

 DT2018

Cardboard Packaging

  • LEVEL

    II
  • YEARS

    School yrs 4, 5, 6
  • AGES

    9–11 years old
  • STEPS

    LEARN ➔ DRAW ➔ MAKE ➔ TRY
  • SUMMARY

    Design cardboard packaging for fragile things. Make your cardboard packaging and try it.
  • TECH

    Low-tech
  • CHALLENGE

    Complicated
  • TIME

    2 sessions (one full day)
  • TEAM SIZE

    1 or 2

About

Cardboard is a useful material for packaging. It is cheap, strong, and light. Glass objects such as drinking glasses are mostly packaged in cardboard boxes. The cardboard holds the glass objects so that they don’t fall out, it keeps objects separated so that they don’t chip, and protects the objects if the full box is accidentally dropped on the floor. Cardboard packaging can also be printed with the company name and pictures showing the objects within.
 

Your task

Design cardboard packaging for one or more glass objects, such as drinking glasses. Imagine that you are a company that needs to package objects for sale in a shop or supermarket. Your cardboard packaging must be cheap, strong, and light; and it must be ideal for the shopkeeper and customer. Make your cardboard packaging and test it with the fragile objects within. Do this design topic on your own, or together with a classmate.
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Follow the design steps

To design something well, do it step-by-step and use the methods from the Design Thinking for Schools website. There are four design steps. The first step is LEARN. To design something, you must first learn about it. There is much to learn on any topic, and it is always interesting. Learning will help you to understand the thing that you are designing, so you can do a good job. The second step is DRAW. Try to think of as many different ideas as you can while you draw them with pencil on paper. Keep drawing until you have some ideas that you really like. Improve your ideas and combine them into a single excellent idea. Drawing is easy and fun. Enjoy it! The third step is MAKE. Make the thing that you are designing to show your teacher and classmates. You can only tell if your idea works by making it. Improve your idea while you are making it. Making something with your hands is fun too! The fourth step is TRY. Once you have made something, you should try it to see if it works or not. You can also let someone else try it to see what they think. When you try, you will often find ways to improve your design idea. That will make you a better designer.
 

​​​​​​​Note for teachers

Read the guide for teachers on Safety for the MAKE Step for Level II to safely supervise this design task.