Art and Design · Year 1 · Art in Our Community · Summer Term

Designing a Community Mural

Collaboratively designing a mural for a school wall or imaginary public space, focusing on themes relevant to the community.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS1: Art and Design - Evaluating and Developing Ideas

About This Topic

Designing a community mural invites Year 1 students to plan a large-scale artwork for a school wall or imagined public space. They explore community themes, such as local landmarks, seasonal changes, or school events, to create designs that tell a story. Students select colours and images that convey specific messages, like joy through bright yellows or calm with cool blues, while practising the steps of collaborative art: brainstorming, sketching, refining, and presenting.

This topic aligns with KS1 Art and Design standards for evaluating and developing ideas. Children learn to critique their own and peers' work, discussing how elements like pattern, shape, and colour enhance meaning. Group planning fosters communication skills and introduces basic design principles, preparing students for more complex projects in later years.

Active learning shines here through shared sketching and model-building. When students arrange paper sections into a giant mural layout or vote on colour choices with sticky notes, they experience collaboration directly. These methods make design decisions visible and negotiable, helping young learners internalise storytelling and teamwork in art.

Key Questions

1. Design a mural that tells a story about our school or community.
2. Evaluate how different colours and images in a mural can convey a message.
3. Explain the process of working together to create a large piece of art.

Learning Objectives

• Design a collaborative mural plan incorporating at least three elements that represent the school community.
• Explain how specific colour choices and imagery in their mural design convey a chosen message to an audience.
• Critique their own and a peer's mural sketch, identifying one strength and one area for improvement based on the community theme.
• Demonstrate the steps of collaborative art creation, from brainstorming to presenting a group design.

Before You Start

Exploring Colour and Shape

Why: Students need basic familiarity with identifying and using colours and shapes before they can discuss their symbolic meaning or incorporate them into a design.

Introduction to Drawing and Sketching

Why: Students should have prior experience with basic drawing techniques to participate effectively in the sketching and design process.

Key Vocabulary

Mural	A large painting or other artwork applied directly to a wall or ceiling surface. Murals often tell a story or convey a message.
Community Theme	An idea or subject that is important or relevant to the group of people living in a particular area or belonging to a specific school.
Imagery	The use of pictures or visual descriptions in art to represent ideas, feelings, or objects. Specific images can carry meaning.
Colour Symbolism	The way different colours are used in art to represent specific ideas or emotions, such as red for excitement or blue for calmness.
Collaborative Sketch	A drawing created by multiple people working together, where ideas are shared and combined to form a final design.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

A mural is just a collection of random pictures with no story.

What to Teach Instead

Guide students to sequence images chronologically or thematically during group planning. Arranging sketches on the floor helps them see the narrative flow, correcting the idea through visual reordering and peer feedback.

Common Misconception

My idea is the only important one in a group project.

What to Teach Instead

Use round-robin sharing where each child adds to a shared sketch. This active rotation builds respect for others' contributions, as students physically combine elements and justify changes together.

Common Misconception

Colours are only for making things pretty, not for messages.

What to Teach Instead

Hands-on colour sorting activities, pairing emotions with hues, show purpose. Pairs testing colours on mini-scenes discuss effects, linking choices to feelings through trial and observation.

Active Learning Ideas

Whole Class Brainstorm: Community Story Web

Gather students in a circle to share community stories using prompt cards like 'Our park' or 'School friends'. Record ideas on a large web chart. Then, vote with hand signals on top themes for the mural.

30 min·Whole Class

Small Groups: Section Sketches

Divide the mural into 4-6 sections based on the story web. Each group sketches their section on large paper, focusing on 2-3 colours that match the mood. Groups share and swap ideas for improvements.

45 min·Small Groups

Pairs: Colour Message Test

Pairs draw simple scenes, like a playground, in different colour schemes. They show to another pair and explain the message, such as 'warm colours make it exciting'. Adjust based on feedback.

25 min·Pairs

Individual: Personal Symbol Design

Each student draws one symbol representing themselves or their family for the mural border. Collect and discuss how to fit them into the group design without overcrowding.

20 min·Individual

Real-World Connections

• Public artists and community groups often work together to design and paint murals on the sides of buildings in towns and cities, like the 'Street Art' festivals held in Bristol, to beautify spaces and share local stories.
• School designers and art committees collaborate on large-scale art projects for school walls, ensuring the artwork reflects the school's values and student experiences, similar to how the Tate Modern in London commissions large installations.

Assessment Ideas

Discussion Prompt

Gather students in small groups. Present them with two different colour palettes (e.g., bright and warm vs. cool and muted). Ask: 'Which palette would you use for a mural celebrating a school sports day, and why? Which would you use for a mural about a quiet park, and why?'

Peer Assessment

Students work in pairs to sketch a section of the mural. After 10 minutes, they swap sketches. Each student writes one sentence on their partner's sketch about what they like and one question about an image or colour choice.

Quick Check

As students are brainstorming ideas, circulate with a checklist. Ask each student: 'Can you point to one image in your sketch that tells a story about our school? Can you explain what message one of your colours is trying to send?'

Frequently Asked Questions

How do Year 1 students evaluate colours in mural design?

Start with familiar objects: show red apples versus blue ones and ask what feelings emerge. In groups, students test colour combos on sketches, noting how warm tones energise a scene while cool ones soothe it. Peer critiques refine choices, building confidence in using colour for message.

What steps teach collaborative mural planning?

Begin with whole-class theme selection via voting. Move to small-group section sketches with assigned roles like 'colour chooser'. Assemble on a wall model for final tweaks, emphasising compromise. Document the process with photos to revisit teamwork successes.

How can active learning benefit designing a community mural?

Active strategies like group sketching on shared paper and physical arrangement of pieces make abstract collaboration concrete for Year 1. Students negotiate space and ideas hands-on, reducing conflicts and boosting ownership. Role rotations ensure everyone contributes, while immediate feedback loops strengthen design evaluation skills.

How to link mural design to community themes?

Walk the school grounds or invite community photos for inspiration. Students photograph or draw favourites, then cluster into mural categories like 'play areas' or 'helpers'. This grounds designs in real life, making the artwork meaningful and relevant to their world.