Art and Design · Year 2

Active learning ideas

William Morris and Design

Active learning works for this topic because students need to see, touch, and make Morris’s patterns to grasp how repetition and stylisation create rhythm and harmony. Close observation of details like acanthus leaves or honeysuckle only becomes meaningful when children handle tools and materials to build their own repeating designs.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS1: Art and Design - Design and Art History

• 25–40 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 25 min · Whole Class

Whole Class: Motif Spotting Circle

Display large prints of Morris designs on the interactive whiteboard or walls. Students sit in a circle and take turns naming plants, animals, or repeated shapes they spot, passing a soft toy to signal their turn. Record findings on a shared chart to review patterns.

Look at William Morris's patterns , what plants and animals can you spot in them?

Facilitation Tip

During the Motif Spotting Circle, hold the pattern prints at child height to encourage close observation and shared pointing to specific details like the curl of an acanthus leaf.

What to look for

Provide students with a small print of a William Morris pattern. Ask them to draw one plant or animal motif they find and write one sentence explaining how it is repeated in the design.

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 02

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 35 min · Small Groups

Small Groups: Potato Print Repeats

Provide potatoes cut into leaf and flower shapes, paints, and paper. Groups dip stamps in paint and print overlapping repeats to mimic Morris. Rotate tools every 5 minutes and discuss how repeats create flow.

How did Morris use the same leaf or flower shape over and over again in his designs?

Facilitation Tip

When guiding the Potato Print Repeats activity, demonstrate how to carve the potato cleanly and rotate it for consistent pressure to avoid messy edges in the print.

What to look for

Show students examples of William Morris wallpaper and a piece of modern patterned wallpaper. Ask: 'What plants or animals can you see in Morris's design? How is the pattern made? What is similar or different about the modern wallpaper?'

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 03

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 30 min · Pairs

Pairs: Wallpaper Comparison

Give pairs samples of Morris patterns and modern wallpapers. They list three similarities, like repeating motifs, and three differences, such as colour vibrancy, on sticky notes. Pairs share one finding with the class.

What is the same and what is different between Morris's patterns and a modern wallpaper?

Facilitation Tip

For the Wallpaper Comparison task, provide actual printed samples side by side so students can trace the lines with their fingers to feel the rhythm of the repeats.

What to look for

During a printing activity, observe students as they create their repeating patterns. Ask: 'Show me how you are repeating your motif. What part of your design is the motif?'

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 04

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 40 min · Individual

Individual: Morris-Inspired Border

Students select a favourite Morris motif from printed sheets and draw a repeating border around an A4 page using pencils and crayons. Add colour inspired by the original design.

Look at William Morris's patterns , what plants and animals can you spot in them?

Facilitation Tip

In the Morris-Inspired Border task, model how to plan the spacing of motifs first with light pencil lines before adding colour to maintain consistent repetition.

What to look for

Provide students with a small print of a William Morris pattern. Ask them to draw one plant or animal motif they find and write one sentence explaining how it is repeated in the design.

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teach this topic by balancing observation with making. Show students how to analyse a pattern by asking them to name the plants or animals first, then discuss how Morris changed them for design. Avoid telling them the answers; instead, ask guiding questions like, ‘How has the artist changed this leaf?’ or ‘Where do you see the pattern start again?’ Research shows that active pattern-making helps students internalise repetition and stylisation better than passive viewing alone.

Successful learning looks like students confidently identifying stylised motifs in Morris’s designs, explaining how patterns repeat, and applying these ideas in their own prints or borders. They should articulate the difference between natural forms and Morris’s artistic interpretation while creating cohesive, intentional designs.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Motif Spotting Circle, watch for students assuming Morris’s patterns copy nature exactly as they see it in real life.

  Redirect by asking, ‘How is this leaf different from a real leaf?’ Then prompt them to sketch a quick side-by-side comparison on scrap paper to see the stylisation.

• During the Wallpaper Comparison activity, watch for students dismissing Morris’s patterns as ‘old-fashioned’ and less interesting than modern designs.

  Have them list specific details they notice in Morris’s print and compare these to the modern sample, prompting them to value the craftsmanship in both.

• During the Potato Print Repeats task, watch for students placing motifs randomly without alignment.

  Pause the group to model how to measure the spacing with a ruler or use the edge of the paper as a guide, then let them try again.

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Methods used in this brief

• Outdoor Investigation Session