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Original poster

Can someone pls help me understand a grandchild’s project.

51 replies

VeryconfusedNana · 27/02/2025 11:59

Hi there, I’ve name changed for this post due to family circumstances that mean I’m very much involved in the life of two of my grandchildren.

Today one of them has come home with a project to be done and I’m completely lost as to what’s needed. It’s to the extent I feel completely defeated and I could sit here and cry at how hopeless I feel.

Im ok with projects on the Romans and Vikings for eg but I’ve no imagination and I need to be able to see the kind of thing we’re supposed to be aiming for. There’s also the fact I’m just too embarrassed to ask the school for clarification, surely if they’re giving these projects to 7/8 year olds it really shouldn’t be beyond me at 66.

This is the brief -

Design and make a model of a futuristic travel machine which they should be able to talk about to the whole class.

Please try to re-use and recycle materials as much as possible.

The children should include a simple lever or linkage in their design, to either extend the wheels from inside the aircraft or a door opening. They will be shown how to do this in school.

My problem is that anything I’ve found on Twinkle for example isn’t a model. It’s let’s say a crocodiles mouth on a piece of A4 paper with a moving part from the lever/linkage. Is that the kind of thing being asked for but aeroplane related? Or is it supposed to be a model aeroplane made out of cardboard/a water bottle/toilet roll tube for eg?

I need to be one step ahead of my grandchild on this, not so I can do the work for them but there is more than likely a specific learning difference going on that complicates things.

Can someone please set this very embarrassed grandma on the right road with the project.

Thank you.

OP posts:
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RabbitProofCarrots · 27/02/2025 12:07

Have you asked your grandchild? They want a model of some kind of futuristic véhicule, and it should include a lever. Yes, they are encouraging you to use stuff from your recycling bin rather than buy loads of art supplies. The kids have clearly been learning about levers at school. - Ask your grandkid if they have ideas about the lever.

Original poster
VeryconfusedNana · 27/02/2025 13:16

Thank you. But I understand about the lever.

Have I asked my grandchild? No not yet. I have to be one step ahead on this.

It’s what kind of form the model is to take. Is it a basic drawing on an A4 paper with a link/lever attached. Or is it something made out of cardboard and anything else around the house, something that’s a substantial size - like a Viking ship for eg but with a working link/lever.

This project can either be very simple or actually quite difficult/complex and I don’t know what they want.

I want to be prepared. And interesting enough - none of the examples or projects on Twinkle relating to this unit are model like affairs. They’re of the A4 paper with cut outs variety instead.

OP posts:
Snorlaxo · 27/02/2025 13:19

Design could be on paper then I assume the actual model would be junk modelling either empty boxes, maybe painted silver or covered in foil or something to look futuristic.

Telemichus · 27/02/2025 13:23

As pp I would expect an actual model with a lever, not a picture of a model with a lever, although I also know my 7 year old wouldn’t stop long enough to draw a design, would be right in there with the egg boxes!
I would expect size to range from an egg boxes to an entire wearable construction made of a washing machine box, you just do you. And if it’s huge, it serves the teacher bloody right for making us do junk modelling!

Fintoo · 27/02/2025 13:25

Something that looks vaguely like a rocket made out of boxes and loo rolls, covered in foil? With a door or hatch cut out that you can attach a lever too?
That’s about as good as my imagination gets!

Sarahbelle25 · 27/02/2025 13:27

VeryconfusedNana · 27/02/2025 11:59

Hi there, I’ve name changed for this post due to family circumstances that mean I’m very much involved in the life of two of my grandchildren.

Today one of them has come home with a project to be done and I’m completely lost as to what’s needed. It’s to the extent I feel completely defeated and I could sit here and cry at how hopeless I feel.

Im ok with projects on the Romans and Vikings for eg but I’ve no imagination and I need to be able to see the kind of thing we’re supposed to be aiming for. There’s also the fact I’m just too embarrassed to ask the school for clarification, surely if they’re giving these projects to 7/8 year olds it really shouldn’t be beyond me at 66.

This is the brief -

Design and make a model of a futuristic travel machine which they should be able to talk about to the whole class.

Please try to re-use and recycle materials as much as possible.

The children should include a simple lever or linkage in their design, to either extend the wheels from inside the aircraft or a door opening. They will be shown how to do this in school.

My problem is that anything I’ve found on Twinkle for example isn’t a model. It’s let’s say a crocodiles mouth on a piece of A4 paper with a moving part from the lever/linkage. Is that the kind of thing being asked for but aeroplane related? Or is it supposed to be a model aeroplane made out of cardboard/a water bottle/toilet roll tube for eg?

I need to be one step ahead of my grandchild on this, not so I can do the work for them but there is more than likely a specific learning difference going on that complicates things.

Can someone please set this very embarrassed grandma on the right road with the project.

Thank you.

Don't be embarrassed, im 42 with a 12 and 14 year old and their homework still baffles me.

BarnacleBeasley · 27/02/2025 13:28

I think you are overthinking - it shouldn't be massively complex, because it's homework for 7/8 year olds. I think the constraints are: (1) having a lever, (2) what kinds of packaging you have handy to do junk modelling from, and (3) your grandchild's imagination. Most of the ideas should come from the GC because they'll have to talk about it in school. I reckon you just get out all the recycling and the craft supplies and see what you can do together.

parietal · 27/02/2025 13:28

I think the child needs to make a model out of cardboard / plastic bottles etc.

the model needs to have a lever somewhere

the model needs to look roughly like it is a vehicle or machine for transporting people around, maybe in the future.

MsMcGonagall · 27/02/2025 13:30

It sounds a nightmare.

It says "design AND make" which I would read as design = drawing the plan for the machine / lever on a piece of paper. Make = junk modelling/ some sort of actual creation of the machine.

So both, if you are going for it.

I wouldn't hesitate to ask the school for some extra guidance though.

FluffMagnet · 27/02/2025 13:31

Ok, how about a toilet roll with two ice lolly sticks on each side, attached just in the middle of the stick with a pin (or similar), end of the pin being bent over on side of the loo roll to hold in place. At one end of each lolly stick, stick paper cut out of wheels. Tart up loo roll as needed, and you have yourself an boat that turns into a car when you "pull the levers" (spin the two lolly sticks 90°) and the "wheels" come down. Play around with drawing two wheels side by side, so the car have 4 wheels (however rubbish it looks!)

SBHon · 27/02/2025 13:33

What is it that’s making you feel the need to be ‘one step ahead’ of your grandchild? You really don’t need to be: They’ll learn about the lever part in school, that might give them an idea for the design and you can talk about it together.

FluffMagnet · 27/02/2025 13:33

(although, classic example of homework for the parents/grandparents, as how many 7/8 year olds will be able to create this without some serious adult inspiration?)

SBHon · 27/02/2025 13:33

FluffMagnet · 27/02/2025 13:31

Ok, how about a toilet roll with two ice lolly sticks on each side, attached just in the middle of the stick with a pin (or similar), end of the pin being bent over on side of the loo roll to hold in place. At one end of each lolly stick, stick paper cut out of wheels. Tart up loo roll as needed, and you have yourself an boat that turns into a car when you "pull the levers" (spin the two lolly sticks 90°) and the "wheels" come down. Play around with drawing two wheels side by side, so the car have 4 wheels (however rubbish it looks!)

Edited

This isn’t the child’s idea though. Wait and see what the child wants to do!

Octavia64 · 27/02/2025 13:34

A space rocket with a door that opens by a lever

A underwater car with wheels that come out when it goes on land

That's the sort of thing I think of.

GeorgeTheFirst · 27/02/2025 13:36

I think the reason you are bamboozled is that you haven't got all the information on the project. Your GC will have been told stuff at school, you need to talk to them

LIZS · 27/02/2025 13:36

I think the key is "They will be shown how to do this in school." Let them lead on design and support withgathering materials and execution.

BarnacleBeasley · 27/02/2025 13:37

The other way to look at it is: what is your grandchild supposed to be learning. It sounds like they need to understand what a lever is, and have some ideas about what travel might be like in the future. The quality of the model does not have to be very high.

NoBinturongsHereMate · 27/02/2025 13:38

They want a 3D model, not a sheet of paper. Made, Blue Peter style, from loo roll centres, egg boxes and washing up liquid bottles. I'd aim for something about shoebox sized, so it's easy to carry into school.

Don't get fixated on the lever. Any vehicle will have some sort of door, wheels or both. Add the lever to that. School will have shown them how to make it.

Doglady1764 · 27/02/2025 13:39

I know what you mean OP. This would stress me out!!!

BarnacleBeasley · 27/02/2025 13:39

If it was me, I'd make the boat from this video: %7BFutures%7D and talk about how everyone will have to get around by boat in the future because of rising sea levels. But I'm not the GC - they'll have their own ideas!

The models in the video count as 'models' in my opinion, even though they are 2D on bits of cardboard.

SparklyGlitterballs · 27/02/2025 13:43

I'd presume design it on paper and then make something out of household junk, maybe a bit like this, but with a lever included somewhere...

Can someone pls help me understand a grandchild’s project.
PollyHutchen · 27/02/2025 13:44

I would probably do it backwards

I'd look at what recycled stuff I had/
Milk carton, glass jars - incl lids, cereal boxes. bubblewrap. Egg boxes, takeaway/ready meal container, previously used kitchen foil, packaging from Amazon delivery. Bits of old clothing/rags/
I'd put it all on a table
Then, 'Let's make a few machines for the future - planes, space ships, trams etc. All must either have a door or wheels.
You might want to take photos of various stages.
Pick the best one
A further option - but not I think essential - is to do a drawing which is the 'design'. But I think design just means you do it yourself, rather than downloading something off a website and following the instructions.

BarnacleBeasley · 27/02/2025 13:45

Incidentally, my mum was the only parent in the history of the universe who actually liked doing these projects. She loved having two kids in the same school so she got a second go at some of them, having spent 2 years improving her design.

NoBinturongsHereMate · 27/02/2025 13:50

I think design just means you do it yourself, rather than downloading something off a website and following the instructions.

Yes.

JustMyView13 · 27/02/2025 14:02

SparklyGlitterballs · 27/02/2025 13:43

I'd presume design it on paper and then make something out of household junk, maybe a bit like this, but with a lever included somewhere...

^^ Nailed it!