Line, shape and form (KS1 – KS2)
Line, shape, form, space, pattern and texture are the elements the KS1 curriculum names by name, and they underpin everything children go on to make. Sometimes called the formal elements of art, they’re the vocabulary that lets a child explain what they’ve done and what they see. Here’s what the curriculum expects.
What children learn about line, shape and form at KS1 and KS2
What the national curriculum expects
These elements are named directly in the KS1 art and design curriculum, which asks pupils to develop a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space. At KS2 they aren’t named individually. Instead the curriculum asks pupils to improve their mastery of art and design techniques with a range of materials, which in practice means continuing to build the same elements with greater control.
Key knowledge and concepts
Within this topic, children build knowledge of the elements that make up any piece of art:
Line
Straight, curved, thick and thin, and what different lines do
Shape
Geometric and organic shapes, and how they're used
Form
Three-dimensional shape, and showing it on a flat surface
Space
Positive and negative space, and depth in a composition
Pattern
Repeating elements, and how pattern is built
Texture
Actual and implied texture, and how to create both
Tone
Light and dark, and how tone gives work depth
Composition
Bringing the elements together into a whole
Where this topic sits within KS1 and KS2
These elements are named in the KS1 curriculum and carried through KS2 by implication rather than by name. They aren’t a unit taught once. They run through drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking and every other strand, which is why they’re worth naming explicitly.
How to access this topic
Line, shape and form don’t sit on their own in the curriculum. The Cornerstones art and design curriculum is fully sequenced from EYFS through Year 1 to Year 6, so you can see what comes before, what follows and how the whole picture fits together. We’ve done the thinking, so your planning time goes into teaching, not sequencing.
Full curriculum
Subject curriculum
Quick Teach Individual lessons and resources for supplementing what you already teach.
Ready to bring the wider curriculum to life?
See how the full Cornerstones Art and Design Curriculum sequences topics like this one across every year group.