Interior Design Dream Rooms

This project was a huge hit with 5th graders!  The creativity and problem solving involved in these bedroom design projects was exhilarating for the kids.  Over and over I heard that this was students' favorite project EVER! Many of the 4th grade kids have already begged to do this project next year.

Students were given the challenge of becoming an interior designer.  An interior designer is an artist who helps decide what a room will look like from the wall color to the cabinets and furniture.  Each year we learn about a variety of artist careers but this was the first time I decided to pull in interior design in a 3D way! This gave students a chance to exercise their spacial skills.

Here is a great student made video about the job of an interior designer!


Each child was challenged to use his or her creativity to choose colors and decorations for their room. The ultimate challenge was building furniture!  I bought 6 low temperature hot glue guns and the kids used them to build cardboard beds, chairs and tables.  (Side note: I was initially wary about using hot glue guns but the low temperature ones really don't burn like the high temperature ones do! I was surprised to find that 95% of my students had already used a hot glue gun elsewhere! I put craft sticks out with the glue guns so the kids could poke at the glue with the sticks when needed).

The assignment was to create a bedroom design, but some kids made a good case for creating other rooms such as kitchens and living rooms. One particularly creative idea was to create an RV bedroom!

A number of students were so thrilled with their assignments that they worked on items at home and brought extra supplies from home such as carpet, foam and fabric.  Nice work kids! It was fun to be a part of all the excitement!

This was a great project for collaborative learning.  Students spent time explaining to other students how to make things and helping find items of interest in home magazines. 

Learning Goals: I can...
- Explain what an interior designer does (as opposed to an architect or graphic designer)
- Create a model of a room
- Use a hot glue gun safely
- Build at least one piece of furniture my own way (using problem solving)
- Choose colors and accent pieces for my room that fit how I would like my dream room to be!
- Participate in a critique giving feedback to others and evaluating myself