Travel & Things We Make and Do • Topic 3 of 3

Crafts, Tools & Materials

This theme covers the things people make and the tools and materials they use. EVS connects every craft to a worker and a material from the surroundings: a potter shapes pots and diyas from clay on a wheel, a weaver makes cloth from cotton or wool thread on a loom, a carpenter builds furniture from wood using a saw and hammer, a blacksmith makes tools from iron over a fire, and a basket-maker weaves baskets from bamboo or cane. India is rich in local crafts and artisans - block printing, pottery, weaving, embroidery, toy-making - usually passed down within families and tied to the local region and its materials. Children learn that a tool is an object that helps us do work (scissors to cut, a needle to sew, a hammer to drive a nail) and that materials have properties that decide their use (clay can be moulded, wood is hard, thread is flexible). EVS strongly encourages doing and experimenting - making, mixing, building and observing - rather than only reading. It also builds an early environmental value through recycling and reuse: turning waste into something useful (old newspapers into paper bags, a broken bucket into a flowerpot, scrap cloth into a doll) saves materials and reduces waste, an idea CTET links to caring for the environment.

✅ Solved examples

1. A child watches an artisan shaping wet clay on a spinning wheel into a pot. Name the craftsperson and the material being used.
The craftsperson is a potter and the material is clay. Pottery is a classic Indian craft; clay is chosen because it can be easily moulded when wet and hardens when fired.
2. In an EVS activity the teacher asks pupils to turn old newspapers into paper bags and a broken bucket into a flowerpot. Which environmental value is being taught?
Reuse and recycling - giving waste materials a new useful life. It reduces waste and saves materials, an important EVS idea about caring for the environment.
3. Match the worker to the right material: weaver, carpenter, blacksmith.
A weaver works with thread/yarn (cotton or wool) to make cloth, a carpenter works with wood to make furniture, and a blacksmith works with iron to make tools. EVS links each craft to its material.
4. Why does EVS encourage children to actually make and experiment with things rather than only read about them?
Because EVS is learnt best through direct doing and observation - making, mixing and building lets children explore materials and tools first-hand, which matches the activity-based, experience-first spirit of EVS at the primary stage.

✏️ Practice — try these, take hints as needed

1. Which tool would a tailor use to JOIN two pieces of cloth together?
It carries thread.
You sew with it.
A needle (with thread)
2. A carpenter mainly works with which material to make tables and chairs?
It comes from trees.
It is hard.
Wood
3. Turning a torn old shirt into a soft doll instead of throwing it away is an example of:
Saving materials from becoming waste.
Giving it a new use.
Reuse / recycling
4. Baskets are commonly woven by an artisan from which easily-bent natural material?
A tall, hollow plant.
Also used for some flutes.
Bamboo (or cane)

📝 Topic test — 8 questions

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