An important idea to grasp in Design Technology KS2 is the way 3D objects and places can be represented on paper by 2D drawings, and children begin to learn this rather difficult concept in Design Technology KS1. A children’s educational software like Spex is an ideal tool to get these ideas across and can be combined with traditional methods of teaching to introduce and reinforce the children’s understanding. Using simple 3D Design software children also gain experience of scale, proportion and symmetry in a practical context.

Download Spex Classic for free and try it out for yourself, the program will work on PC Windows.

Spex Classic is a simple software to design places in 2D Plan View and see them in the 3D View. Design rooms in the home with Spex, a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and lounge. Design a classroom, a Moonbase, a Garden and other places too. Set a room size and a budget and display the objects in the design on a simple spreadsheet.

With Spex children can becomes an interior designer, using graphics to design and furnish the rooms in a house. This task involves making predictions, decisions and plans, and exploring the possibilities of the situation.

Simple 3D Design

Children start the design process by thinking about the uses a room is put to and who uses it, deciding how big the room will be, where to put the windows and doors, what furniture is needed, where it will be positioned, and what colour scheme to have.

As the planning process goes on children can switch to the 3D view of the room layout and decide whether anything needs to be changed. He or she can then switch back to the plan view to alter it, and when the plan is right, print it out.

Design Technology Software in Schools

Spex, is an easy 3D Design Technology Software and was introduced to help children from age 5 to 12 get started with some important design concepts and skills.

As children work in the area of Design Technology and bring designs to life, they start to see the reason for planning a project before you go on to the construction stage. The planning stage is the opportunity to discover the flaws in an idea before you invest time and materials in it.

The computer combined with Spex simple 3D design software enables projects to be undertaken that may have been too difficult before. With an appropriate children’s design software like Spex, kids can use the computer screen to design a house interior in 2D, and then view it in 3D. This is a good introduction to computer aided design for younger children, as it deals with settings and objects children already understand and are familiar with. And those children who have particular difficulty with both writing and drawing will be able to produce results which are just as good as the rest of the class.

Young children will agree that a room needs furniture which is functional according to what the room is used for eg beds in the bedroom. They may not know the meaning of words like symmetrical and proportion but they know whether a door and windows are sensibly positioned and ‘look right’. So the first thing to think about is what kind of room it is, next to plan it, including thinking about safety and the size and shape of the room.

With Spex design and technology software the furniture and fittings can be moved around until the child is satisfied with the arrangement, and the room design is printed out in both 2D plan and 3D. A simple project like this covers a lot of ground; space, scale, perspective, plan, shape and again, symmetry and proportion all spring to mind. But above all, it is fun, the most inept youngster can achieve impressive results, and he or she will want to have another go, and then another!

Older children can use this kind of design technology software for more sophisticated planning and room design, perhaps with financial budgets. Programs like Spex are very easy to use and fun. You can use Spex to design a much larger environment, perhaps with a scientific or historical theme, design a Moonbase or a tomb for Tutankhamun, a Playground or a Town for example.

In addition to its educational value in Design Technology, Spex software has cross curricular applications in ICT and maths, being an excellent way to introduce children to Computer Modelling, Spreadsheet Modeling and Graphical Modelling.