Year 2 - Art and design
Clay travellers: figures from the Silk Road
Art that travels: stories, land and journeys
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Study Guides
This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
Made in collaboration with October Gallery, this unit explores how art shares stories across time and place as pupils cut, sculpt and collage maps into textured journeys of movement, exchange, identity and belonging.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to create a patterned clay tile of a Silk Roads traveller.
Key Notes
- Clay can be shaped and patterned to show movement, history, and identity.
- Artists like Anna Boghiguian use figures to connect places and people.
- The Silk Roads were ancient routes where people traded goods, ideas, and stories.
- Women were important in making and storytelling on the Silk Roads.
Vocabulary To Learn
- figure: a drawing, painting or sculpture of a person
- clay: a material from the ground that we can shape with our hands
- Silk Roads: old trade routes that people used to travel and swap goods and ideas
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Only men were important in history and trade.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
Clay can be shaped and patterned to show movement, history, and identity. Artists like Anna Boghiguian use figures to connect places and people.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'figure'
a drawing, painting or sculpture of a person.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: Only men were important in history and trade. Correction: Women played key roles such as making silk, running markets and sharing stories. Artists invite us to think about this through their work.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 2 Art and design guide library.