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How can materials be joined?

Part of Design and TechnologyStructuresYear 1Year 2

Joining methods

Materials can be joined together in different ways. For example, you could use glue, tape, staples, screws or paper fasteners.

An illustrated young boy wearing overalls, safety goggles and a pencil behind his ear stares at the sky.

Some of these ways are stronger than others and some are used because of the properties they have.

Glue and nails create a very strong join, while paper fasteners can create a joint that allows movement.

You also need to think about the materials you want to join and the kind of structure you want to create.

Let’s take a look at some different types of joints.

An illustrated young boy wearing overalls, safety goggles and a pencil behind his ear stares at the sky.
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Flange joints

A flange joint can be used to connect tubes or pipes.

A tube of card is attached to a flat piece of card. It is attached using a flange joint where, at the tube's bottom.

Make your own

To create a flange joint using a cardboard tube:

  1. Use scissors to make small cuts from the bottom of the roll towards the middle of the roll.
  2. Make sure each cut is the same length and space out the cuts evenly around the roll.
  3. Fold the cut sections to create a stable base. Stable means it won’t be knocked down easily.
  4. Use glue or tape to fix the tube down.
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Slots

A slot is a way to connect flat materials together to make a free standing structure.

'Free standing' means an object will stand up on its own without being supported.

A hand cutting a slot into a piece of paper with a pair of scissors
Two pieces of card arranged into a cross shape

Make your own

To create your own slot structure from two pieces of paper or card:

  1. Take two pieces of card and make a cut in both pieces to halfway.
  2. Hold one piece of card in each hand.
  3. Line up the slots you have cut.
  4. Move the card so it makes a cross shape and slot both pieces of card together.
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L brace

An L brace is a way to connect materials together to make an L shape.

Two pieces of card and a L-shaped piece of cardboard
An L-shaped piece of cardboard joining two pieces of paper together

Make your own

To make an L brace from two pieces of paper or card:

  1. Lay one piece flat as a base.
  2. Stand the second piece of card up to make an L shape.
  3. Fold a small rectangular piece of card in half.
  4. Join the L shape structure together by gluing or taping the folded rectangular piece in place.
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Tabs

Tabs can be used to make a free-standing wall. They can also be used to connect corners and hold them in place.

Tabs are often used in the corners of packaging boxes. This helps to make them strong to protect the contents.

A piece of brown card with three tabs cut and folded, attached to a piece of paper

Make your own

To make your own tabs using a piece of card:

  1. Make even small cuts from the bottom of the card towards the middle of the card.
  2. Fold the cut sections in opposite directions to create a stable base.
  3. Glue or tape the tabs down.
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Butt joints

A butt joint is a simple way to join two pieces of wood together.

A butt joint is created by fixing the end of one piece of wood to another piece of wood.

They could be joined together with glue, nails or screws.

Two planks of wood arranged at a right angle with some space between the edges. Below this two more planks of wood at a right angle, this time the space is closed and the short edge of one piece meets the long inside edge of another in a butt joint.
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Activity: Find the joint

Let's see what you can remember. Do you know a flange joint from a tab joint?

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Key words

Butt jointWhen one end of a piece of wood is placed against another and attached together.
Flange jointWhen a folded edge of tabs is used to join pipes to other objects.
L brace jointWhen an extra piece of material is used to join two pieces of material in an L shape.
Slot jointWhen a slot is cut in two materials and then used to join them together in a 3D structure.
Tab jointWhen a folded part of material is used to join pieces of material together.
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Quiz

Test your knowledge and find out what you know about joining materials together.

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