Novelty Initial Design: Donut

 

Challenge: Junior student to produce something unique and functional in Tinkercad.

Background: Its the start of the school year after two weeks of challenges and design ideas the students are working on several projects.  A number of students have taken the initiative and started to create and work on their own designs.   While it isn't possible to print all of these there are some that we have selected as being functional or having potential so we have followed through with the process of printing them for the students.   There is a very loose criteria for this - it is presently depending on the availability of the printer (and what other projects are under consideration, available PLA etc).   In this case the design was from a first time student and it met a number of criteria.

We are hoping that it will inspire others, get them thinking and then lead onto other things, designs and creations for the students involved.   The student who designed and created this is a Y4 student who is eight years old - designing for the second week and as noted created this in their own time, obviously using the basic Tinkercad interface,

The design has proved popular in the classroom and has been passed around from students to provide a range of fun that are creating some provoking questions.

Level of Difficulty: Low - this is created independently from the teacher by someone in their own time making something 'fun'.  It involves one specific shape followed by some additions.

Size: The donut measures 140mm across from tip to tip and the sides are 40mm wide and 40mm high.

Cost/Price: To produce this item took 98g of filament.    There was some rafting that was associated with the sprinkles.  Using the Bambulab sim information we can determine that the print cost $2.50 to make with regular filament (in this case Bambu 'Orange Glass').   

Timeframe: This print took three hours and fifteen minutes to complete.   Relative versions would need to take the size required into account depending on what the purpose of this would be.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: 

We have experimented with the donut in the school pool.   Over the years we have become aware that a standard print with a twenty per cent infill is essentially able to float in water.   Last year when we had our school Market Day we had an entire product and group business based around this fact.

We also allowed the student to have it in the classroom and have 'fun' with it by trying it in different locations.    It was suggested that this could be used to tie a bag together (as the knot or bow could be tied around the donut holding it all together).

Another student used it as the base for a water bottle and students identified that they would be able to use it to hold a water bottle in place.   They were considering using it with a student who might have trouble balancing it and have it fall over.   To complete this purpose the design would need to be resized to meet the diameter of a bottle.   It was used as it was to play tag (particularly in the pool) however the students wanted to make it available as some form of ring toss game - but again it was considering that it would need to be resized and remade.

Although it might not be particularly obvious from the shots that can be seen with this post the 'sprinkles' part of the design sort-of kinda-worked but didn't really.   A number of them didn't survive the printing process, they were either removed when the rafting was taken off or fell off when completed.  There are several that appear to be attached to the print but not securely although this week the student didn't report any additional loss with the print.

The biggest consideration for a change would be the student going smaller or having more of a specific purpose.   One of the things that the students realised is that by having a 140mm wide donut there was a tendency to use it as a bracelet - or that they could have easily included a name or a description on it by utilising the skill that they learnt with the stencils - making a hole in an object.

Tinkercad App as an AR/VR Tool Juniors

 

No seperate green screen app or indeed special location is required - students with their iPads and the Tinkercad App are able to take their iPad to any location and then project the Tinkercad design or image into a location and increase its scale dramatically.

These examples for the junior school students were tasters - we had a total of ten minutes for the students to work their virtual creations into an actual picture at some location around our school.   The elephant shown left is available using the search bar from Tinkercad and then can be easily transmitted into the AR/VR situation.

In the example left the super sized 'king' frog (of course the crown was added quickly as a little nice touch) can be seen cleverly to scale by the one story building that is bottom right hand corner with the two students standing next to it to give it scale.

All the designs can have their colour changed using the app, including either entire colour or partial colour changes.   We have thought about using this as a writing prompt for students or thinking about other locations that this might be suitable to wow or amaze people with.

In the example shown left the students have stretched themselves with the location here.   They have used a window from the school playground and then projected the image into this location.

To complete this activity students require the Tinkercad app and an iPad.   There is no additional material or equipment required.

You can view additional examples from our students by using the keyword search AR/VR in the 'search' tab in the top right hand corner of this blog.

Creating Doors for our Farm Toy Building

 

We have a number of projects that are ongoing this year, designed to engage and challenge our students.  The Dolls House Project from 2025 has led us to look into other rebuilding projects for 2026.   In this example we selected a thrift store farm building that required a number of missing parts.

As we have done with many projects this year we have students having a brainstorming session followed by a degree of design using #Tinkercad and their #iPads we have previously posted we had students brainstorm ideas, create a draft and then place it on the design using Tinkercad's AR/VR tool.

The next step in the process for the students is to start the physical printing of the early prototype with a lean towards refining, adapting and improving the students design.   The photo left shows the first version of the door for the front of the building.    This is a straightforward design for the students which features a small handle and an attempt to solve the issue of a hinge by developing an attachment for the slot to connect to.

The door has been made independently by a Y4 student who is using Tinkercad for the second year.  It is a basic rectangular design, which was sized by the student.   The attempt to complete the door by having it work in conjunction with the groove works in the sense that it holds it in place when static but when the door is opened it tends to fall off.   While the students could glue the door into place the intention is to have them experience some basic engineering to problem solve successfully.

The current dimensions of the door shown are a 60mm by 80mm rectangle.   It took 45 minutes to complete, used 18g of filament at a cost of $0.45

The other part of the design that students are trying to deal with is the roof.  Again we have followed a similar process to the door.   The students identified the measurements, worked on some basic shapes and the adapted these to meet the design of the roof.   The final part for consideration and again the hardest part of the design for the students to complete was to work out a way to have a bracket or a clip that could attach to the top of the design so that it would swing open.

Students have nearly solved this issue - but again the roof is staying in place instead of swinging or clipping in place.   Currently the roof feature measures 80mm across and is 100mm long.   The print took thirty five minutes to complete, used 16g of filament and had an associated cost to print of $0.40g.

To ensure durability of the clip we made the decision to print both of these pieces of the farm building using the Bambu H2D printer.   Both designs will need to be re-engineered and adapted by the students.

3D Printed Stencils: Name Focus

 

Challenge: To produce a name stencil for a student that focusses on the name.

Background: This series of posts has been developing since the first tasks for the year.   In the initial stencils students focussed on basic shapes, provided by the main Tinkercad interface.  Following this students used scribble and then developed their names as part of the stencil.  We detected at this point that some of the students names could have been more of the star and therefore the final form has essentially gone back a step, with students creating a stencil with just their name as shown left.

We want to use this for an art based activity so have deliberately kept it simple.   These stencils were all designed by eight year old students using their iPads and Tinkercad independently - including the majority of students who were developing skills for the first time.

As noted we have used our Bambu H2D for this process, in allows us to confidently print 1mm wide PLA with minimal (ie no) waste.

Level of Difficulty: Low this is essentially a step backwards for the students for the purpose of having the name itself dominate more.  Having already completed this task and added numbers shapes and designs students were very clear and able to complete the process with minimal instruction.

Size:   The Lucy print shown measured 165mm by 140mm and was 1nm wide.   The Jules print was created using scribble hence the wavy lines this measured 180mm across and was 130mm high.

Cost/Price: Lucy cost $0.60c and used 23g of PLA filament.   Jules used $0.57c and used 24g of filament.  This was a standard PLA which we are currently sourcing for $30.00 per kilogram.

Timeframe:   The Jules print took thirty nine minutes to complete.   The Lucy print took forty one minutes to complete.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the students: We have always had the intention of turning this project into some form of art based project where the stencil is the centrepiece.   The students are now going to take these design and apply a range of materials to them to look at the designs that are produced as a result (such as the example shown left).

Using Junior Stencils to create AR/VR Images

Using our iPads, the Tinkercad App and our stencil creations we created a series of images of the students work and then used the AR/VR button on the app to project the images into a variety of locations around the school and in the classroom.

While some of our students were experienced with their use of this app and the process for the majority of the classroom to experiment with for the first time.  To further clarify the amount of time that we had available was fifteen or so minutes before other school commitments required our attention.

This was possible because these designs had previously been created on Tinkercad and did not require any additional completion.  The designs were/are saved in the students folders in their accounts.

At this early stage we are allowing students to experiment with the process and look at their output, experiment with finishing and look at locations, ideas and contrasts (for instance students can alter the colour of their Tinkercad designs and adjust them to suit the background and the foreground etc.)

The AR/VR-ing of Tinkercad designs is like many other tasks something of a skill that students will develop, particularly over time.     Certain colour combinations work - as do certain iconic locations around the school (the swings are appearing numerous times).   Posing for image when there is nothing in front of you (such as a student trying to hold the design shown left) can take a little time to accurately place and adjust the size.

Given the timeframe and the introductory nature of the task to most of the students this would be considered a positive outcome, and more will be developed moving forward.

3D Printed Badge - 2026 Edition

 

Two weeks after the start of the school year and a basic introduction to Tinkercad the students in the classroom are at the point where they have started to develop and hone their skills - this sought of design is being produced by students, which we are then printing as an introductory task.   

This design measures 100mm by 60mn and is 5mm wide.   The print is using 19g of PLA and has a cost price associated with it of $0.50c.    The print took 35 minutes to complete.

The print was completed by a Y4 student who is working independently and using Tinkercad for the first time, as of two weeks ago.

Continued Revised Individualised Stencil

 

We have blogged at length about one of the starting project for 2026 in our junior classroom, students using their iPads and the Tinkercad App to create a personalised, unique and original stencil.  We are currently in the process of printing a class set of these including a revision by the student so we can trace the progress with their designs and use it to increase the creativity.

We have encouraged students to add their names to the design, to see if they can stencil their name into the creation, and experiment with this and various shapes that are tessellated to produce an art output.

The students key skills that they are developing is the basic shapes, measurement (as all designs have to be measured by the students to check size for being submitted for printing and using the 'hole' design from the main interface, to in this case go through the entire design and reduce the printing.   As repeatedly noted we have utilised the Bambu H2D for this.

Later designs have evolved to have the student put their own name in the bottom right hand corner (as shown left) and students have started experimenting with original shapes and using the 'scribble' tool to create an original shape.

Already we've had other projects come out of the examples - one of the student wants to increase the size of the base and produce matching shapes so they can be inserted into the design as a match task for a young child.   As a teacher there is the clear potential to use this to create some geometric work in the future (by having a range of shapes featured that could then be used to identify various features of a shapes). 

This is also allowing students to circle back to a previous task.   This is the second task for the year, the first being the 'badge' or name plate task.   Several of the students have now returned to this task and improved or revised their earlier designs.   An example of this is left - the student has produced a different version involving using the 'hole' to partially sink the name into the base.

This student also modified the base font design and explored altering its shape and dimensions - which is something that they are now passing onto other students.  All these designs have come from students who are eight years old, two of the three are designing using Tinkercad for the second week.

One student opted to include every member of the family in a design, but obviously looking at it you could include short phrases, greetings etc and it would prove to be effective.  We have yet to spray paint any of the designs or use anything other than regular base filament.

We also have a classroom with considerable glass bi-fold doors that lead to an outside area.    We are always considering ways that we can display information and projects on this (glass) space - this might be something that we could complete either using the stencil directly or correcting something that potentially could be spray painted into place as is completed during Christmas on plenty of stores by local sign writers.

This print shown left is one of the largest that the students have produced measuring 140mm across and being 150mm long.   This print took forty five minutes to complete, used 23g of filament to complete the project.   According to the Bambulab software the projected cost of the project was 0.55.