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.    

Using Tinkercad to AR/VR Designs

 

We have started into the school year completing some basic tasks with the students focussed around producing their first design steps.   We are again using the #Tinkercad app for design in conjunction with the students with their iPads.     We are very fortunate to be a 1:1 iPad school as well as an Apple Distinguished School.

There are a number of reasons why we have used Tinkercad consistently for over ten years in the classroom and with our students.      It is a multi-layered design tool which the students take to (in terms of designing, creation and innovation) quickly and successfully.

One aspect of the design tool that we have used extensively with students (a reminder that we have a year 4 class of eight year olds for 2026, last year it was combined with seven and eight year olds) is the ability for students to AR/VR their designs while in Tinkercad using the Tinkercad App.

There are a number reasons that we do this primarily it allows the students to test the visibility of their designs but it also creates the potential for a further range of innovation with the use of technology.   Our first steps for 2026 have been to combine the AR/VR function to look at our stencil activity - shown in these pictures in the classroom and outside on the deck (one of the awesome things about the AR/VR aspect of Tinkercad is there is no green screen required).  We have also begin work for the year by looking at both our country and the mountain that dominates our region and our school.

We have 3D Printed both of these objects as we have previously posted about, but with the .stl file which are both prints we are able to share them with the students.   They are able to manipulate, shape and create using these files and the app.

In the example shown left students have taken the map of New Zealand and projected it onto the swing in the playground, to make it further stand out, its colour has been modified and then a screenshot has been taken with the students iPad.   The students have been encouraged to think about interesting and creative locations where they can project both images and also to think about 'super sizing' the prints so they dominate the areas around the school.

By sharing ideas and creations with the students (such as the photo shown left, which is the map of New Zealand on the 'wall' of the classroom) the students are both developing their own skills and also working with something that they are able to familiarise themselves with.

This task is being completed by juniors - which is seven and eight year olds however we have had students as young as five able to pick up the concept and use it as a challenge.   You can read numerous examples of this process and how we have used it by searching this blog and using the label 'AR/VR' or you can click on the link to an example here.

3D Print School is now operating via Facebook

 

We have been running this site on blogger for over ten years and it has remained relatively static.   This year we are branching out into several other media formats.   The intention at this stage is to continue to use this as a primary site of publishing but also use several other formats as well.   We are going to use this site for some of the 'best of' posts which will be reposted on Facebook and new material will be posted on both sites.

You can locate the Facebook version of this page at the following location

The page is currently called 3D Print SchoolNZ