Holiday Break: October 2026

For those of you who are unfamiliar with our location, we are located in rural New Zealand at the wonderful Auroa, South Taranaki.   We have great location, this photograph was taken today at lunchtime outside our school looking towards the maunga/mountain that dominates our landscape, Mount Taranaki.

Our students are currently on the second week of their two week break between terms three and four of 2026.  We will be back posting next week with our regular contributions.

In the meantime we are looking at a range of posts from last term that our students were working on. 

As we've mentioned in a post last week as such we don't have a massive seasonal celebration at the moment, and our friends in the USA obviously have a large volume of material themed around celebrations later this month.

We are printing a small selection of material primarily to encourage 'thinking' and design about it from students with this theme, including some of our Pumpkin AR/VR work from the end of term.

This design was located online and has a diameter of 50mm.   It is 30mm high.  It has used 22g of PLA to complete the print and has a price point of $0.45c.

While it would not suit a candle due to it being PLA printed it would potentially benefit from having an LED light inside of it.    Free .STL files such as this one are available in significant numbers and can be easily accessed for printing purposes.   We usually print a small number of such items where appropriate and ask students to consider or think about them.

3D Printing 2026: Lore Revision (Part One)

During the course of the year we've had a series of 'discussion' posts or focus challenges based around some thinking about the application of 3D Printing at our school and how it might be applied to other educational environment.

#1 You don't need more than one printer at your school to print your projects: (originally published in December 2025).   Evaluation: Not successful - we were attempting to complete all our prints on one machine this year however we have been switching between three machines depending on what has been available or what needed to be completed.   We had times when the Bambu H2D needed to have a nozzle replacement as a result of use, which meant we had to use of P1S to complete projects at that time.  Blog Tag to search for further information: Bambu H2D, Bambu P1S.

#2 All your 3D Print Projects don't need to end in a physical print. (originally published in January) Evaluation: Successful.   By using Tinkercad as a design tool with our iPads we have continued to follow a process to create and produce a digital outcome first and foremost before we make a physical print.  There are significant examples of this process and output on this blog for nearly every project that our students have completed and entire slideshows of summary work dedicated to this process.   Blog Tag to search for further information: AR/VR, Tinkercad AR/VR.

#3 Enhancing your projects by using non-standard PLA for different outputs. (originally published in January).   Evaluation: Successful.   We have used a range of filament this year again including a considerable amount of Bambu branded glow-in-the-dark and super glow-in-the-dark filaments.    Blog Tag to search for further information: glow-in-the-dark.

#4 Juniors can create! (originally published in January 2026) We wanted to challenge the notion that 3D Printing, CAD Design and creation is a senior school activity.   We have a classroom of Y4 students which is the core of nearly every print produced and showcased on this blog.   Evaluation: Successful. Blog Tag to search for further information: Anything that is not tagged Y7/8 is 'junior'.

This is part one of two.

3D Printed Ant: Standard Version

 

Challenge: To create an original and correct insect student (nine year old) designed 3D Print.

Background: As per the last few number of prints on this blog this is in preparation for our 2026 Pet Day.

As per the post from yesterday we experimented with using the P1P Bambu Printer and the Bambu H2D.   With the experience yesterday we printed on the Bambu H2D first and then followed up with P1S when the Bambu H2D didn't print the leg at the back.

As we suspected the print needs to be slowed down, by printing on the P1S we printed an identical design, an identical file but this was successful.   If we were using the Bambu H2D we would slow the process down.

Resources used to complete this print: iPad, Tinkercad App, Bambu P1P, Bambu Blue PLA.

Size: The print measures 55mm wide across at the front from the tip of each leg.   The print has a length of 70mm and the print is 55mm high.  The student (who is nine years old) deliberately introduced the legs and antenna to ensure that they survived the printing process and were not too weak, although it did leave them looking decidedly oversized and blocky.

Cost: To produce this print the project used 38g of regular PLA.   This gave the project a price point of $0.38c.

Timeframe: To complete this print the printer was running for one hour and ten minutes.   This is typical for designs in this run of creations with these dimensions.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: The ant when compared to others in the series does not have the facial definition that the others have.   The legs were increased in dimensions and size to ensure that they survived printed but now look somewhat comical and also are identical.   Finally the colour matching or the decorating, spraying etc of the print could be considered to enhance its presentation.   We still have a week of school before the Pet Day (which is in Term Four, the first week back after another week of holidays) and given the size of the print a reprint is a distinct possibility.

3D Printed Ant: Advanced Version

 

Challenge: Create a unique and detailed insect using Tinkercad to define and detail the features.

Background: Its been detailed on this blog for several weeks about the insect project which came from a focus on our 20206 Pet Day Art Display.

As part of the art display we've got a small 3D Print to go back and put on display with our art projects.   The challenge is based around shared literacy tasks - last term we researched, investigated and wrote about insects and analysed their characteristics and features.  This design was influenced by some of the earlier ants in the series that had the form and character correct but were lacking somewhat in some of the more detailed features.

When you view the face of the design you can see the student has opted for antenna, eyes and also the mouth has been based around viewing close up and magnification of various ants.   This student also went further making this a 'fire ant' and was able to adapt the colour palette on Tinkercad to do so.

There was a technical error that occurred with the printing of this design, one we are going to investigate further.  The student designed this as per our usual process - and one of the legs, at the back left, did not print successfully on the Bambu H2D - although it did on the P1S.    We believe based on a quick investigation that the speed of the H2D in this instance was too quick for the design, and the shaking and the movement of the printing process caused the fault in the process - this is the potentially the case as the smaller, cheaper machine was able to print the design successfully without any error.

The student who designed this print spent time to ensure the legs were shaped and had segmented detail on them.    There are grooves in the mouth of the ant and additional small details throughout the design.

Resources used to complete this print: iPad, Tinkercad App, Bambu H2D, Bambu Blue PLA

Size: The print at present is 80mm long, is 40mm from the base of the feet to the stop of the segments.   The biggest body segment is 30mm by 30mm and the middle is 20mm by 20mm.

Cost: The print uses 67g of PLA to complete the print which included rafting.   This gave the print a price point of forty one cents to complete.

Timeframe: To complete the print the Bambu H2D was running for one hour and eight minutes.  A switch to a Bambu P1S would not significantly alter the timeframe.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: It is our clear intention to print this on the slower, smaller printer as we believe the print will be successful (we could also slow down the H2D).  The intention was to print a fire ant with a red base obviously the PLA used was red although potentially we could have made a two coloured print using the dual nozzles of the machines.   The legs also at present have the same pose on both sides the student has the ability and the skill to pose these differently and produce a design that is reflective of a more natural post.   As noted as well the width of both the legs and the antenna reflect the students desire to create a robust print that would survive handling.

This entire project was undertaken and completed (independently) by a nine year old cohort two student.

Using Tinkercad as an AR/VR Tool

 

We've posted about our favourite app that our students use with their iPads to develop design skills using Tinkercad as a projection AR/VR tool.

In this example shown left we've taken a basic design.  As somewhat of an aside at our school due to our rural location we don't typically celebrate this event, although there are a wealth of designs that are available about this theme. 

In this example we had a short window of time available to students to complete a design and have some creative licence with it.   It was not intended as a 3D Print project although we would conceivable do so if the right circumstance was completed - we were looking as original projects developed by the students that would make a viable print.

This activity was completed by eight year olds working with their iPads independently.   The design of the pumpkin was located online, the students modified them by adding the lettering above and then located places around the school where they could project the pumpkin.   They deliberately choose to build the designs as large as possible and choose a location where the background had objects that would automatically size the objects, 

In the first instances the students used the school courts, swimming pool and buildings.   The instructions from the screenshot are from the Tinkercad app.   The students then repeated the process at a second location, which was on the courts.   The Netball Court/Basketball court and its fence was the sizing (as was the bus) which again allowed the student to show the size of the AR/VR that they had created.

The final part of the display process was to take the students images and then apply them through a AR/VR image filter.  In this case as we have done in the past we used Pic Collage to take the image and modify it.   You can see the contrast between the two images the image above and the same image with its enhanced result with a change and colour and emphasis on different parts of the photograph.

Obviously we could have looked to turn this final image (once edited and cleaned up) into a cart or a poster.    This is a process that we have completed using the Christmas/Festive filter which you can view by clicking on the link here.

If you would like to see additional ideas following this theme then click on this summary post about the process and examples that you could use with a classroom of students.

3D Printed Insect - Generic Example

 

Challenge: To produce a unique and individual insect for display for the school Pet and Calf Day 2026.   You can view a highlight of last years event by clicking on the link here.

Background: This project has been detailed numerous times during the last few days and weeks - a small reminder that its school holidays in New Zealand and our students are going to be back in the classroom for Term Fur, the last quarter of the year for 2026 in a week and a half.

In case of the students designs we've had butterflies, stick insects and a range of bugs which we've detailed via this blog as students are printing one for display with our art pieces.   The students are also going to AR/VR their design into a couple of different locations around the school, one with the bug in its natural habitat and the second where the bug is going to be super sized, this is being completed by using the iPad and the TInkercad App.

This example shown left has all of the features that the students were looking to feature in their designs from the correct number of legs, located in the right position, the antenna, the head, thorax and abdomen.  As we have stated with this task the students have been able to access third party creations although we have made it clear that we expect that the students have personalised, modified or adapted these in a way that takes some of the design component and changes it.

Resources used to complete this print: iPad, Tinkercad App, Bambu H2D, Bambu Blue PLA

Size: The print is one of the smallest in the series.  It measures 40mm long and is 20mm wide.  The print currently stands 30mm to the head and the antenna are another 10mm higher.

Cost:   The print uses 8g of PLA to complete the print giving it a price point of $0.16c.

Timeframe: To complete this print on the Bambu H2D the print took forty minutes to complete which included the six minute warm up time (so the project print was just over half an hour) this was completed using the regulation default settings.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: The biggest thing would be for the students to modify this in a way that shows that they can manipulate an image or a design to put their own stamp more onto it.  One thing that has sprung to mind is that the bug could be produced, in some number and they could be included throughout the classroom and we could put up something up for someone who could find each of the designs.

3D Printed Butterfly - Large

 

Challenge: To produce a 3D printed insect for a art display (as per the school pet day day at school).

Background: As per the descriptions that we have previously posted on this blog this was another example that was created via the process and for the Pet Day purpose for display with the tin can art.

In the example here the student wanted to create a unique butterfly that fitted the intention of the task.   We have previously looked at Butterflies as part of the literacy work that we were doing related to insects and other sub groups.   The students read about the creatures, spent time looking at the characteristics and also investigated examples of butterflies around the world.   One of the key concepts that the student wanted to convey with the design was using Tinkercad to create and show symmetry between the wings.

This example was created by an eight year old student who was working independently to complete the task.

Resources used to complete this print: Tinkercad App, iPad, Bambu H2D, Bambu blue PLA.   

Level of Difficulty: Medium - the print needs some attention (see below).   All of the designs in this series have had a basis in another design or something similar.   In this instance the wings that are shown here are from the main Tinkercad interface.

Size: The print is larger than a number of butterflies that have also been produced in this series.   The print measures 120mm from wing tip to wing tip.   The wingspan is 90mm high.    The print has a height of 30mm.   The antennas are 30mm in length and have a width of 0.5mm making them extremely thin.

Cost/Price: The print uses 48g of PLA to complete the print.  This gave the print a price point of $0.98c.

Timeframe: The print using the Bambu H2D had a total print time of three hours and forty five minutes.   This is three times the length of printing time of other prints in this series.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: The stars that are on the wings of the butterflies need to be refined.  They are currently not down completely on the wings, there is some rafting underneath them, although it is not obvious.  The antenna are extremely thing - they require a minimum of handling to ensure that they do not break off.   The reverse of the butterfly is where the attention for details could be significantly improved.   The base of the wings are blank, they could have a layer and some details on them.   The feet of the butterflies need to be adapted - they currently are stumps and have not translated well to physical printing.

There is one final consideration as well - we have experimented extensively with the AR/VR of the Tinkercad App and discovered that it is excellent at a base or ground level projection.   Where it can struggle at times is when you attempt to move the projected image off the ground into the air or up a particular object - this would be something to consider when looking at locations to place this object.