Junior Stationary Holder: Cat

 

Challenge: To produce a unique stationary holder.  Student needed to create their own features and not use a third party design or media.

Background:   The challenge to the students was to use their design skills for something unique to be able to create a character that could also have a purpose, which in this case was the storage of items.

The student opted for the cat version of this as they reasoned that they would be able to create features of the animal that would give it a high recognition factor.   The design was a little reminiscent of a design from last year that featured a similar theme.  That post which is detailed here involved students who were five years old (at the time) creating their first 3D Printed designs with assistance from the students of our classroom.   The student who designed this was eight years old.   

Resources used to complete this print: iPad, Tinkercad, Bambu H2D, Silver regular Bambu PLA.

Level of Difficulty: Medium.  The design is relatively basic however there are several elements with the design which need to work in conjunction with the other parts to ensure it looked balanced and 'right'.   The subtle details were added to the print but potentially there could have been additional ones as well.

Size: As its stands presently the print is 50mm wide, is 80mm long and 50mm wide at the back.  The sides have a width of 10mm.

Cost/Price: The print uses 41g of PLA to complete the print.  There was no support rafting required with this print it was able to print it as a single piece with no waste or additional support required.  Based around this use of PLA the print had a price point of $1.01.

Timeframe: The print was completed by the Bambu H2D Printer and took one hour and twenty one minutes to complete the print.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students:    The student who designed this experimented with two different kinds of lettering on the base of the design.  The first shown above had the lettering extending out from the outside of the print.

The second on the reverse side had the letting sunk into the design itself so the two sides had a contrast.  The student wanted to consider which was more effective and what worked better.   When you see the two photographs next to each other the contrast is quite significant.

From here the student is intending to review the design and consider again the facial features of the design and the different aspects of it.

Using Tinkercad as an AR/VR Tool with Filters

 

Yesterday we posted about using Tinkercad as a tool to create an image, not a 3D Print, that was then projected using the AR/VR tool onto a background.

The next (and final) step in the process is to take the image from the previous activity and then apply a filter to it.   In this case we are using the Pic Collage Filters from the App that are available with a standard app purchase (ie without the extensions).

In each instance the students have taken their creation of the original scene, with their detail added and then put it into a filter.   This filter varies slightly in creation time but it tends to be under thirty seconds and applies a filter to the scene which the students are able to then to review and decide upon.

The two examples here shown feature the 'Christmas' themed filter.   In the first example the crane can be seen although a number of the objects have been extensively redesigned.

In the second image the Tinkercad addition is the box in the immediate bottom right of the image.

This process featured in one of our 'year in review' posts from last year which focussed on a round up of highlights.  You can click on the link to this post here.

In addition as always if you use the 'search' bar/icon from the top right hand corner you can use the search words 'pic collage' to find a wealth of additional posts and material.

Not every filter was able to create an effective combination with the students design.   This process allowed an entire classroom of students to complete the process in the duration of an afternoon block of time (just under one hour).   It allowed the students design time, reflection time, sharing time (with the class) followed by our posting time (to Seesaw).

This is the same image as previously shown and it is with the 'water colour' filter.  Again it highlights the students design and places it within the design as an accurate and authentic piece which was not possible when it remained in Pic Collage.

The students who completed this process were the wonderful group of seven and eight year olds whose work is featured on this blog.

Using Tinkercad as an AR/VR Design Tool

 

At the start of this year we published a post on this blog about the purchase of a pair of end of line backdrops that were brought from a major chain and marked as line discontinued.   They featured a 'tropical island/volcano backdrop and a second design as shown left.

The cost for these items was NZD $2.00.    The measure 2.5m by 1.8m.

The first instance led itself to animals and some of the pre-made Tinkercad designs.  In this instance we wanted to push the design skills of the students but the intention was not for a 3D Printed model it the end, the intention was for Tinkercad to be used to design the figure and for it to be projected into place as part of the design but not to be physically printed.

We have previously published entire slideshows along this theme, accessed by clicking here.

Students needed to consider their ability to design something that would potentially seem authentic within the scene.

We tasked students with not trying to 'hide' something but think about scale and think about setting.

Once this had been designed in Tinkercad students then used the Tinkercad App and its AR/VR button to project their original image onto the scene.   There were a number of aspects to this design the students had to consider.

An example is shown left where the student has created a cloud that is designed to fit into the scene.  The brightness of the cloud makes it stand out relative to the other objects in the background.

The student wanted to then edit the photo to change the brightness of photo and in particular find a way of reducing the brightness of the cloud.

In the second example shown left the student wanted to introduce something that was implied to be there by the shape of the scene.   They created a cable and a hook by using the basic Tinkercad shapes and had it 

Again there is a subtle difference between the colour of the yellow from the cable connector to the hook to the other yellow present in the scene which the student was going to undertake to alter.

Scale was an important consideration for this task as well as the colour and shade of the additions created by the students.   In the further example shown left the student added a figure who is sitting on the crane which needed to be manipulated by the student so that it appeared to be the correct size - when you compare this image to the photo above you can clearly see the figure that has been added.

We completed this task in an afternoon session with a whole class of students who were working individually (as we are luckily a 1:1 iPad School) however it could also be completed as a group activity.   As it was completed without the need for any physical object that came as a result the results could be completed and it was instantly available, instead of having to wait for a 3D Printing process to be completed.   Completed independently by eight year old students.

3D Printed Basic Trophy

 

Challenge: To utilise Tinkercad to create something that would have a purpose moving forward.

Background: This project was 'green lighted' by the teacher because there is the clear potential for this to lead to other prints, designs and creations in the future.   This was located online and had a small amount of student input - but the potential is there for considerably more.

Resources to complete this print: iPad, Tinkercad App, Bambu P1S, Orange PLA.

Level of Difficulty: Low - the design was sourced by the student with minimum adaption although there was a clear path to modify this moving forward.

Size: The print measures 125mm across and was 95mm long.   The handles and some of the design aspects of the print varied however the base was 20mm thick and the handles were 10mm wide.   This was based around the design being 140mm high.

Cost/Price: The unit used 146g of PLA to complete the print.  This had a price point of $3.62.  The print produced 47g of PLA to complete the print and support the print.

Timeframe: The print took three hours and fifty one minutes to complete on the regular default settings.  As per usual this included six minutes of warm up time for the printer.

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: This trophy was not personalised to a high degree (such as last years example which was original which you can view by clicking on the link here) however there is clear potential from this design to do exactly that - by having the name plate at the front changed for that of a person or an organisation or even a team.   The colour could of course be altered as could the dimensions of the print - at the moment its used for holding a set of keys however there would be multiple purposes for it depending on the way that you wanted to approach the object (for instance a smaller size would lead to a easier print run and even going the other way a larger trophy would have more importance).

3D Printed Novelty Tiger - SVG File

 

Challenge; To locate and select a SVG file that could be used for a specific purpose.

Background: As detailed and potentially searched for using the 'search' box on this blog on the top right hand corner and use the 'SVG' tag for the purpose.   In this instance a student found this file (on a publicly available SVG website) as a cartoon figure.  The student noted that there was already multiple holes introduced into the design so if it was going to be tied to a object perhaps as a badge or other figure.  Therefore it would technically have a purpose as it was straight from the file.    As noted previously Tinkercad has the ability for files to be imported directly into it in several formats one of which is the .svg format.  There are a number of sites that have files made available in the public domain.

Resources used to complete this project: iPad, Tinkercad App, .SVG File from freesvg.org, Bambu P1S, Orange PLA.

Level of Difficulty: Low.  This file has very little modification from the students perspective - it is essentially the file that the student located and felt would make a excellent 3D Print.   

Size: The print measures 130mm across and is 190mm from the base of the feet to the tip of the tail.  The print has a width of 10mm.

Cost/Price: This used 62g of PLA to complete the print.  This gave the print a price point of $1.57.

Timeframe: This print took two hours and three minutes to complete which included six minutes of warm up time.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: Nil this was intended as a gift for a younger family member and the project is considered completed by the student.

3D Printed Minecraft Enderman Figure

 

Challenge: For a student to produce an original figure that had recognition factor from the game Minecraft.

Background: As a reference if you click on this link you can see a summary of previous works on this topic (from April 2026) and included is a significant slideshow.  This was also one of the topics covered by our 'best of review' for the end of school year last year.

This figure is a key figure known as the Enderman - the figure is essentially a solid black figure who is sometimes depicted holding a Minecraft brick and sometimes without.   There are also variation with the lengths of the arms of the character.  When you use a search engine to find the character (as was done to check its accuracy) there are some versions where the arms are as shown in the design but other where the arms are clearly much longer.

The figure shown left is an example of the shorter armed figure located in the game (as the longer armed figure is nearly touching the ground).   In essence this was one of the most straight forward of the Minecraft figures to design - the students only issue with the figure was making sure that it was completed/printed in jet black and they considered some way to highlight or have the eyes coloured red.

The box that the figure was holding was also a discussion the students felt that if they made the brick interchangeable then there was potential for several different designs.   The idea was for the figure to potential hold a TNT block. 

Resources used to complete this print: Minecraft (game), iPad, Tinkercad App, PLA, Bambu P1S.

Level of Difficulty: Low - if you compare this figure to others in the range this had the simplistic design.

Size: The print measures 30mm across and is 70mm high.  The figure has a width of 20mm.

Cost/Price:  The print used 22g of PLA to complete (as is shown the 'eSun Silk multi colour was used'.   This had a price point of $0.51 to complete the print.   Of note this included the cube which in the photo left has been removed so it has a clear potential to reduce both (to 18g and $0.40)

Timeframe: This print was completed on the Bambu H2D and took one hour to complete and that was represented by 54 minutes of printing time and six minutes of machine warming up.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students:  Obviously in the test print shown left the figure is not all black and does not have the eyes of red which means that it has reduced the recognition factor.  This print also has the ability for further development as a range of blocks could be placed in its hands or arms - which could also be adjusted.  Finally there is lots of scope for the AR/VR aspect of this figure and how that might be incorporated into different settings and scenes.

Non-Lego: Lego Figure

Challenge: To create an authentic and unique "Lego' inspired figure.

Background: We've discussed the enjoyment that a lot of students get from designing and using official Lego products.  This is of course not that - it is a lego inspired figure that was created (relatively) oversized that is more of a homage to the original than making an actual figure.  As the student concerned who was eight years old was designing it they were able to be creative and add features that would not be necessarily be associated with an actual 'real' figures.

The student was able to create the figure themselves using the main interface.   The additional features that can be seen on the print including the hands, the hat, the facial features and the symbol were all added from the main design interface.

As always you are able to search the entire blog for creations and designs from students using this theme - the search bar top right will direct you to a number of prints that have the label 'lego' and 'non-lego' including such designs as using AR/VR tools to enhance the students designs.

Resources used to complete this print: Tinkercad App, iPad, Bambu P1S, Orange regular PLA.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - there is some adaption to be made to the print but the main design features are in place.  The student was able to develop this design themselves (as an eight year old) without any assistance from the teacher.

Size: The print presently measures 40mm across and was 80mm high.  It was 10mm wide.   As noted above this is oversized for a traditional Lego figure but the student has intended this more as 'lego inspired' rather than a 'lego' figure.

Cost/Price: The unit used 15g of PLA to complete the print and there was 5g of PLA that was needed to act as 'rafting' or support.   This was mainly created by the need to support the overhang of the hat.  It had a price point of $0.40c to produce the print.

Timeframe: The total print time for this was one hour.  This included a six minute warm up time which is included in this time.   If this was to be produced to a scale of actual lego this would be reduced.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the student: The hat is a little oversized and could be reduced in size.   The hands of the figure are currently probably too big and also face backwards.  Finally the student could have looked at refining the figure with the design on the front of the chest.