3D Printing - Christmas Themed Activities: Past Projects

Using the 3D Printer to produce some seasonal projects is a positive way to make something unique that has a theme that is easily identifiable by students - the scale of the objects as well means that they by design can be produced relatively quickly.    As this blog has been running for several years now as well as having some new work coming this year we are also having a look back at some earlier designs and themes that were featured on this blog.     

CHRISTMAS SLEIGH COOKIE CUTTERS

In 2016 we started our Christmas/festive themed prints.  You can click on the link to some of the ideas and projects here.

We looked at creating sleighs cookie cutters as a way to minimise the amount of PLA that we were using at the time, although we discovered that some of the students once the prints were completed added them to trees and buntings as general decorations.

We also had glow-in-the-dark versions of these which gave out a level of illumination to the prints at night.  The PLA specific material for this is still available for 3D Printing although we did move away from using it as we found with our older Ultimaker 2 machines and subsequently our Ultimaker 2+ machines we were using could be blocked or fouled by using the material to print.

We also had a range of smaller decorations that we produced such as the ones that were featured in this post with a minimal print time.

INDIVIDUALISED CHRISTMAS PRINTS

In 2018 we produced a class set of individualised ornaments to hang on the Christmas Tree.  These items were designed by each student individually using Tinkercad while the group of students who did this are Year Five and Year Six (ten and eleven years old) it has also been completed by students who are eight and nine.

We completed four sets of prints - each being an individual design that was unique to the person who created it.   You can see the additional designs in the series here, and here.   A fourth and final run of prints was created here.

In total using a single printer we operated for two weeks to complete the run and most of the prints were in the two hour range.

In 2021 we had a group of students who worked a similar process to produce a range of prints in an almost identical manner to the previous versions.   Examples of their work from last year including models of gifts, Christmas Tress and other decorations can be seen via the link here.

In 2016 we also further developed our use of glow-in-the-dark 3D filament which resulted in designs such as this.

We have a video tutorial to explain the process how these designs are made and detailing the construction or the way it is made using Tinkercad.   While the model concerned and created is the basic name badge/plate design this template can be used to print any of the prints that have been created as part of this series of design.  

CHRISTMAS TREE DESIGN CHALLENGE

If you would want to opportunity to challenge your students with their designs then perhaps consider one of our creations that occurred in 2018.   A student using Tinkercad working step by step was able to create a 3D model of a sleigh by using the basic Tinkercad interface.     

While the print turned out fantastically and looked complicated it was produced in a step by step process and there was plenty of scope for additional features and details that could have been included (such as models to add to the print etc).   Details of the Sleigh can be located here.