3D Printed Christmas Projects: Overview 2015-24

 

This slideshow is a summation of various projects that have featured on this blog over the past ten years. We will be adding to this slideshow over the next few days featuring a number of other posts.

3D Printed Christmas Trees: Mini Class Project Juniors

Challenge: For every student in the classroom to create a unique Christmas tree for the classroom, where everyone in the classroom of twenty six Year Three and Year Four.

Background: While we have already completed a series of prints from this sequence - as detailed on this blog including Christmas ornaments, Christmas Angels, Snowman and large scale trees.

The next step was something that we have been asked about in the past, how can we produce a series of prints realistically for a class of students, when you are running one printer.   Essentially we are running just the one - at this school we are so lucky to have three main printers that are available for use - one of the awesome things this year has been having new staff members to school who have also got on board with 3D Printing projects and this also has meant that the printing project time has to be managed carefully.

Early this year we completed a series of prints based around the students creating earrings - this worked extremely well as the print time typically was under half an hour per project, and for a classroom of students was achievable.

We have detailed in the past some of the aspects related to Tinkercad and in particular the main interface.  In the example shown left are some of the pre-created shapes that can be imported easily into the students design screen.   Once the shape has been imported the students are able to add additional shapes, as has been shown in previous designs such as the star, and the bobbles for the tree.

This potentially is something that could be completed by the younger juniors - our classroom is going to put these designs to students from our Y1 classroom, as we would rate this as an 'easy' for them to complete with the assistance of our older students (again as noted in the past we have a classroom of seven and eight year olds).

Level of Difficulty: Easy.   This is something that we are going to work on with our classroom of juniors working with a classroom of Y1 students on a peer basis - these students have never used Tinkecad before, and we are confident given the scaffolding and work from the students in our classroom that it will be successful.   We want to very much involve our students in using the AR/VR option for iPads to check for potential printing errors and design flaws.

Size: We targeted this print with the intention of making it small, to make sure printing is feasible in the case of completing it for my classroom and also with a number of other students.   The examples shown left is 40mm high and 20mm wide at the tree portion of the print and the trunk measures 10mm across and a further 20mm high).    It has been suggested that this would also make a pair of novelty earrings.   

Timeframe: One hour for the example shown left.  This is ideal for the print and we would likely redirect students who would create something larger than this.   This creates a print that is unique and would be suitable for hanging from a tree.  Again we wanted to allow for the creation that could be realistically produced for a class set before the end of the term.

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

This option has proven already to be successful task for the classroom which a number of students have completed.   The size and timeframe were realistic, and the skills required are something that our students have proven that they have developed using Tinkercad during the year.

3D Printed Exemplar Junior: Christmas Decorations

 

Challenge: To produce a unique and creative Christmas decoration that would be suitable to hang from a tree.

Background: As per the previous descriptions of the project at the moment, the challenge for the students is to create something that could be considered festive.

Ultimately this design has been part of a range of activities that have come from the junior classroom since the start of term four.   Previously there has been an angel, a range of Christmas trees, the Christmas Angel to top the tree.

One of the aspects of the design that has worked well is it has allowed students to use the design template and by using repetition and basic shapes, combined in this case again with the 'shimmer' PLA (which does not require spray painting).

This student is a Y3 student who is a seven year old who has been designing and creating using the 3D Printer for the first time this year.   The design shown above left is deceptively simple - it consists of one main ring design which is placed on a block which then links with the chain as shown.   

Once again we opted for the shimmer PLA which meant that we would not be required to spray paint the print once that it was completed.

Level of Difficulty: Low - this is deceptively simple involving three different shapes or items with one repeatedly significantly to create the affect.   The screenshot in the bottom left hand corner shows some of the shapes that are available from the main interface.

Size: The design is 90mm high and 80mm wide at the main points of the design.   The image shown in the photograph is of course upside down as the top of the design is where it will be attached to the tree.

Timeframe: Two and a half hours.    The dimensions of the print were created to ensure that this is a significant print that would stand out when on display.  It was also considered that a version of this print could also make an interesting pair of earrings, but not with the size of this print.

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: The student could potentially look at a more organic design (although in this case it is taking pride of place at the Christmas Tree).    A earring version of this print is possible but would need to be reduced in size.

3D Printed Christmas Tree: Junior School Exemplar

 

Challenge: To produce a unique, original Christmas decoration, suitable for display or a tree.

Background:   Its a current classroom challenge, involving our Y3 and Y4 students with a design brief to create something unique for Christmas.  The students are using Tinkercad in their student classroom accounts.   Previous designs in this series have included the Christmas Angel as posted on this blog.

This students is a Y4 student who has been using Tinkercad for a relative short time, since half way through the year.   The design was completed in a short space of time using the main interface.   The details were added to the tree.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - the main interface was used and manipulated and the design that as created was done so quickly and creatively by the student involved.   The timeframe for this original design was under five minutes from the start to the completion.   There was no teacher input.

Size: The tree measured 80mm high and was 70mm wide at the base of the tree, narrowing as it reached the top.   The star was added to the design to signify the tree and also had an insert to allow it to be attached to the tree.

Timeframe: On the basic default settings for the print the time was two and a half hours.  The student wanted this to be successful and an eye catching design as it was.

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: The star at the top of the tree had a narrow point of contact, which needed the teacher to remove the gap, ideally if it had been structured differently the student would have been able to pop it out himself.   The trunk/base of the tree as you can see from the design shown in the photograph is not centre, the student wanted to shift its position.   Finally the student wanted to print it out using the filament that had the shimmer affect.

Finally as per usual with a design like this there is opportunity for it to run through a range of filters to alter its design and display.  We have been doing this in both the original Tinkercad design, but also using additional web based programs such as Pixton and iPad Apps such as Pic Collage.

3D Printed Christmas Angel Junior Exemplar

 

Challenge: To create a unique Christmas Decoration.

Background:  The current classroom challenge is for the students to design a Christmas themed decoration.   While it is early this year we finish school in early December and we are looking for the students to refine, rework and improve their designs and have them completed, printed and ready for display for Christmas this year.

The classroom at our school that is completing this task is a junior room, the students are Y3/4.   The students have either one classroom years experience using Tinkercad to design various items and projects.  This design has been created by the student independently.   The brief was make something amazing, creative and unique.  

The student wanted to use the wings (which can be seen clearly in both the final print left, and the original design as put through a filter from its Tinkercad creations.) and wanted to then design the rest of the print from scratch.  The student has shown creativity and inventiveness using the different aspects of the main Tinkercad interface.   Some other previous examples of this students work can be seen here.

We again opted for the shimmering design provided by the PLA that is described as rainbow or sheen.

Level of Difficulty: High.  This design was creative and inventive and the elements of it needed to balance together, with a import of the wings.    This student was able to do that and produce a stunning design.   The student is eight years old.   This was rate as one of the most effective Christmas Designs/decorations that we have produced.

Size: The wings of the design measured 70mm across the back.  The design was 90mm high and was 50mm wide at the base.   The idea was to use shapes to create a cartoon affect with the design.

Timeframe: Three and a half hours.   The dimensions and the size of the print were keeping in mind with the intention of the project.   The angel is going to be placed on a tree.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: One of the aspects of the print that needs to be addressed is the connection with the head of the design and the shoulders.  By using a cone to create the body the point at which it joins the head was quite narrow and needs to be addressed.  While it did not mean that the print broke it was obvious that this needed to be very carefully handled.  The student is attempting to remedy this by redesigning the 

3D Priting: Christmas Decorations 2024

 

Challenge: For a junior student to design, create and print a unique Christmas decoration that could hang from a tree.

Background: This is the latest classroom challenge for my junior class of students.  The students brief was to have something that was original, had a aspect of personalisation and was able to be realistically hung from a tree.

The first example shown left was produced by a Y3 student (a seven year old) in under five minutes.   The student took a design element from the Tinkercad main interface page (the snowflake) and then applied their name on the bar linking the snowflake and the ring.  All of these three features were available from the basic design template and the student was familiar with using them to create something.   They were able to submit this to their individual student Tinkercad account.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - the student created something using three basic interface tools to create the design, then link them all together and group them.   This student while new to 3D Printing this year has now spent nearly twelve months in the classroom using Tinkercad to design this.

Size: The print was 140mm long.   The snowflake measured 60mm across, the name bridge aspect of the print was 10mm wide and the design was 10mm thick at the snowflake and the lettering for the name was 15mm high.  The student is going to look at these dimensions moving forward.

Timeframe: Two hours - this was something that would be improved (ie shortened) by refining the design to ensure that it was all consistent with the size.  Although the link bridge with this design is narrow it is something that is intended to be hung from a tree for display and not something that needs to be robust to be handled.

What we would do differently/Next steps for teh students: As noted the design is currently a little uneven in places - the design could be improved that way.   The name of the designer could potentially have each of its letters flipped so that it could be read down the spine of the linking pin.   

The design was printed using 'sheen' PLA which we are continuing to experiment with, so was not spray painted.  You can read additional Christmas designs from previous students by clicking on the link here.

3D Printing Term Four in New Zealand

 

In New Zealand the final school term of the year has started, with a finish time of early December for most schools.  At our school we are starting to wind up the year with various projects.

One of the lessons that we have learned over the year, particularly when looking to have a class set of anything completed, when we are running on a school set of printers, is to start early.   Hence we have started looking at Christmas themed decorations again and focussing on smaller designs that can be mass produced easily by the printers at school.

Firstly we have tasked the students with looking at a typical decoration that might hang from a Christmas Tree.   The criteria for this is something that the students might design, have some level of personalisation on it and have elements that the students have created.   We have inserted this requirement because some of the students using Tinkercad were aware that they would be able to use a design tool like the search bar and locate an element like the snowflake shown below.   

This by itself can be printed directly, but the student in this case has opted to introduce their name to a bar and link that with a ring to allow the design to easily be hung from a tree.

We are also looking at creating labels such as the one shown in the photograph above.  In this example the student has taken their name, used a basic text design and added a linking ring.  This student was a Y3 who is using Tinkercad for the first time and was able to do this independently.   They add to add some blocks into the design to ensure that everything was linked (in the example between the capital A and the o you can see it in the bottom right hand corner of the A.

These labels are 60mm by 25mm and 10mm thick and currently taking just over 45 minutes to print.   We are currently using a 'marble' filament which has produced the affect shown.

There are many, many examples of Christmas Decorations from the last few years on this site, you can locate them by using the search bar icon or clicking on this summary post.   We also have examples of the labelling