3D Printed Photo frame - Mothers Day 2026

 

Challenge: For student to create something unique and personalised to celebrate Mothers Day, 2026.

Background: With this event occurring in New Zealand this coming weekend a number of students submitted ideas and creations for this project.  We went through them and assessed each on their merits against the criteria - creativity, uniqueness and personalisation and printed a number of them.   As we are working with a particular timeframe we also needed to be realistic about the size of the print.   While we now are aware that we can recycle the waste support PLA (as we are currently gathering supplies to work with Kiwifil we are also mindful of the cost of producing a larger print.  These tend to be one off prints or very selective in terms of the number that we produce.   We are running every print this year off essentially one machine as we've detailed so that is somewhat of challenge at time when the machine gets busy.

Resources Used: Tinkercad App, iPad, Bambu H2D Printer and regular PLA Filament.

Level of Difficulty: Medium/Advanced - there is quite a bit going on with this print in terms of design, size and how it is ultimately intended to be used.  The idea is to use the frame in conjunction with a small scale canvas print, potentially printed on the Roland Versa Sign Maker.   

Size: This is a substantial print measuring 200mm across, it has a depth of 50mm and is 150mm high.  The letter at the front is 20mm high and a total of 140mm across and is between 15mm and 20mm high at the bottom and extends for 140mm across the base of the print.   The insert for the photo a gap 150mm long and 10mm wide which is just behind the lettering at the top.  This would allow a solid object to be inserted in this location.

Cost/Price: As this is a Bambu H2D Print using the online software with the printing process we can determine that the print uses 238g of filament and this has a price point to produce the print of %5.94. 

Timeframe: The print took nine hours and twenty one minutes to complete on standard settings.  

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students:   The students are wanting to put either a regular photograph into the frame backed with some kind of insert or use the Roland Sign Maker to make something that would potentially be 3D Printed (such as the canvas prints we have completed with the machine previously.

3D Printed Mothers Day Stand - Exemplar

 

Challenge: To produce a unique print themed for the upcoming celebration of Mothers Day in New Zealand.

Resources Used: Tinkercad, iPad, regular white PLA, Bambu H2D.

Background: As we approach Mothers Day a number of students have made creations and designs for this upcoming day.   The brief to the students has been for the designs to be created in the students own time and independently.   The teachers role in this is merely to check the designs at the last stage and print ones that meet the brief.

Obviously while there is a huge volume of material that is available from online sites and portals we are looking to encourage the students design skills and have them work independently to create.  We have encouraged students of course to share their ideas and designs with each other and we also have a range of designs that are available via online sources like this blog.   We also have a group of students who started the process last month which featured here.

The process for this project and the students design can be traced directly back to this post from the same student in March.   Basing their design on an existing print they were able to create their own hybrid book or iPad stand.

This design had its basis in that although the scale was significantly reduced - however the goal of it working (ie it is able to hold the weight of a standard phone).   and by reducing the size the student also significantly reduced obviously the printing time and cost.

Level of Difficulty: Medium.  This is a eight year old from the cohort one students who is work independently - the design has a number of subtle features on it and works well.  It has balance and is not overcrowded or have elements that look like they are out of place.   There is very little 'unused space' and the design is extremely efficient.

Size: The print measures 70mm across at the front, is 110mm deep or long and is 5mm thick at the base.   The triangle for the support for the phone is 70mm high.   These dimensions work well to support a regular phone and obviously they would be adapted for a larger phone or device (such as a Kindle).

Cost/Price: The print uses 55g of PLA to be completed.  This was determined by using the Bambu Lab software.  It also allows us to calculate the price of the print which was $1.36 NZD.

Timeframe: To complete this print on regulation settings the time was two hours and ten minutes.   There would be no need as such to increase the size so this was an excellent use of the time.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the student: the obvious next step for this project is for their to be spray painting completed (this is not something that a student will do this is passed onto an adult to complete).   Otherwise the project is essentially complete and has been delivered prior to the event.

3D Printed Pencil Toppers: Prototype

 

One of the best things about the students designs and creations and the 'making' process for the students is the ability to adapt and 'break' certain designs.   In a recent classroom challenge we asked students to create a 'pencil topper' that was an item that could sit on top of a students pencil so that the students could identify easily whose pencil each was using.

We also identified this as a suitable practical design task because its scale meant the classroom could have a print produced each in a relatively short space of time (the average time beforehand we were estimating to be in the region of thirty minutes for each print).

Students follow a familiar process of design, testing (using AR/VR and the virtual designs created in Tinkercad) measuring and checking.   Only then when this has been completed do the students mark their 

In the case of the print left, some of these criteria were not met, however the print had a certain charm to it so the teacher made the decision to print the design.   The design in essence is too big.   The design measures 100mm across by 45mm and is then 10mm wide.   Realistically the length makes it too unwieldy to balance on the top of a pencil.  Finally the insert for the pencil while it appears to be suitable is not - more accuracy is required at this location.   When the design was shared with the student in virtual form it appeared suitable - however when printed it out it was obvious that considerable adjustment was required.

The print as it stands used 30g of PLA to complete and this had a price point of $0.75c.   The print took one hour to complete.

The revision would require a reduction in size and adjustment of the insert location.   The student have also started a discussion about completely 'flipping' the design by making it a storage location by changing the entrance point and having the storage run landscape.

In the second example shown left this design is considerably smaller.   The student took advantage of the detail that is possible with the Bambu H2D and of note is the students name on the top of the design which is only 2mm high and 5mm across.

Again there are issues with the design that need to be address the clear issue is again the insert for a pencil - while it again appears to be suitable for a regular pencil when the actual print was applied to a pencil there was clear difficulty to match the two together.

The centre of the design is off with the circle insert.  The print used 10g of PLA filament to complete.   The print cost was determined to be $0.24.   The print took thirty two minutes to complete.

The entire class have used this two physical examples and applied the logic and design for the entire class to apply to their own designs.

As mentioned previously there are numerous other potential examples which you can view by searching for them using the 'Search this Blog' box.

3D Printed Numbers: Eight Years On

 

The longest print that we've maintained is one that took place in 2018.   We at the time were looking at providing numbers for our classrooms for the management of evacuations.   We had a set of iron numbers however we wanted to replace them and choose 3D Printing numbers.   The issue at the time was a question about the longevity of the 3D Printed numbers and the PLA - the area where the numbers were placed was in full sun and also exposed to the weather during winter in New Zealand.

Eight years later we can state categorically that the integrity of the print itself has been maintained.   There is clear evidence of weathering of the colouring of the PLA (and we could like to point out that we have resprayed the prints since they were first completed).

You can read the original post and see the original lettering from this post in August 2018.  There was a further update on the project and the numbers from March 2021.    There are also updates from 2019 - all of which can be searched from this blog by using the keyword search 'numbers' in the 'Search this blog'.

It is our intention to continue to have their numbers on display as long as is feasibly possible as long as  they serve the purpose.    In all likelihood we will continue to respray the numbers again at some point in the future - the only losses that we have occurred is that students playing on the field (football/soccer) have kicked a ball in the direction of the prints and when struck directly by the ball - and we have lost four in the last eight years.

Working in Miniature with 3D Printing

 

We've got a range of prints our students are working on at the moment.   While some of these are somewhat on the larger scale in terms of scope and size its also important to highlight that the 3D Printers are able to sometimes print detail into prints.

We have blogged with the students work on this site for over ten years during that time the printers have evolved at an increasing impressive rate.   We've previously also identified that now thanks to companies or sites like Kiwifil its possible to use recycled PLA or have prints, projects and rafting reused.    The machines that we use are using an increasingly accurate and detailed such as recent prints for the pencil topper that featured yesterday.

The examples that we are showing here have been produced by a student designing independently after two months in the classroom, working with their iPad, Tinkercad App and were printed on our Bambu H2D.

The prints shown are as they were removed from the machine without any 'rafting' or waste plastic - the prints took twenty two minutes to complete.   They used seven and a half grams of PLA filament to complete and this had a price point of $0.18c to complete.  The prints were not project with AR/VR (using the Tinkercad App) but they could have been as we have been doing regularly on this blog.   This was completed by a student who is seven from cohort one, 2026.  For visitors from overseas from this blog please be aware when we quote prices for the filament and prints we are discussing the price in NZD.

This example of the same project is representing a students creation of another pair of earrings.   This student is from cohort two, is eight years old and was able to produce this again independently without the need for teacher input.   The design was completed in Tinkercad and the student then duplicated the pair to have a matching pair.  As someone who is a regular wearer of earrings and who intends to wear a pair of these once she is happy with the finished design she is intending to make adjustments to ensure they hand in a way that she is happy with.

The dimensions of this completed print can be seen from the screenshot of the Tinkercad work plane (left).  A pair of the earrings took forty minutes to print (on standard settings) and used eight grams of PLA to complete.  This had a price point for the pair of $0.20c.   This student is also going to revise the design to include more details (on the arms).

The student has already started the modification process (as shown left).   The left had figure has revised arms, the students name has been put on the design and an adjustment was made to the eyelet.

This site has a number of projects that feature miniature sized prints.  You can search for them using the search bar top right hand corner of this blog or you can also look at examples such as miniature bees from November last year, our series of prints on miniature jugs and vases which evolved into a forced perspective digital photography task from March of this year,    We also had an entire years project based around a Dolls House where our students made miniature furniture for the inside of it, see this project summarised here.

3D Printed Pencil Topper - Exemplar

 

Challenge: To produce an original, unique and functional pencil topper for use with a students stationary.  

Equipment Use: iPad, Tinkercad, Bambu H2D, Bambu PLA

Background: This task was given to students during an afternoon session with an extremely short timeframe to complete.  The students had to independently use their knowledge of Tinkercad and their developed design skills to create something that was functional.   Due to this functionality the size of the print and any potential details with the design were limited but also going to show what could be capable to add detail using the Bambu H2D.

The student in this task was an eight year old student who is in cohort two in that she has had two years of using Tinkercad with her iPad to design.    

We had previously completed designs like this in the past such as 2016 which you can click on the link here to.

In this design the student wanted to put their initials into the print so they sunk them into the design at the top.   The length of the dent was 2mm by 1mm across - the printer was able to replicate the detail and avoid having any filament or PLA on it.

The spiral of the design, which can be seen in the photograph to the left was also another feature.   The printer printed an insert, rafting into the gap which was removed when the print was complete.   

One of the very obvious benefits of this project and challenge is that the finished project is quite small and could be completed with a minimal print time and price point.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - this task is deceptively simple however the students had a range of ideas from the practical to the not so practical and the size of the print was determined by the purpose.

Size: The print was 70mm from top to bottom.  The main body of the design was 30mm high by 40mm by 20mm.   The spiral at the base of the design was 30mm high.   This was designed to work with a regular pencil/pen although the hole that was the insert for the pen worked better with a vivid as it was probably a few millimetres too wide.  The student has stated that this will require an adjustment to work with pencil.

Cost/Price: One of the key elements of this print and others in the series is that the price point, as determined by the Bambu Lab software is using 10g of PLA to complete the print with a corresponding price point of $0.25.

Timeframe: With the dimensions of the print at present the print time to complete the project was fifty minutes from start to finish.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the student: This student was able to create a comic facial expression by using the basic elements as shown and included their initials.  They could have provided additional features on the other side of the design.  As noted the insert is slightly loose and the student needs to reduce the width of the insert hole in the base of the main body.

There are a range of potential prints coming from the classroom from this project, this is simply the first.   The students will be contributing to a slideshow featuring a range of designs in this format.   In addition to that and the prints noted in this post there is a wealth of material that can be accessed by using the 'search' bar in the top right hand corner of this blog.

A final word of caution we are extremely lucky to have a Bambu H2D and are using it to complete every print this year.  If you have an older machine the time to print and the detail in some smaller objects such as this might be somewhat limited.

Virtual Pinball 2026 - Auroa School Table Preview!

 

Our students are getting very excited about the first major event of 2026 as its just around the corner! We've got our very special 2026 Auroa Primary School Virtual Pinball Tournament featuring our customised Auroa School Virtual Pinball Machine! Want to check out the table? Watch above!

Virtual Pinball at Auroa Primary School

 

Its tournament time at Auroa Primary School! Its the 2026 Auroa Primary School in association with Sonic Vision Studios - Virtual Pinball Competition.

We previously revealed our entrants for 2026 in Mr Bloors amazing video that we posted on this blog and you can view via his amazing Youtube page here.

The students are starting to practise, practise, practise as only some of the teams are going to make it through to our grand final!

You will be able to follow that here and will be posting additional updates and also a video shortly of some of the practise.

The table itself is a copy of a 1908s Classic Pinball Table called 'Tag Team' from 1985.   While we have maintained the playfield as it is a virtual table we have replaced the images with those of the students from Auroa Primary School as shown left, so students are now the bonuses and the images on our own virtual pinball table!

This machine is now sitting proudly in the hall of our school as is a second slightly smaller machine that allows the students to 

play the table in preparation!

Excitement is building as we move towards the first competition of Auroa School Virtual Pinball for 2026!

Engineering and Teacher Purchase Bargains - Clearance 'Bricks'

 

As someone who has spent time locating 'bargains' for purchase for use in the classroom 3D Printing and Engineering also allows at times a keen eye to spot certain items.

This example has come from a large supermarket chain in New Zealand that to entice customers during various promotions including the gifting of items when points are purchased.   This "Bricks' branded set is one of the base sets for a recent promotion, that has now ended and as a result the supermarket chain appears to be putting the remaining stock on clearance.   This example was purchased locally from one such store for $1.00.    There are some obvious potential examples that could tie in with creation, engineering and 3D Printing - the set is a 'half of a house' and there is the clear possibility to add sections to the building.  

There is also a set of stickers/decals that come with the set - again these are something that we have produced in the past as this can be created and printed using the Roland Studios Versa Sign Maker.

Already this year we have purchased thrift shop items to allow the students to design replacement pieces and also used a massive backdrop to AR/VR designs onto our volcano setting (which was also on an end of line special).

3D Printed Flying Challenge V2

 

Challenge: To use Tinkercad to design something that is original that is able to fly the furthest distance.

Equipment Used: iPad, Tinkercad, Bambu H2D, Bambu PLA.

Background: As previously detailed on this blog this challenge started off as an independent activity which one of the students brought to school and wanted to print.   This led to a general discussion about the concepts of flight, size, weight etc.     Students in the classroom then started to print a variety of objects that met the brief.    Early on in the discussions students started to realise that the shape of the disc and the way in which it could be launched were important to determine success.   We also started to have conversations about how the information could be recorded related to flight, distance and measurement.    The student who designed this print wanted to ensure that they had a pattern on their design (as shown) that did not interrupt the flight (as other students had made designs with irregular shapes or high objects that were not balanced).

This student also used the Tinkercad AR/VR function to use their design and their iPad and project their design in super sized portions around the school in different locations.

Level of Difficulty: Low - this is an introductory task which was completed by a Y4 student who is part of the second cohort of students this year.   They were able to complete it without the need for any input based around other designs that they had seen.  Although not visible in the screen shots they also inserted their initials subtlety into the side of the print.

Size: The print measures 130mm across and this was the diameter of the print.   The print had a width of 20mm and was 10nm thick.

Cost/Price: The print used 32g of filament to complete the print.   This had a price point of $0.82 making it an achievable classroom or small group project.

Timeframe: Using the Bambu H2D the project took one hour and ten minutes to complete.  

What we would do/Next Steps for the students: This is going to be a hybrid STEM/Mathematics lesson based around concepts of aerodynamic flight and measuring, graphing and displaying the information that the students are going to be able to gather.   There is a small issue with the printer at present that needs attention (as can be seen in the photograph) but this is essentially the first time that we've need to maintain the machine since August (which is just a basic clean of the plate).   The students were able to see clearly in this instance that the plate was not printing equally on both sides so we had a discussion about why this was and what we could do about it.

3D Printing and Laser Cutting Sphero Resources

 

Not only do we have a range of 3D Printing and other machines available for our students to use we also have other technology that can be used and created.

Sphero Robots are a coding robot that we have had at our school for a number of years.   We find these robots work very well with our junior and middle school students and overtime we have created a number of resources with the technology to use in conjunction with the robots.

An obvious example is the town and the garage designed to work with a Sphero Robot.  We have students when they feel confident in using the 'drive' option with the robot and have used the coding maps that we look to include challenges and tasks involving the building.

Although its showing its age this building and garage was built using the school laser cutter.   With dimensions of 300mm across, 220mm deep or long and 150mm high - this is too large to 3D Print.   This size  allows the robot the ability to choose either entrance to go into.

The design was cut with MDF and then had a layer of regular cardboard applied to provide the texture that can be seen in the photograph.    We also use blocks or rods combined with the building to increase the level of difficulty.

We have also created a range of other resources that combine with the technology.    In 2024 we looked at creating paddles to work in conjunction with the robots which are waterproof.   You can view this post here.   This was also detailed when we experimented with creation boats and using Pixton Comic Creator to create a series of posters to explain the students work - you can view examples of this by clicking on this link here.

While Tinkercad is a free web based software for the year that we used Pixton in 2024 we paid a subscription for the students to have access to the full range of Pixton creation, allowing us to create a range of student generated media that relate to both Tinkercad, 3D Printing and Sphero robots - as shown left.

We also used Pixton to publish the 3D Printed designs of the students to present and explain what they have made and created for their designs.    This might be an option for schools concerned with the privacy of the students (as their images in these presentations are represented by avatar figure of the students).

This year we are looking at the students creating additional resources that are 3D Printed to use in combination with the Sphero Robots.     The students are currently thinking about ideas about what they can use to create to them move forward to the prototyping stage.

3D Printed Projects: Mothers Day 2026 Summary

 

We are approaching Mothers Day for 2026 in New Zealand and we have several students who have targeted projects based around this event.

The 'couch' which has been developed extensively and featured on this blog twice.  In its first form it was an idea for a project as a regular phone stand as detailed in this post about the print.

The print was further developed by the student from a generic project into one specifically focussed on a Mothers Day gift.   The print has evolved again as it has been now spray painted and has now a charging point included into the base of the design where the phone will be based.    This is now completed and ready to be presented as a gift.   This was completed independently by a seven year old student designing for the first time this year (for three months) and used their iPad, the Tinkercad App and the Bambu H2D.

This print shown left was completed by a middle school student in 2017.   At the time that this print was designed and completed we were using Ultimaker 2 machines (which we then replaced with Snapmaker machines before moving last year to Bambu Machines).    Despite being a number of years ago it was also designed using Tinkercad and iPad.

This was a significant print however in the years since it was completed the technology has moved on significantly and we would imagine the printing time and other aspects of the design would be improved.

You can also view this personalised Key Holder themed for Mothers Day from 2019.   In 2020 We created gift key rings/utility rings.  You can view all of these potential projects by clicking on the link and we would also suggest as a point of ideas you could view the Market Day 2025 ideas from our students as a number of those projects could easily be converted.

We've had a number of projects for personalised creations at the moment that offer a perfect example of something that could be created for Mothers Day.

In some of the examples the students have put the initials of the person that they were designed for.   In the instance shown left the prints used 32g of PLA to complete the print.     This has a price point of $0.33 for the pair.   The prints took thirty three minutes to complete.

There are a large number of examples on this blog from this activity which you can locate by using the search bar in the top right hand corner and the search bar phrase 'earrings'.

This would be an ideal project with a minimum printing time that would allow a class of students to complete the task in a relative short order.   We have also produced a slideshow dealing with this specific lesson, designed for a teacher taking their first steps in 3D Printing you can locate this by clicking on the link here.

Finally we have offered students the opportunity to create an original design which we are intending to print prior to Mothers Day.

An early design has come from this seven year old in the classroom who wanted to create an original and unique trophy that they could award to their 'number one Mum'.   With this design the student has used a combination of the main Tinkercad interface shapes and used 'scribble' to rate the handles and design the top of the trophy.   We printed this as an example to show the class and the student is intending to refine it.

The design at present is 70mm high, 60mm wide at the base.   It used 51g of PLA filament to complete with a price point of $1.27.    The print took two hours and twenty two minutes to complete using the Bambu H2D.

Senior Tech - Roland Versa Sign Maker

 

This is an update from a post that we made on Wednesday, detailing the use of the sticker machine, the Roland Versa Sign maker.    In this example from our Y7/8 students during technology (our DPE program) the students have used Gimp to create virtual images  which are then printed and applied onto the base of the machine which have been printed using the Bambu H2D.

The students were responsible for the design, creation and information displayed on the labels which were then applied as mini-decals on the side of the machine.

The full range of photographs and images from the work can be seen via the companion Facebook page for this site.  You can click on the link to the Facebook page here.

Auroa School Virtual Pinball Tournament Announcement

 Later today we are making a huge announcement for our students - one of the biggest events of the year is coming as we are bringing back our virtual pinball competition.    With that in mind until the official announcement is made later today here's some of the highlights from our work over the past few years, starting with the very first Virtual Pinball Grand Final from seven years ago!

 

Credit for this amazing production needs to go to Mr Bloor our amazing AV Teacher. You can view his amazing channel here.

The following year we retuned with our first movie tie in - Mr Bloor created an entire movie, featuring our students and staff (and our school!) and we had a special showing of this big event.  

This is our Grand Final from the Second year of competition, commentary provided by Mr Bloor and Mr Webb.  

We then had our third competition held the year after - this was based around another school movie - The Fast and the Furious: Undercover Student!   This became our Drive in Move Night Movie - which was an amazing community event: as shown below.

This led directly to the movie, the drive in movie and then the Pinball Machine, game and competition shown below:

Check out this amazing Site!

 

We are always looking for creative ideas for our students and love when we find ways to share, connect and learn from others.

Recently our teacher connected with another educator, Todd Lavogue from Florida, USA.   He had amassed a huge range of STEM related activities with his students which are logged and detailed on his fantastic website - it is a wonderful combination of examples, ideas and inspiration for students and teacher.   You can access his fantastic site and see his wonderful work and some awesome student work by visiting this blog.

3D Printed Revision Updates

 

We published this initial print on April 16th and wanted to show an example of how a student can take an idea and rework and adapt something to ensure that it fits the brief better by reengineering.

This student is designing for the first year and has spent the past two months working on their Tinkercad skills.  The student has used their iPad the Tinkercad App and a 3D Printer to produce this digital object which has been produced as a physical object.

Once the student had examined the print, looked at it with the teacher and worked out a way to feature or address what had been made they were able to make a range of significant changes.

First and foremost as shown the size of the print was greatly reduced.   The initial print was imagined as a badge or label for a bag, but in its original form it was considered to be too large.

The original design was 135mm by 135mm as can be seen left the revised version was 85mm by 80mm.  The design remained with the same width.   While there was some additional design put onto the creation there was a significant reduction in the print time.    The print time for the original was three and a half hours.   With the reduced size the print time was one hour.   The price point for the original design was $2.30 and the revised version was $0.67.

Once these changes had been made we also printed out a second copy using the same orange that the original print was completed in.   It potentially could do with additional design reflection (as it is quite 'busy' when it is shown and developed) however the student concerned was extremely pleased with how it looks and how it has developed.

 

The next step for the student from here is of course to look for opportunities to create, design and make a range of different digital images and physical objects using the skills that they have developed and are developing.

There are a multitude of similar designs like this which you can access by using the search bar in the top right hand corner of this blog.

The student concerned with this project is seven years old and other than the verbal feedback on the first design worked independently to complete the design.

Roland Versa Sign Maker - Senior Tech

We have mentioned in several posts that the senior students at Auroa Primary School are very lucky to be able to take part in DPE which is our senior technology program.    This is sometimes called tech and our students have a range of programs and tasks they can complete from cooking, art, sewing to laser cutting and digital technology.

In digital technology the students have completed a project using the Roland Versa Sign Maker.   This has been referred to on this blog as our 'sticker machine' which has been used for a range of projects which you can view a small sample of by clicking on the link here.

Mr Bloor our amazing AV teacher who is responsible for so many great projects at our school has been working with a group of students on these 'scaled down' versions of arcade machines.   The decals for the machines have been created by our Y7/8 students and the machines themselves printed on the Bambu H2D.

There are a variety of machines shown here - including a minature version of our Step Master Machine and also various versions of some of our other arcade machines.

In the past we've held yearly competitions with these machines and broadcast them online.   You can click on this link here to see last years Dance Machine competition and last years special 'K Pop Demon Hunters Dance Machine Special'.

You can view the grand final of our very first Pinball competition here and our tie in movie Pinball Machine, where we based a machine on our drive in movie here.   Finally we have a big announcment to make - we are again, after a three year break hosting a virtual pinball tournament here at Auroa Primary School for our students! 

The details of this will be announced very shortly but they will be put online and shared here and we will be broadcasting the competiton later in the term!

Revising and reworking a Print

 

Challenge: To rework and redesign a previous creation to ensure that it develops its detail and successfully adapts to meet its brief.

Background: This the student reviewed the design (shown left in the photograph) and revised it.   The original post was featured on this blog here.  The student wanted to develop the item as phone holder.   The student had realised after testing that the phone needed a lip to be introduced into the design to ensure that a phone did not slip off the print.

The student also wanted to introduce several other features on the design.  They included in the revised version the large stars which were placed on both ends of the design.   As this print is now intended to be a gift for the upcoming Mothers Day.   The print now has 'Mum' on the front of the design and 'Happy Mothers Day' written on the back.

All of these adjustments were completed by student independently and have greatly increased the 

Level of Difficulty: Medium - the student was adjusting the design to meet the intended brief and purpose for the design.

Size: As per the original design 130mm by 70mm by 60mm.   Essentially the same as the original with dimensions not affected by the additional features.

Cost/Price: The original print used 87g of PLA filament to complete the revised version of the print used 113g which included additional lettering, the lip etc.   The cost for the original design was $1.75 the adjusted price for the revisions for this print the price has increased per unit to $2.83.   This has been calculated by Bambu Studio Labs inbuilt software.

Timeframe:  The original print took two hours and ten minutes to complete.  With the additional details added into the print this increased the duration of the print to four hours.

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

The revisions with the print have been very important to ensure that the purpose of the design has been met.  The addition of the 'Mothers Day' theme for the design has also given it a a specific purpose.   There are not more additions that will be required for this print.

3D Printed Giant Cyclops Design

 

Challenge: For an eight year old student to create a unique 3D Printed design using Tinkercad that includes plastic eyes as part of the design.

Equipment Used: iPad, Tinkercad App, Orange PLA (regular) Bambu H2D.

Background: This design came out first in a challenge set to our students from September 2025 to include a novelty eye as part of a Tinkercad design.  We revised this again in April of this year having students include the physical (eye) as part of a design.

This design came out of this print.  It needs to be stated at this point that this is an extremely large oversized design and it was always intended as a single print.   The design was completed by an eight year old student who is showing flair and creativity with his work both last year and this year in the classroom - he created this design and did so without any input from the teacher.

Level of Difficulty: High/Hard - this design was developed over several attempts by the students and they revised the design several times to ensure that it was balanced and robust and worked.

Size: The print is significant for a single run print.   It measures 150mm across the main body has the tentacles that extend 120mm from the top of the print and has legs that are 70mm high.   From the base of the print to the top is 240mm.

Cost/Price: Using the inbuilt software for Bambu Studio Labs the the print used 364g of filament (including rafting under the design) and had a price point on current dimensions of $9.10.

Timeframe: The intention was always to push the limits of the printer with this design and the print took fourteen hours to complete.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: Due to the scale of the design and the length of time it took to complete it is not viable as such to complete it again and is more of a one off.  The student put too large and deep holes in the base of the design and this is an excellent storage for whiteboard markers (as shown in the photographs).    The eyes that can be seen at the front of the design could have benefitted from being placed more to the front of the design as they are somewhat sunken into place by the design.

Laser Cut - Presentation Box for Student Exemplars

 

This creation has come from one of our amazing teachers here at school which came out of an idea about ways to display exemplars of students work.  We have looked online at various items for displaying of figures with a combination of LED strip lighting and MDF or wood veneer.

The idea is to have a semi permanent display with some exemplars physically present to show as a example of our students creativity and innovation.

In the example display box shown left the laser cutter has been used to create both the top and bottom for the box which has then been stained to alter the colour.

The walls of the box have been created by using the laser cutter to cut perspex which has then been anchored into position by the slots created by the box.

The design at present measures 200mm by 220mm and has a height of 260mm.   The wooden lid is designed to lock the Perspex into place and is 220mm by 220mm and is 5mm high. 

Although there is no LED strip lighting directly linked to the display box it would be potentially possible via the lid and a battery operate light (inexpensive fairy lights might also work in the same manner).

This would potentially allow the school to easily create a bank of exemplars that could either be stacked on top of each other or combined with another furniture item.

This photograph left shows the storage box placed in a cube shaped storage item - although if it was to be permanently mounted into something such as this we would potentially look at the dimensions to increase the size relative to where it is placed.

There are a significant number of sites online which contains laser cut files for the purpose.

We also have created a bank of examples of laser cut projects which are located via the tab on the main page of this blog.

Step Master Machine - 2026 Updates

 

Regular visitors to this site will be aware that one of the amazing pieces of technology that are available to our students is the incredible Step Master Machine!

Mr Bloor has spent time during the holidays rebuilding, repairing and reconstructing the dance pads that are an important part of the machine - you can see the brand now steps pads here.

The original machine was built using the laser cutter here at school, the 3D Printers, the amazing sticker machine for the decals and an incredible amount of hard work.

This is a full sized machine based on the 1990s Arcade Machine 'Dance Dance Revoultion.   Mr Bloor our amazing digital technician built this machine with a group of our students (you can view the amazing story of its construction here).

Since the machine was built students have been updating the media each year with students creating their own media and music videos that work on the machine you can see examples of this here.

Each year we have a competition for our students based on the machine.   We have been live streaming the event via Youtube for the community for the past few years - examples of which you can see including last years finals by clicking on the links here.   

Last year we also held a very special themed event based on the K-Pop Demon Hunters with the Auroa School K-Pop Demon Hunters Challenge - you can view the footage of this mega event by clicking on this link here.

We have not made an official announcement about the potential 2026 competition for our students but keep your eyes peeled as an announcement about a competition for 2026 might be coming very shortly for our students! 

3D Printing Flying Challenge

 

Challenge: To use Tinkercad to create something that flies.   

Equipment Used: iPad, Tinkercad App, Bambu H2D, Bambu PLA (orange)

Background: At the end of last term (its the last day of the term one break in New Zealand, our students are going to be back this coming Monday in regular class) we set the students a challenge.   Initially we were looking at ways to create movement using 3D Printing.   The intention was to look at some basic movement and using either the 'motion' feature of the Tinkercad simulation including the potential for some basic wheel movement.    One of the students in the classroom, who is eight years old, wanted to make something that instead of rolling could be flicked.

The rational was that they could easily produce a disc and that this could be measured for distance based on the design.  After discussions with the teacher the student was able to produce a prototype (this is in the region of five minutes after the discussion).

While there are some elements that are reminiscent from the classroom project earlier this term that was a donut the student felt that it would be worth experimenting.    Now that the print has been completing from a teacher perspective thoughts have shifted to how can the students use this? What data might they be able to create? How might this data be displayed? If similar ideas are developed - what ways can another design be created to compare? (such as something with designs on both top and bottom of the design?

The next step will be putting this design in the hands of the students to ensure that they can develop their ideas, bounce ideas off each other and create some prototypes for comparison to think about whats next.  The focus will be on the data collection, how to measure it and what conclusions that the students can make from experimenting and working with the print.

Level of Difficulty: Low - this design was created in a short space of time by a student who is confident in their CAD design.  The shapes and the additions are all from the basic interface.

Size: The print measures 150mm diameter across.   The sides of the design are 40mm across and the design is 10mm wide overall,  The spheres that are across the top of the design extend upwards from the design up to 10mm.    

Cost/Price: The print in its current form uses 56g of filament to complete this print and that has a price point of $1.38 for the print.  As the intention is to complete several prints and then compare the size we would expect this to be adjusted accordingly.

Timeframe: Using the Bambu H2D on regular settings this print took four hours and twelve minutes to complete.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the students: The data that comes out of testing this 3D Printed object is going to be important not only in terms of how it is collected but also how it is displayed.  There is a huge scope for this and also to consider how then this might be applied to Mathematics lessons and thinking about scale, flight and how an object might travel (including for instance altering the infill of the print rather than using simply the standard).  We also have some traditional frisbee for the students to compare this design to.