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.

3D Printed Cartoon Ladybird

 

Challenge: For junior student to create an original insect, from scratch, using Tinkercad

Background: As regular visitors to this site will know we have one of our big school events incoming - our Pet Day for 2026.  When this takes place at the start of term four we have some class displays - one of which is a 'tin-can design' however with this design we wanted to showcase of the students creativity.  In this case our students have used their design skills in Tinkercad to create an insect that goes with the design.

We had a range of designs based on the students understanding of insects (which we had also been covering with our literacy work specifically our information report writing).  

 In this instance the student wanted to place the emphasis on the comedic value of the design making it cartoon like with its design.   The legs for the animal are in theory underneath and the wings are not separated as such.    Finally if you see the original design that was shown above the student was able to colour match the design, when the printing was completed the base colour was blue as shown, ideally the student would have had the option of a red or black base - or even a better solution would have been for the ability of the H2D Machine to print with a combination of two colours.     This has been demonstrated previously with our Warriors Coaster or last years Christmas decoration with the colours of Father Christmas.    One option that was not completed but this would have made an exceptional AR/VR projection object with a significant base and strong image.

Resourced used to create this print: iPad, Tinkercad App, Bambu H2D, Bambu PLA.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - as with the rest of the designs in this creation challenge the students were able to use their skills to create insects with a significant recognition factor.    

Size: The print measures 70mm across the front of the design and is 80mm long.   The design is 30mm high.

Cost/Price: The unit uses 30g of PLA filament to complete the print.  This has a price point of $0.58

Timeframe: This print took forty five minutes to complete.  This included a six minute timeframe for the printer to warm up and prepare for printing.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the students: As noted there are a couple of design features that could be developed for the purpose of making it more realistic - the legs if they were added to the design would cause it to be somewhat unbalanced.     At this stage the size of the design is another slight issue - at 80mm and 90mm this is significantly bigger than its real-life version.

School Holidays In New Zealand!

 

Thank you for this visit to this blog.   This blog has been featuring work from students from our school since 2014, with its first posts taking place in 2015.

Since then we have been posting regularly to showcase the work from our students at a small state school, that is also an Apple Distringuised School in Auroa, South Taranaki.

Primarily we focussed on sharing work related to 3D Printing but as time has evolved we have also shared work using our laser cutter, sticker machine and more general work involved Tinkercad.   

We also love to showcase work from our school such as our full sized DDR Dance Dance Revoultion machine and its students created videos.     We also have our famous Pinball Machine which has been adapted and customised to feature the teachers, students and staff of our wonderful school.

If you would like to see a summary of events, ideas and creations from our school you can look at our website or visit Mr Bloor's page which showcases much of an incredible special work.

If you would like to contact or talk to the teacher who is responsible for the management of this page you can contact them directly via email at:

myles.webb@gmail.com

Next term we have our famous Auroa School Pet Day in the first week of school.  For this event we have numerous tie ins with our work and technology.  In the examples that you can see with this post one of our students has 3D Designed an original butterfly (which is part of our 3D Printed insect series).    

In each of these dioramas from the school pet day the student from our classroom have taken their design, their iPad and used the Tinkercad App to project the butterfly onto the different sets of the diorama.

This was a test - the student who used the butterfly had a timeframe to work with that was extremely short.   They spent under five minutes completing the task, and did not have time to edit either the pictures or the butterfly.    In the general progression from here both would be edited to alter their composition, depth, colour and details.

We will spend time early net term and be creating a series of challenges based around this process - if you want to view last years work you can click on the link to that work here.   During the next two weeks we have a range of projects that we will be highlighting.  Our students will be back on board in full from Monday 12th October 2026.

Laser Cut Art Frames: Pet Day 2026

Today is the final day of School at Auroa Primary School before we start our two week end of term break.   In Term Four, our last term for the year we have a whole lot of special events the first of which is on Thursday which is our annual Auroa School Pet Day.
 

We've detailed some of our art projects in the junior school and how we're using technology to enhance these - we wanted to look at the senior school and their use of our school laser cutter.

Our students have designed wooden frames which have been cut out on MDF.   The students have then decorated these frames using spray painting (to clarify that is supervised).   

There are a range available online for students to work with and there is also the potential for develop their own ideas.   Once these are completed and dried the students then use their iPads to take a digital image with a theme (which is usually farm based) and then mount the picture inside the frame.

Depending on the detail there is a slight variation with the printing time but we would confidently expect that none of the frames would take more than then minutes to complete.

The cost for the MDF is relatively cheap as the off cuts can be use for additional structures for dioramas and other purposes, not just as waste material which then doesn't have a purpose.

If you would like to see a summary of additional projects from our students using the laser cutter then you can click on the link here.

3D Printed Insect: Ant Example

 

Challenge: Student to complete and produce a unique and original design of an insect as a 3D Design, as an AR/VR projected creation and as a physical 3D Print.  Information report writing in term.

Background: This is the end of term project for our students to work in conjunction with our term focus on insects to produce an example that will compliment the art display that will make up part of our Pet Day 2026.  We have produced and published a number of examples that have come in this project task from our classroom.  We spent time for our literacy (writing) looking at the characteristics of insects in the form of our information reports.   This gave students ideas of the different sections and the language used to accurately describe each section of the insect.   

Initial designs from the students were then tested for viability and the balance between realism and a workable 3D print was addressed - an example shown left is the legs in this ant, while they are deliberately blocky in this instance to ensure that they were robust enough to remain in place when printing was complete.

Resources used to complete this print; iPad, Tinkercad App (for AR/VR), Bambu P1P, Bambu PLA - Blue.

Level of Difficulty: Medium this design is going to be refined and reimagined and will require some additional adaption of this design.   It has the recognition factor that we are looking after for the project however aspects of it need to change.

Size: The body of the ant is 40mm long and the sections were 10mm high.   The ant is 20mm high and the antenna are a further 20mm high.

Cost/Price: This print used 6.7g of PLA to complete the print.   This meant that this print cost $0.13c to produce.

Timeframe: To complete the print the printer was operating for thirty three minutes.    This also included a six minute time for the P1P to warm up.

This is the example of the same project being AR/VR into a location to make it 'outstanding'.   In this example the ant has been 'super-sized' and place onto the school field.   The 'gian't ant also had the student adding a naming font behind the ant, which can be seen in the screenshot and is red.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students; As noted the ant needs further refinement.  The first pair of the legs need to be brought back into the abdomen of the ant.   There has been some parts of the face/mask of the ant that require more details.

3D Print School - #Tinkercadhunt 2026 Starting Edition

 

We've been posting online for a while now, if you've been following this blog for a while you will be aware that we now had our most prolific posting year ever as we are posting everyday for a calendar year - but we also starting posting on a semi-regular basis with our first printing from 2014 appearing here the following year.

Overtime we've shifted away a little bit from how this site was first envisaged as we now feature a range of material produced on our laser cutter, our sticker machine or virtual pinball or our amazing DDR Step Master machine.

What it has also allowed us to do is revisit some of the activities that have proven popular or successful with students in the past.   Last year we created a range of prints that we titled 'Tinkercadhunt' when we used the Tinkercad App, 

This year our Pet and Calf Day is taking place in the first week of next term, we are about to break for a two week holiday and when we return in the first week we will be holding that special event.

For the different art tasks one of which is the diorama.  In these instances the backgrounds can be used for Tinkercad Projection.   If you look closely at the photographs that are shown with this post you should be able to recognise one of the original insects that our students have been working on.

In these first steps the nine year old student who has been working on this task has had a pre-arranged figure and had to work it into a range of backgrounds without the benefits of being able to colour match or adapt design to camouflage it amongst a colour matched background.

Typically when projecting onto a surface with AR/VR tends not to work too well when height is involved.   In this instance left the insect can clearly be seen in a position that defies gravity but again this is the student experimenting with a range of backgrounds at short notice and matching the background to the object (which is in this case a AR/VR student generated insect ant.

There will be significant amounts of media related to this project and an updated slideshow to follow.

All these examples were completed independently by a nine year old student within a ten minute timeframe visiting the classroom where the dioramas were on display.

3D Printed Stick Insect: Development

 

Challenge: To use students 3D Design CAD skills to develop a 3D Printed insect suitable for display with Pet Day Art for our school.

Background: This print has been described over the last few days in terms of process and goals - this is an example of a student adjusting their print to be successful.   The two versions of the print are shown next to each other, before and after.   The dimensions of the head, thorax and abdomen are nearly identical - being 60mm long and having a diameter of 20mm.   The difference between the two however can be clearly seen in the legs.   In the original (in light blue) the student wanted to show the typical stick insect size legs and therefore had them somewhat correct although the diameter of them was only 2mm.   

The Bambu H2D and Bambu P1P are excellent machines (although we don't typically use a fine nozzle as we are looking at more printing in volume) however as you can see from the legs shown left the actual printing was too much for the machines as the prints did not survive the removal of the rafting.

The solution which came from the nine year old student when he saw the resulting print was to look at making larger more arched legs, that had a thicker diameter, which while increasing it only to 3mm significantly made a difference with the production of the piece.    As can be shown from the redesigned figure shown in the left photograph in dark blue the issues with the original print have now been resolved and are completed.

Resources used to complete this project: iPad, Tinkercad App, Bambu P1P, Bambu branded blue PLA.

Level of Difficulty: Medium, while its a pretty straight forward design the student has been working on it for some time and has revised it several times to get the balance right between having the recognition factor, being able to represent the insect and have some additional features.

Size: The revised print measures 60mm from head to the end of the abdomen.   It has a body with a diameter of 5mm.   It currently stands 20mm high.    These dimensions are so that it can be placed in conjunction with the students tin-can art display for pet day and not overwhelm it.

Cost/Price: To produce this print the printer used 6g of PLA to complete.  This gave it a price point of $013c to print making it an extremely inexpensive print.

Timeframe: The print took twenty nine minutes to complete which included a six minute warm up time for the printer.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students:  There is still potential for additional features that could be added or extra design details that could be added (for instance the face of the stick insect is still a little cartoon like).    The feet also while now reinforced could have some more detail particularly at their base.

3D Printed Display Butterfly

 

Challenge: For students to produce a unique and original design of an insect to work in conjunction with an art display (for our calf day).

Background: As per the description that was posted about this yesterday and detailed our students creations focussing on the idea of an insect.

One of the key design features that are available via Tinkercad is the wings.   This pair of wings is accessible from the main menu.  For most students including out eight and nine year olds it is a very easy move from this design to start adding details and features that further develop the features.  We also have a somewhat limited timeframe with this activity.  We were looking for students to complete the activity in the region of thirty minutes to make designs such as this one available for the first printing run to allow us to have a series of printed examples to show the class.   We also wanted to ensure that the students had an opportunity to use Tinkercads AR/VR function.

When printed as shown left some of the details from the design were able to more distinct.  The six different spikes that were included for texture at the base of the wings was able to survive the printing process.    

Resources used to complete this print: Chat GPT sheet, Tinkercad App, Bambu PLA (blue), Bambu H2D Printer

Level of Difficulty: Medium - by using the wings as the basis for the design the students were able to complete it quickly, there is more details and additions to be added the intention was to produce a physical print that could be reflected on in a physical sense.

Size:  The print is 90mm across from tip to tip of the wings and 100mm tall in length.   The width of the wings is 5mm and the thorax and the abdomen are slightly thicker although smaller.  The print was completed with rafting with was located underneath the wings which created the 'bow' or bend in them which is visible.

Cost/Price: To complete this print the printer used 20g of PLA.   This has a price point of $0.40c.

Timeframe:  To complete this print the printer was operating on the standard default settings and was operating for one hour and forty minutes.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students:  When discussing butterflies one of the key features that we have talked about with students is the symmetry.  In this example here while the student has attempted to introduce some to this design it is not symmetrical and for it to be correct it needs some slight adjustments.   The colour that has been used here is a base colour, spray painting and decoration is a strong idea, using potentially glitter and also spray paints and other tools to enhance its presentation.

The six threads/spikes at the put of the wings are in position and remaining in place however they are very fragile and must have minimal handling for them to remain.   Also the students need to consider how to display this piece with a static tin car - such as a stick or prop and how this might look and how it could successfully be supported.

3D Printed Insect: Pet Day 2026

Challenge: For a junior school students to create a unique and original 3D CAD model of an insect, suitable for an art display.

Background:   We are a school of 170 students in rural South Taranaki, New Zealand,.  One of the biggest events that we have each year at our school is our Pet Day.   On these days the students are able to bring calves and lambs for show and we also have additional sections including 'Most Loved Pet'.   As well as all of these events, detailed in Mr Bloor's amazing school videos we also have our art displays in each of the classrooms.  It was these displays that we've also used in the past for 'Tinkercad Hunt', which you can view by clicking on the link here.

Each of students has a range of art based activities to complete - one of the junior ones is to turn a tin can into a creation.   To complement this the students have to create an original insect to be part of this display.   The students were using Tinkercad and the Tinkercad app to complete this process.  This is a classroom challenge our students making these designs are eight and nine years old.  

For our English writing this term we have been focussed on information report writing and one of the categories that we investigated and the students wrote about was insects, where they spent time researching the characteristics and features of an insect.   We used 'chat GPT' as a resource generated which created the sheet top left, cross referencing Tinkercad and creation, this generated a checklist and ideas to support students.

We also used as a reference point some images of insects that had been 3D generated and created from a range of sources - we looked at examples online, what was available as a Tinkercad research and examples that have previously featured on this blog.

The students were encouraged to use the Tinkercad main interface and the shapes that were available form there.

One highlighted is the example of the ant shown left.  The student was able to create this in a single session by working and manipulating basic shapes.   We had spoken to the students about the criteria that we wanted to see on the designs from the antenna to the thorax, head and abdomen - and this was check listed via the chatGPT resource.

When the design was completed we also tasked the students with AR/VR of their design into an outside location and an inside classroom location in the school.   We have detailed this in the past and explained how with our classroom of twenty five students this allows all students the opportunity to publish something, without having to wait for a potential delay while the prints might be accessed.

The image shown left is the AR/VR via the Tinkercad App of the ant super sized and placed on the school playground to provide it with a scale.

Once this had been completed and the students had been given the opportunity to review their print and design, check against the checklist and receive some peer feedback we then moved to the process of starting to print a selection of the designs.

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

Level of Difficulty: Medium.   This task challenged the students, this examples is one of the earliest stand out ones to come from a class of twenty five students and was used as a way to encourage others to think about the design.   Further details of course could and will be added but it was also important to have a student complete the process to use as a talking point for others.

Size: The print as it stands measures 70mm in length, is 30mm wide and currently stands 60mm high being 50mm in length from the foot to the shoulder.

Cost/Price:  The print as it stands uses 16g of PLA to complete the print - this has a price point of $0.40c.

Timeframe: To complete this print the printer was operating for one hour and six minutes, which included a six minute machine warm up time.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: The leg at the front left, facing the ant, did not survive the removal of the rafting, it needs to be repositioned.   The ant itself could benefit form more details on the face.   The ant could of course be spray painted to represent a particular colour or kind of ant and then a paint pen or similar item could be used to create additional detail.

Bambu Studios: NRL Coater Set

 

We've been continuing to look for examples that we would use, examples that generate attention and examples that we can illustrate to our students designs and creations.

While in the past as we've previously detailed we have used sites such as Thingiverse for public domain designs our recent switching to Bambu Printers has led us to look at the creativity and projects available on the Bambu Labs website.   This is one such example that was located from here.   

It represents the NRL Warriors logo and were able to look at printing a range of these off.    As we have a Bambu H2D one of the options that we are lucky enough to have with the machines is the colour matching for the different filament - so in this example we went with a glow in the dark for the logo and the badge and a purple for the background.

This photograph, left shows the design when it is charged and illuminating in a darkened room.

This design has a diameter of 100mm.   It has a print time of two hours and forty six minutes however this was to complete four on the print bed - the take for each of the individual prints is forty five minutes per print.   The print has a width 4mm.

The price point of the print is $0.58c for each individual coaster.   By having four of coasters placed on plate at one time producing a significant number of the coasters is possible.   The other issue is the back of the coaster or the inclusion of a laser cut to complement it.   In the example shown top left the coaster has been placed onto an MDF laser cut that is slightly larger than the coaster itself.    This has not been stained or treated and was produced on the school laser cutter. 

Project Revisited: Non 3D Printing Tinkercad related projects

 

Recently we've been publishing a series of revisions from project work from the past that has proven to be popular or has involved work over stages and time.

This is because we've had two significant events in the past two weeks, the NZAIMS Games in Tauranga and an additional week of being unavailable.

Next week, which is the last week of school for Term Three, 2026 we will be back in the classroom working on ongoing projects.   

The final showcase that we wanted to highlight was our Non-3D Printing, 3D Printing slideshow.   The idea is that we apply the same context, the same design ideas but the end result would not necessarily result in a physical 3D Print to go with the work.

Primarily we are using Tinkercad and its apps' AR/VR function for this purpose.   In each case we have a highlighted link to another post about the project with further details and information.    In nearly every case these are activities that have been carried out with the classroom here in Auroa, New Zealand.  Thank you for your visit.

Project Revisited: Christmas 3D Printed Slideshow Ideas

 

We have a single term remaining in New Zealand after next week, that is we're about to finish term three shortly.   Next term we have our school production and there's going to be a range of material and projects completed for the end of the year.

As we're currently taking a regular project printing break, and normal service resumes next week, we've been looking back at some of our most popular projects that have been featured on this blog.

Its quite seasonal but next term we'll be completing a range of festive activities as this site has been running now for over ten years we've got a range of activities that have been produced, developed and created by our students.   

This slideshow was updated at the end of last year and featured a range of activities which then double back to various posts on this blog.   We will be updating this again in 2026 however the aim is to have our students create a range of festive themed personalised decorations.

If you have any questions about any of this work you are more than welcome to drop us a line and we're happy to help with guidance.  Merry Christmas everyone.

If you would like a Powerpoint version of this slideshow and a downloadable file you can access this by visiting our 'Facebook Page' which is the companion site to this blog.

Using Tinkercad to create Virtual CAD Designs

 

Last Friday we posted about using Chat GPT to create a teaching resource/challenge information sheet so students could use Tinkercad to design some storage/housing for a Kaibot.

The challenge was to create storage for a Kaibot to also include space in the design for storage of cards.   At this stage of the design challenge the concept and the ideas are virtual - we are not 3D Printing any of the designs until they have had some revision and checking.  If you look at the first example shown left the students have not built a floor or base for this design, although the other aspects of the design are here.

In the example shown left the dimensions of the print will need careful measuring and checking, particularly for the cards that are going to be stored on top of the storage.

The storage itself could potentially be personalised for further details.     Once the exact dimensions of the robot have been identified some consideration to storage such as either a door or a bay to hold the robot in place.

Allowing this to be completed by the students in this capacity means that the entire classroom can be involved in the design process and these examples (which are shared via Seesaw) allow students to view all the examples and consider making adjustments to their own designs and ideas.   

Once this feedback opportunity has been provided we will then be selecting several of the projects and moving forward with the printing process.   Once the physical examples are provided the final step will be looking at the prints and making further adjustments.

Dance Dance Revoultion: Auroa Primary's Special Machine

Thank you for our visit, we are on a mini-break at the moment - we are back to our regular publishing schedule next week, in the meantime we've been revisiting some of our most favourite Auroa Primary School related technology, project and special events.

If there's one piece of technology that we love to highlight which always produces amazement its our full sized DDR Machine! Create by Mr Bloor and the students of our school its a piece of technology that we're constantly adding to! Our students make the music videos media for the machine.   We also hold regular competitions for our students such as last years 'K-Pop Demon Hunters Special'

We've also live streamed the competition which involves our students competing against each other and a range of competitors.  You can view one of our amazing events here.  As always we need to acknowledge Mr Bloor and Sonic Vision Studios and his fantastic work - you can click on the link to his page here.

Celebrating our NZAIMS Success: Virtuall Pinball

 

Recently our Girls Basketball team returned from the 2026 NZAIMS Games Tournament - where our school managed to place fourth in the entire country! 

To celebrate this success Mr Bloor had a special release for our students, a virtual pinball table that is modelled on the players from the team!

This was a lovely touch, where one of our schools amazing Digital pinball tables was adapted to feature the students from our school (the game itself is a modified version of an NBA Pinball game).

Already this year we had another of our famous live streamed virtual Pinball Competitions - where our students competed in teams against each other to determine a tag team champion!'

We are very lucky to have this sort of amazing technology available to our students - you can view this years livestream finals here.

Or if you want to see a spectacular why not watch our 'Fast and Furious Grand Final! This was a competition from five long years ago and is going to be a sequel to the movie for our next drive in!

Market Day 2027 - Coming Soon

 

We have a number of annual or bi-annual events at Auroa Primary School, with this year being a school production that means the next Market Day is scheduled for 2027 where our students will be engaged in running a business and using our skills and design techniques to design and create something special to sell to the local community.

In the slideshow below we went into detail for the products that were produced as well as looking behind the scenes of how they were made and developed.   

This event has a specific tab on this sites which also includes Mr Bloors amazing videos - you can click on the link to this here.    This slideshow below features the links to the products and information about the process that we went through to create each of them.

Projects Revisited: Dolls House and 3D Printed Furniture 2025

 

One of our most popular projects from last year was the 'skip' Dolls House - which we tried to rebuild for use in our junior classrooms.

While we used the laser cutter for the building and 3D Printed all of the furniture the project didn't exactly end up like we had anticipated.

You can follow the entire project, which includes links to each of the different stages, the descriptions and information can be viewed below - or you can view a powerpoint version of this slideshow and locate the downloadable file on our Facebook page.

If you require additional information on this project please drop us a line.

Celebrating Sonic Vision Studios!

 While this sight is on a hiatus and currently not active, although just for a week - we thought that we'd continue to publish some of the amazing work of Mr Bloor and his Sonic Vision studios.  This staff member if the person responsible for much of the incredible media associated with Auroa Primary School.

Our major event is in preparation as we speak - we highlighted the 2020 School Drive in movie but that was only our first instalment - following the success of 2020 version we repeated it again in 2023! 

This movie was made with the school and showcased Mr Bloors amazing talents.   In addition to this we had a viewing at the school, on a massive screen on a truck, for the entire community.

And last but not least there is the entire movie masterpiece! If you would like to contact Mr Bloor about the project or any of the specifics that go into his work, please drop us a line and we can put you in touch with him.

Ultima Ration September 14th-21st 2026

Thank you for your visit - this site is currently taking a break for unforeseen circumstances and there will be no material published in the week coming up from the 14th of September until September 2st.

During that time we will be publishing some 'end of year material' but there will be no new material which should start again in the following week.

Chat GPT - Tinkercad/3D Printing

 

While working remotely at present setting challenges specific to the students at 'home' can be somewhat of a challenge.   In this time of being somewhat time-poor an advantage is to use tools such as Chat-GPT to create general resourcing but we have already had a number of instances when we have been able to use it for 3D Printing and specific design tasks using our favourite app Tinkercad.

In this instance the task is to create some authentic storage for a Kaibot Robot, which we intend to print using our H2D Bambu Printer.

This has allowed us to produce a task that the students can use as a guide in a short space of time.    When we discuss with the students we can then refine their designs, assess their AR/VR creations and look at potential revisions before we begin the printing process once this has been completed.

We are completing this work for our friends at The Gardens School in Auckland - you can visit their school page by clicking on the link here.  We have also completed some projects for them in the past, a summary of which you can access by clicking on the link here.

3D Print School: Regular Service Returning Soon

   

We are completing our obligations in Tauranga for the 2026 NZAIMS Games Tournament. Although it has had but a parting mention on this site (which has a small link in via the 3D Printing we've done for other schools as gifts) and we don't usually post about non related tech matters our little school (that is a school with 50 Y7/8 students) has managed this week to defeat St Mary's College (Auckland), Pinehurst College.   

In addition that that we had a close pool game against the amazing Koromatua School before a run of three legendary results defeating Murrays Bay Intermediate, Kura te Koutu and Northcross Intermediate.   We also lost to amazing schools like Baradene College and Northcross Intermediate at the time of writing the 3rd/4th playoff game awaits against Murrry's Bay Intermediate, but regardless of that result a small rural school from South Taranaki has outperformed students/schools with 1500 Y7/8 students and been playing and competing against some of the top schools in New Zealand for an entire week.

What it means for this site is that shortly we will again be posting new projects and students work.  Thank you for attention to this matter and see you round.

3D Print: Coaster Exemplar Fathers Day

 

Challenge: To produce a unique Fathers Day Gift - a coaster that could hold a drink or mug and is personalised.

Background:   This process has been detailed on numerous prints on this blog.   However in this case this example can be highlighted as a great example of what is possible from an independent design perspective from a junior student.   This is somewhat of a contrast to yesterdays post which was probably featuring too much detail where this tended to have a positive balance.   The student also made sure to sink the design font into the base of the design which gave the print a more polished look than if it had been above the print.

This is the students Seesaw post about the project when it was completed.   Although normally we would encourage them not to have a blue object on a blue table you can see the lettering details (which are inserted 5mm into the base) this print has really stood out in terms of quality and presentation.

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

Level of Difficulty: Medium.  This student did not use the template that was provided they created their own from scratch by combing two different sphere shapes from the main Tinkercad design page.

Size: As can be seen from the design page screenshot (above) the design had a diameter of 110mm which made it a decent size to be able to positively hold a range of mugs and glasses.

Cost/Price: To produce this print the project used 44g of PLA to (regular) to complete the print.   This gave the project a price point of $0.90c.

Timeframe:   The printer was operating on the regular default settings for one hour and forty minutes to complete the print.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: This project has been identified as an exemplar from our students - there is no more design alterations required or needed the only difference could be that the print could have been slightly sprayed or printed in some multi-coloured or special variant.