Market Day: Exemplars

One of the most popular aspects or events that takes place on a semi-regular basis here at Auroa Primary School has been our school market days.  On these days under the banner of innovation the students have to run a business designing, creating, marketing and ultimately selling to the general public as a fundraiser for our school.

Technology and our 3D Printers and Laser Cutters feature heavily in the production process with the students encouraged to use them, and other technology such as our sticker machine in the process.

Further videos describing our school and some of the events at Auroa Primary School can be located at the Youtube Page of Sonic Vision Studios.

We have held a number of market days - amongst our most recent Market Days in 2019 a group of students focussed on using the 3D Printer to produce affirmations and statements that were mounted on wood.   The 2022 Market Day business most associated with 3D Printers included students who were making 'flexi-animals'.   These animals were created with Tinkercad and involved creating small animals that were linked in sections allowing them to be manipulated.    We found the earliest versions of these online via Thingiverse and general google searching.    Our initial businesses involved using predesigned and pre-made versions while our students concentrated on producing accessories.

Following this event a senior student spent time using an example and unpacked it by reverse engineering the process to create their own version of these items.  The process has been explained by the student and she has used her knowledge to pass it onto others.   Including passing it onto junior students who have in turn created their own versions.   It is at the point that the junior students in my classroom (who are seven and eight years old) have completed the process for our upcoming Market Day in 2023 by producing original animals that have been designed and made from scratch.

Finally the student involved in this process has taken the next step - manufacturing these animals and selling them via a local craft market.  The school has charged her for the plastic and she has in turn made a profit from her designs which are now available to the local community.

We also used additional items to help with our presentation.  A key piece of hardware that we are able to use is the Roland Versa Studio Sign Maker BN-20.   You can see how our students have used this by clicking on the link to the post here.

We have purchased some of the presentation items shown left from Ali-Express - including the bags and the containers which came when we ordered the online kits for the lip balm shown.   However while these enhanced the presentation we wanted to personalise it for the students business.  This is where the sticker comes in and can be used to apply to the students presentation.

We have our students working on ideas for packaging to ensure that the products are produced to the best possible presentation standards.

Another machine that we have at our school is an industrial sized laser cutter.  This allows us to produce material quickly and effectively and has different properties from the 3D Printer.  You can view examples for our student Market Day by looking at these boxes that were created for our market day by using the laser cutter to create them.   

In addition to this we have a number of students who are produced personalised coasters for drinks.  These coasters have been produced by the students who are using the laser cutter to produce them.

You can view details of the process and the finished products for the students by clicking on the link to them here.