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.

Junior Masterclass - Pushing a Tinkercad Design

 

We have spoken at length about a number of reasons why our students use Tinkercad (on iPad) as part of class designs and challenges.   We have used it, in its free form, for ten years with a range of students, which date back to the very first posts on this blog.

We continue to find it manageable and creative - and an example of this is shown left.  This has been created by a student using Tinkercad to design a significant Christmas project.  

This student opted to design a Christmas Sleigh themed design.   He wanted to build the entire design by using Tinkercad to include the main shapes and the complete design.    The student has worked on this over a considerable period of time, refining, reworking and adapting to the design until he was happy with it.

This student has worked on a number of projects this year, which is his first year working with 3D Printers and CAD (Tinkercad) design.

We have yet to print this 3D Design - we have used Tinkercad to create an AR/VR version of this project, which has been placed outside our classroom.   The student has determined that he wants to create a Christmas Card based around this design.   He has begun the process of using different filters with the image that Tinkercad design created.

An example of the process of using filters, as supplied on Pic Collage, is shown left.

The student is continuing to experiment with this - ultimately we would like to experiment with the process of using the design, although the question is whether or not this will make the process of printing remains to be seen.

We are nearly finished for the school year in New Zealand we will be completing our final run of prints prior to school completing on December 16th 2024.

3D Printing: Junior Projects Ongoing

We have students looking for opportunities to complete individualised projects that are not otherwise available.

In this case shown left a basic design was created by a student, using a previous available tutorial on Tinkercad.   When the design was completed it was then passed to a senior student with which to complete the spray painting of the design.    The student was extremely pleased with the results.

There were a point that the hole for the attachment of a cord or drawstring was slightly too big or too close to the edge of the design, however the student opted against a reprint.

The print took five and a half hours to complete and was 140mm high, was 100mm wide and was 10mm thick.   It was designed to be as robust as possible as it was for a gear bag.

We have continued to allow students to experiment with the develop ideas related to Christmas Decorations.  This is something that we have done each year as it has allowed each design to be created and also has a realistic print time for the project to be completed and allow each student to progress from a concept, to an idea, to a design and then refine the design as required.

In the example shown left the students basic block shape has been further refined by inserts for the name and shape and a ring inserted in the top left to allow the decoration to be hung easily from a tree.  The design measures 90mm by 90mm and was then subsequently spray painted by a senior student.   The print time was two and a half hours.

You can read a presentation about ten years of Christmas Decorations Projects.

Christmas Gifts/Unique Designs/Earrings Business for Students.    When we held our School Market Day last year we created a range of business that featured and used all of our technology opportunities for our students.  The laser cutter was used for various market day projects, the sticker machine was used for packaging and labelling and we had several 3D Printed based businesses.   One of which being run by a Y3 student was based around 3D Printing Earrings.  This student is now a year older however we have made the decision to feature some of these designs for sale from the school office for Christmas gifts given that they are unique and we can produce them at a rate that is achievable and quickly (typically the pair of earrings as shown in the photograph can be printed in thirty minutes or thereabouts).  We will be featuring these in an area adjacent to our school office with the intention that they can be designed. created and marketed by our students.

Christmas Projects: Something unique, something personal and something created by a student.

This was a relatively straight forward design from a Y3 student in the classroom who was creating and designing for one of the first times.   

It was easily achievable to complete a Tinkercad design that the student was intending to complete with spray painting.

The student was extremely proud of this intending to use it to label for the family pet.    The design was 120mm long/across, was was 10mm high and was 50mm wide at the ends and 40mm wide in the middle for the print.

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 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 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

Christmas Decorations: Starting Early for 2024

Challenge: For student to create a unique 3D Print.

Background: The student concerned here wanted to play around with Tinkercad and is designing a range of whimsical original designs.   She has shown with her work to be creative and interesting.   In this instance she was playing around with the shape.   When it was presented to myself I assumed that it was a Christmas Decorations.   We have previously completed a wide range of projects related to Christmas decorations.

However the student thought that it most represented a person wearing a cloak, which could be seen when focussed on and tilted.   She had the idea to put a box at the bottom for the shape to stand on (which is where the Christmas Tree first became a thought.

Also of note this is an original design from a seven year old who is in her first year of creating using Tinkercad.

Level of Difficulty: Low - this is the student making shapes and putting a group of them together, and while she had an idea in mind for the design, as stated we felt it closely resembled something else - hence the reference to Christmas Decorations.   Typically each year we produce unique ones but this can take some time to produce a range for the classroom, so starting early is also a positive.

Timeframe: Two and a half hours.   There was some rafting that was produced with this print however this was at the base and therefore was not significant, although in hindsight it could be reduced.

Size: The print is 120mm long, was 70mm wide and 50mm deep.   Given that it is looking at being converted to a Christmas Decoration as described, these dimensions are perfect.   Also of note is the loop that is visible at the top of the print, which is perfect for hanging string to have it on a tree.

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: The students design was a source of pride for them, and while it was not intended as a tree is being converted to such.   The student is now thinking about what else they can convert or design for Christmas decorations.   

3D Printed Christmas Decorations - 2023

 Each year as a final project for the students we like to engage them by looking at designing Christmas Themed Ornaments that can be created and hung from a tree.   This is a common subject that the students can relate to, have experience with practical examples and it allows some customisation and individualisation of gifts and prints.     Again we have a sequence in place - using the main Tinkercad interface to look at design creation.

The size of the design varies - when we give the classroom of Y3/4 students a free design opportunity they tend to use the scribble command or the basic shapes that are from the main interface.   We print the first few runs of designs and then allow the students to look at their creations and refine, design and modify.

Students who have shown an aptitude or design class in the past we tend to push to come up with more complex designs.

In this instance shown left the print measures 50mm across and is 70mm high.  It is 5mm thick - the student has attempted a 'snowman' type design (interesting fact in our part of New Zealand it does not snow in Winter - we have Christmas at in summertime).

The student will refine and improve this design moving forward and we look to challenge her to increase the degree of difficulty.  The print took just over an hour to print on the default settings (including an infill inside the print of 15%).    We have been asked recently for the .stl files to be available for various prints - as we have stated in the past on this blog these files are the individual creations of the students from our school.    They are intended as ideas for educators and students to create their own individual 3D Printed designs.   If you have a particular interest in a file you can potentially email the teacher (myles.webb@gmail.com) and I can make it available,

Finally as this blog has been running now for nearly ten years (!) we have a large amount of material available from previous years Christmas themed prints.   You can search the entire blog using the search function on the left or look at the links below which reflect some particular work from previous years:

• Our 2022 Summary of past years and details about a variety of prints.
• In 2018 we complete prints in two classrooms for each student some 60 in total some of the details and a selection of the prints are featured here.
• In 2016 we used Glow-In-The-Dark filament for something different and effective
• in 2016 we created specific present labels for individuals presents.
• In 2018 we saw some of our most creative Christmas Prints when a student spent a considerable time locating, designing and refining a Christmas Sleigh using Tinkercads main interface.

Refining and Redesigning the Christmas Tree

Challenge: Students 3D Printed a Christmas Tree can they use the example and redesign it to improve its features and presentation.

We mentioned this design briefly - the student wanted to create a unique Christmas Tree design using Tinkercad and did so.   When they had completed it we got them to think critically about the final print, what they had produced, its dimensions, lettering and other details.   Our challenge to the students was how can this be improved? What can we adapt from this design?

The students first task was to look at the dimensions - the original was 60mm wide and the lettering as a result was clustered and hard to read.  By increasing the base size to 120mm the lettering could be doubled which made it much clearly and easy to read.   The other change was the presentation of the lettering.  

In the original on the left the lettering extended out from the print this lacked the clarity and detail which was achieved by placing the lettering inside the design as shown on the right.   

The original design was 120mm high the redesign was 140mm but it was the width of the design where the improvement in scale was made.

The link at the top of the design was significantly increased as well - we had the ability to have the original looped however we increase the size of it.   Finally the last aspect of it was the baubles.  

There was a consequence increase in the length of the print time - the improve tree took four hours to print which would be near the top end for this piece given the intentions of it.

Ongoing Projects: December 2022

 

Left - A basic badge design.   Its been covered so much on this blog we won't repeat the details again although in the past we've covered the simplicity of these designs from examples through to step by step tutorial videos.

This student is using these as Christmas tags for a family member, with the master complete its simply a matter of duplicating the same design and printing them off.  This design is 40mm wide, 20mm high and is 5mm thick.  The print time for this design is extremely short, forty minutes and works well given the size and the combination with the Snapmaker printer, wouldn't recommend doing this with an older machine, potentially you would look at doing a class set as an introductory task it wouldn't take long and you'd be able to mass produce them in quick succession.

Original Christmas Designs - are a focus for a number of students.   We have been challenging the students to complete these so they are unique (hence if you view the 'tree' to the left you can see that it is not balanced as one might expect with the sides), asking the students to create something that is personalised and unique.   The designs have varied but again the final print tends to be something that is not too large and hence has a realistic printing time.

The tree shown left is 70mm high is 45mm wide and 10mm thick.  The student has already been re-working these dimensions, they have not been satisfied with the results.   They have reduced the thickness of the design opting for a 5mm print and the lettering has been increased so that it will be more obvious with the final design.   The student is happy with the imbalance created and shown by the print as a result of which they have left that in the design to make it unique.

A current printing time of three hours has been reduced as result.

This is another present design - that is intended to accomplish the goal of creating a present label but in this case making the design 3D printed, with the intention of it to be later spray painted.

The student has worked on this with minimal experience with Tinkercad and this is their first individual, independent print,  They have forgotten to have an insert of a hole into the design to allow someone to easily insert ribbon into the design to attach it.   They also made it only 3mm thick and while this means that it works (just) it also is extremely thin, while it is not likely to break unless pressure is applied it could be broken easily.   The design measured 70mm across and was 60mm high as noted the thickness was only 3mm which needs to be addressed.

Left - the original Tinsel design.  We have seen many versions of this print since it was first created.   The student simply used three sphere shapes, a ring (which then was joined to the main design).  To get the affect of having tinsel on the design the student used the 'scribble' command.  All of these are available via Tinkercad.   The total design time took under three minutes, independently, the print which was 70mm across, 60mm high and was 10mm thick.  This was a combination that worked perfectly and has inspired a range of variations and copies from other students who have subsequently created their own versions.  

3D Print School: Christmas 2022 Decorations

Challenge: For a student to create an original Christmas themed decoration

Background: A student who has had limited input and creations with 3D printing was very keen to produce something with a Christmas theme.   They had experience before prior with Tinkercad but in a passing way rather than being someone who had made epic or complicated prints.

By using Tinkercads main interface and the 3D objects that are readily available and visible the student was quickly about to produce this design and print.   When it was originally shown to the teacher the name was not present so after a brief conversation it was added to the final result.

The student produced this independently within a time frame of ten minutes and sized everything successfully.  The student was thrilled with the result and is looking at options to spray paint and further decorate the design.

Level of Difficulty: Low - this is a basic design with basic shapes.

Size: The print measured 90mm in height was 45mm across and was only 8mm thick.   For the purpose of an introductory print, where we wanted the student to experiment before we look at trying to extend them or have them create a more detailed print 

Time: This is an hour and a half print - given the dimensions etc and the purpose of the print it wouldn't really be feasible to print this any bigger, there could have perhaps been some additional lettering.

What we would do differently/next step for students: Nil - print designed (independently) by student, created within a reasonable size and goal, handed for the teacher to print and no adjustment required.

We have a range of prints from previous years which were listed in this post from a few days ago.

The design left, was created using the basic designs - a series of circles/spheres were created for the main part of the design, the scribble part of the design was used for the foliage, and a circle was used to link the design so it could be hung on a tree.   The total design time was less than ten minutes and the design took two hours to print.   The next step with it is to look at the spray painting of the design to look at appropriate colour.

3D Printing - Christmas Themed Activities: Past Projects

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

CHRISTMAS SLEIGH COOKIE CUTTERS

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

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

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

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

INDIVIDUALISED CHRISTMAS PRINTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

CHRISTMAS TREE DESIGN CHALLENGE

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

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

2021 3D Printed Christmas Decorations

In the past we have used the seasonal time to have students create a range of 3D Printed Christmas decorations, to hang from a tree.  Typically by managing the size of the prints we have been able to target having the prints produced in a run for a classroom.

The prints in this series came about from novice students who were nine and ten years old using a design process of initially drawing a sketch, converting that sketch into a 3D Design via Tinkercad and then printing the design using the Ultimaker2+ machines that we have in the classroom.   The machines have been here since 2016 and were reconditioned in 2019 - so are durable reliable and slightly old.

The first print shown here was 80mm across and 80mm long, the bow was added via the main Tinkercad interface and a simple cross pattern was added to the design of the print.   The final design aspect of the print was to create a hole, which is located at the top of the present so that it could be easily hung from the tree.

The student concerned created this print following the design process with minimal teacher input.   The print took 45 minutes to print and following the process was extremely successful.   Further details will be applied in the decoration process.

Left: This design was shown prior to removal of the rafting.   The student wanted to create a traditional Christmas Tree design with the angles created to make the design.    The student concerned has used Tinkercad in the past but not for a year or so but was able to pick it up extremely quickly.   

One aspect of the design that the student needed to address was the decorations that he had added to the tree.   One of the baubles was not attached to the tree itself (hence the delay in removing the rafting so that the student could clearly be aware of the issue)

The total print took one hour to complete - it was a relatively quick design, with the student having a clear idea about the finished product and how it might be developed and decorated.

The student is intending to decorate the baubles and then see if he can return them to the print, with some form of adhesive.   

Left: This design is going to be significantly redesigned.   The student wanted to make a variation of the tree theme, place the name of their family on the tree and include some design aspects (the star, a mini-tree on base of the tree to give it a three dimensional aspect).    

Due to the size of the lettering of the family name, the print did not add this detail (this has occurred at times when the print is too small).   The student has decided to enlarge the base of the design and then to increase by scale ensure the detail was created - as a result of this the decoration would then bring the detail in the print to the fore.   All of the designs that have been featured here are part of a series of thirty that are currently being produced (on the single class printer).   The prints will be selective from this point forward.  We have posted a series of prints in the past from basic designs such as the ones that we have featured above running all the way to a extremely complication piece such as the sleigh from 2018.

3D Printed Projects: Individualised Basic Projects

Challenge: For students to create (independently) a variety of designs that were original and created and personalized for the purpose of a gift.
Background:  Having completed the 'sound lure' project for the year the 3D Printers here at School were available for a variety of projects.   The students were asked to create a concept or idea, which was original, which allowed them to personalize something and then created it independently.  Some of these projects were inspired by work from the past, which has been already featured on this blog.  Full details of those projects are available in the links next to the photographs.

   Left: An introductory name plate for a student completely new to 3D Printing.  The instructions for the student was prepared by another student who tutored the student, and also in the form of a flipped video that students produced earlier in the year.

This is a basic design/concept/idea that has featured many times on this blog which is detailed here.

This took four and a half hours and was 90mm by 60mm and was 5mm thick with the lettering another 5mm (and star) out from the design,

Another project was similar but 'Christmas Themed' with an insert Reindeer, and hearts that wen through the shape, the name of the student in this instance was sunk into the design of the plate (in contrast to the design above when it was raised up from the base).    The student was also working for the first time on a 3D Printing project and like the student involved in the above project is ten years old.  They were able to be paired up with a student who had worked Tinkercad before and the design was original and personalized.   It was 100mm by 100mm and 5mm thick, with a five hour print time.  Again the tutorial video was used as a back up resource to assist with teaching, and there are considerable Christmas themed examples of this on this blog running from simple designs with a name to individually created 3D Projects based around Christmas ideas (such as the Sleigh featured here).   These projects range in difficulty level from basic, which would take five minutes to much more advanced and complicated designs that would potentially require reworking and remodelling.

A slight variation of the above themes saw the creation of this badge for a child's room, which was created by a student following the format above.   The PLA used by the printer is extremely durable and wearing, meaning that the designs themselves seldom fade or can be broken.  We have been testing this theory with a number of prints to show the evacuation assembly area at school, which when put outside in an exposed area have maintained their shape and form for approaching two years.   This print was 5mm thick, with the lettering and stars an additional 5mm, 60mm high and 140mm across the print time was four and a half hours.

In the final design that we wanted to highlight, a student wanted to create a gift to mark a family members, first Christmas.   Again the basic design format was followed as with other designs in this group.   The design featured no 'rafting' o additional PLA required to complete the project, the student was able to created, design and complete the project themselves while meeting the criteria that was created at the start of the project.   The print measured 140mm across, was 10mm thick (including the lettering in the middle) and featured a whole in the top of the design to attach it to a Christmas Tree.   This took four hours to print on our default settings.

3D Printed Christmas Decorations

Challenge: Student wanted to use a 3D Printer to create and design a personalised decoration for a family member.
Background: Student was new to the classroom, near the end of the school year (in New Zealand).  We had a new student who had no experience with 3D Printer and wanted to show the possibilities that the printer could be used to create something.   The student had mentoring from another student, both of whom are ten years old.  The creation process was simple using the basic template from the main Tinkercad interface.  The photos shown with the print show the print prior to any 'clearning' of minor excess PLA.    The lettering was sunk into the base of the design to add detail to it (it also has at times been reversed and raised up, but the sinking into the base generally looks better in our students opinion).  The teacher had no input into the process or the design.
Degree of Difficulty: Medium - this is a students first print, but the basic design features can from the student and someone offering design advice.  We have created, and there are online tutorials available on how to create inserts and lettering, so the design is very similar to the 'keyring' and 'badge' design that have previously been published here on the blog.  Students could work independently on this task to complete it from the middle school (Y5 onwards).
Size:   The design measured 100mm across and was 120mm high.   The print was 5mm thick (this could have been reducded to significantly improve the printing time).   Variations on this design/theme have been created and posted on this blog previously.
Timeframe: Four and a half hours for the default setting with a 6mm nozzle and 20% infill.   This is standard Tinkercad/CURA settings for our Ultimaker 2.  These machines are now five years old although two years ago they were upgraded to Ultimaker 2+.   One would strongly suspect that a more robust machine would improve on the printing time considerably.
What we would do differently/Next Steps for students: None - this turned out exactly as required.

Further reference: In 2018 our students created Christmas Prints for everyone in the classroom and also buddy created with another student - this prints, ideas and designs are featured here.  Further examples can be located here and exemplars can be seen here

In total there are several pages of designs, creations and idea that have been featured on this blog (including the 'sleigh' design which was create dby students from scratch using the main Tinkercad Interface, as shown left.

Please link in anymore great examples that you know about and share this post!

3D Printed Christmas Decorations: 2018 Season

Above: First Print in the series

Challenge: For students to design a suitable 'Christmas' themed decoration that could hang on a Christmas Tree.   Design needed to be personalized and for a challenge for the teacher the student was to design one themselves, and then choose another student in the school (at any level from five years old to twelve years old) and instruct them to use Tinkercad and produce an ornament as well.   Following this process it would allow to produce sixty Christmas ornament across the school.
Background: As above - we were looking at trying to have students in large numbers complete original prints that were personalized.    The students in my classroom tend to be able to produce particularly high level of 3D Prints as shown on this blog, however at times this can be daunting for other (teachers and students) so allowing our students to instruct or show others how to create items using the 3D Printer.   Although not all of Christmas is celebrated the same around the world, or of course at all, depending on the culture, however it would be easy to modify this for different holidays.   We tried this last year, but left the print running until too close to Christmas.    We also were trying to look at using Glow-In-the-Dark filament and this at the time was proving to be problematic (which over time we've become to understand that it most likely resulted from the temperature settings for the printer (which was too high, by default) and also not sealing the PLA in an airtight container after it was first opened.    Ultimately we wanted to ensure that we could complete a mass set of printing (in this case we are tar getting sixty unique and personalized decorations) on a single printer over a two to three week time frame.   The prints in this series are going to be based around my classroom of students (Y5/6 so nine and ten year olds) but also then developing with students between five and twelve.    We're going to show this examples in a Google Slide, with each example and keep adding to the slide as the prints develop. 
Level of Difficulty: Low Medium - Tinkercad has a large multitude of templates available including several holiday themed prints - generally these have been used by the students to start the design of the print (an example is the Christmas Tree shown above).  In this case the student simply added a hole to allow the ornament to be strung and created text that personalized a message for the ornament.
Time frame: Six hours for this print on the usual default settings - the lettering in particular was a little raised, which could have led to an adjustment in print time, although given its size, not too much.
Size: The print was particularly large for a Christmas themed ornament.    It measure 100mm across more or less at the base and had a height of 140mm.  Crucial to the print was the thickness of the print, which was deliberately left at 5mm.   The lettering visible raised it another 5mm.
What we would do differently/next steps for students: Grey happened to be the next cab off the rank so to speak in terms of PLA perhaps a different type could have been chosen for a different affect.   The design is due to be used to inspire others and will be a large-ish scale print run of around sixty different designs.     This will be the first.

3D PrintedChristmas Decorations: Tinkercad - Beta

Challenge: 3D Printed Christmas decoration, as mentioned and described in previous posts, a Christmas decoration for a local shop with a theme of the school, thus featuring 'Auroa' instead of the students name.
Background: Students were using the updated 'beta' version of Tinkercad which has an expanded basic shapes and significantly improved lettering options (an option to be able to print a series of letters or sentences - instead of previously having to add each letter individually).
Task: Using the 'beta' version of Tinkercad to design a print, allowing the students to use the new features, with emphasis on the specific challenge.
Level of Difficulty: Easy - while this design potentially looks complex all of the features are in fact part of the new version of Tinkercad and feature from the regular menu.  The student designed this in her first attempt in under three minutes, although she had previous experience with using the original Tinker.  Student is Year 5 - so turning ten.
Issues: The student had a thickness of 5mm with the print to ensure that it ran correctly, which is did, this was probably too thin for the base of the star, which cracked when being removed from the plate.
Size: 20cm in height, 15cm across and a depth of 5mm [which made the base fragile.]
Timeframe: Nine hours.
Process: This was significantly contributed by the new 'beta' version of Tinkercad (which is free).  The design was completed by basic settings and then saved.   This was then loaded into the new version of Cura and then transferred to the printing - Ultimaker 2.
Reflection: If someone was to state that 3D Printing was too technical this is an example of something practical that could be completed in a insignificant timeframe that would produce an eye catching positive example of 3D Printing (in addition there was the intention to Glow-In-the-Dark filament the print for further effect).

Christmas Decorations: Evolving Print Designs

Star with original Tinkercad lettering (hence the differing letters)

Challenge: To create an original 'Christmas' design for a Christmas Tree, suitable to be hung.
Background: As previously stated these designs all evolved from the same project.  While we had three printers running, filament delays meant these were backed up and the project stretched into December, this allowed students to utilise the new beta version of Tinkercad (which is a significant improvement) and also refine their designs based around earlier prints.
Task: To create an original (from scratch) design which predominantly featured the use of the new objects and lettering from the beta version of Tinkercad.'  The original idea was for a personalised one, then the School was requested to make a series of prints for a Christmas Tree at a local shop - however students involved in the process did not want their prints in general to go to the shop so they used them for their own trees despite featuring the name of the school!

Level of Difficulty: Easy - some of the students involved modified prints and designs that were used as part of the 'Cookie Cutter' projects with subtle changes.  The students creating from scratch were able to create the key required parts from the basic set up.
Issues: The student decided to individually create the letters using the old version of Tinkercad, therefore they were slightly different sizes and the second 'a' was noticeably smaller than the others, however student was more than happy with this.   The box was introduced as a base for the printing of the letters.
Size: 20cm from tip to tip and 20cm across, depth of 5mm.
Timeframe: Eight hours. (Ultimaker 2+ with 4mm nozzle)
Process: The original design was created using a star shape that was located as a stencil GIF as part of the 'Cookie Cutter' project.   The student wanted to use a base design for a star for the top of the tree and thus took the original star design and simply added the 'Auroa' block and lettering to meet the criteria desired for the Christmas decoration.  The new version of Tinkercad was not used as the student preferred using the older version which he was familiar with (see note about the lettering).   Cura was used as with most prints on this site and then the print was downloaded.
Reflection: the student himself was extremely happy with the print but this was essentially just a small modification of a previous project, and while he was happy with the results he could have had more variation with it.  As a project to capture attention for a display piece its some seasonal value and the potential is there for considerable personalisation of the ornament.

Christmas Decorations 3D Glow-in-the-Dark

Bottle design, sans cork

Challenge: to create a decoration for a Christmas Tree designed (from scratch) by students suitable for hanging on a Christmas Tree.
Background: This is a further development of the 'Christmas Decorations' post from earlier in this blog.  Initial designs included run of the mill decorations that were not completely original and involved converting GIF pictures - this design was from scratch, included in it was an innovation - the student created a 'cork' or insert for the top, which would allow this to be hung.
Task: The student was wanting something extra for his first print and thus created the lid/cork which worked as an insert.
Level of Difficulty - Medium - the student wanted to add the extra by having the 'cork' which needed a separate part and able to be inserted into the top thus allowing it to be potentially hung.
Issues: the print was completed with glow-in-the-dark filament, it seems a little flaky compared to the regular and not as smooth.  The cork/lid fitted perfectly at the second attempt, as it needed to be resized from the draft print - however it fitted perfect and was snug which created the avenue for it being hung from a tree (its going to take the place of a star on a family tree!)

the cork/lid with rafting

Size: 11cm in height, 5cm across and a depth of 5mm for the base.  The letters had the deliberate effect of being different sizes with the intention of creating a 'step' look.
Timeframe: Six hours - on a regular print.
Process: Tinkercad (Beta) design from scratch, converted to Cura (new version) and then printed on a regular Ultimaker 2.
Reflection: The Y5 student (ten year old) created the design himself and was able to show good attention to detail and creativity by adding the cork/lid.  The student concerned was thrilled with the result which completed the brief but included an innovation.