Paw Patrol - Not Really

 

We are looking for different ways to challenge our students with design ideas and creations.    One of the ways that we've done so is to take existing examples that are available online and look if we can develop our students skills and design techniques using tools such as Tinkercad.

An example of this process is to use the pre-made material from a popular children's show - Paw Patrol.  There are numerous examples that are online.  We've used a variety of sites for these kinds of files, in this case we're using Thingiverse.

We've found a large number of files and creations that follow this theme.   We selected several of them including badges and cookie cutters.   This has been quite a standard design for our students over the years.   You can use the search bar to locate them.  These prints had a variety of times to complete however they generally were in the forty minute range for prints and cost around the $1.00.  The cookie cutter below used 16g of PLA to complete the print.

Once these had been completed we then attempted to reverse the process - we started with the print (in this case the cookie cutter) and then attempted to create a design that is based on one of the characters, as shown above.

This student then used the 'scribble' icon/tool to create their own version of the design and coloured it.   Again the print times and the relevant PLA use and cost/price was under one dollar to produce the final print.

The student is going to refine this design to reflect more of the characteristics of the character and allow some feedback from the students.   They are going to look at the design, how it looks and work on improving the viability and the recognition of the design.

3D Printing: Name Font

 

Challenge: For student to experiment with their unique linking.

Background: This post has been detailed about the students experimentation with linking and looking tat different ways to complete it or use it.   In this application the student wanted to create a unique version of their name with stylised lettering - which then featured only the linking and nothing else.   The idea was that the letters if planned carefully and space and created in this was would create a naturally standing set of display letters.

The student who designed, created and published this work is a Y5 student in New Zealand, that is they are nine turning ten years old.   They are now in another classroom at the school but they spent two years with with Tinkercad on their CAD design and proved to be an exceptionally skilled designer.  This was completed in the students own time.

Resources used to complete this project: The students involved used the Tinkercad App to design the lettering (with a focus on 'scribble' and the 'linking' both of which we've described in detail previously on this blog.    

Level of Difficulty: High - this is a student who is extremely capable working on a challenging project that appears simplistic but needs to have balance, linking (which they spent several months working on perfecting the design, process and engineering) and also needs to look visually appealing.   Subtle details like the balance created by the shape and weight of the lettering and the different elements touching the ground in different locations to ensure that it works.

Size: The print is 188mm wide and 90mm high.    

The lettering was under 5mm width and 10mm deep.  These sizes worked really well and in addition it should be pointed out that this print generated no rafting.

Cost/Price:  Although this was a relatively larger print the amount of PLA generated for the job was minimal 13g - this had a price point for the print of $0.32.

Timeframe: The print project took a combined time of thirty fives minutes to complete the project.   This consisted of twenty nine minutes to print and six minutes to warm the printer up in preparation.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: The student could potentially create some form of tutorial video or instruct other students but this is completed and successfully so.

3D Printed Cup Coaster - with 'scribble'

 

Challenge: To produce an original item for consideration for market day 2025.

Background: This was one of the ideas that students had at the time when we were planning ideas and designs for our school market day in 2025.   This was an original prototype that the students created that subsequently didn't advance past the planning stage, however once the year was completed we started looking at projects that were otherwise not developed due to time constraints such as printer machine availability.

This design was recently identified as having potential and will be something that we will look at developing with the class of students who will be starting in February of 2026.  In this example the students utilised the design template (something that you could easily push out to the entire class via their Tinkercad accounts) and then added the design that is shown in the middle of the coaster.

The middle design was created by a eight year old student using the 'scribble' tool which allows the free creation of a particular shape and then applies it into a design.   In this case the student has opted very sensibly to sink the design into the base of the coaster (as of course having done so it doesn't affect the balance of the cup).

In this example the lip of the holder extends 7mm however this could easily be increased which would increase the stability.   Personalisation of this design is also a very obvious next step for the student.

Level of Difficulty: This is low as the base of the design was located by the student, downloaded and then added to.   Creating the layering required to make a coaster is a very simple two step process, as is the decoration in the base.   The eight year old was able to complete this independently without any teacher input.

Size: The print measured 110mm across was 10mm thick.  These dimensions worked perfectly for a regular cup however the obvious potential would be to customise this design in either direction (including super sized) depending on the requirements.

Cost: Using the Bambu Studio auto costing information the print uses 34g of filament.   The cost to produce a print with this filament is 85c.   For a standard roll of filament that would be 1kg costing $30.00 we would be able to produce 29 of these prints - which given the potential cost (and print time) would mean it would be a potential market day future item.

Timeframe: The print took under one hour to print (55 minutes).   Obviously any adaption of the size of this print would cause an adjustment to the time.   This was also completed with the Bambu H2D using a standard printer (such as the Snapmaker) would mean that we would expect the print to take twice as long (and there also likely to be less definition with the shaping).

What we would do Differently/Next steps for the students: This is potentially an excellent introductory task one that realistically a class could complete  as the print time is not impossible to imagine that it could not be completed during the course of a week.    

3D Junior Printing: Angel Exemplar

 

Challenge: To use Tinkercad and scribble to create a unique decoration/cookie cutter.

Background: During Christmas 2025 we had a range of projects that we were working on as the year came to an end.  We also wanted to look at projects that students could complete independently and also potentially festive, and this design was made as part of the cookie cutter challenge for our students.

While some students had worked on complex designs including versions that included handles, such as the examples that were shown in these posts.   This student is a skilled designer and was able to consistently able to produce creations and prints of the highest quality.   This design was deliberately kept as simple as possible by the student - balancing the shape and the viability of the design.   This was created in under ten minutes by a seven year old student.

This would be an ideal introductory task for a student starting to work on a 3D Printing challenge.    It was completed with an iPad and followed a similar process to some of our earlier design.   The student wanted to consider using this design as also a bunting - hence the reason that it was printed using super glow in the dark PLA.

Level of Difficulty: Low.   This would be a basic introductory task for someone with students starting 3D Printing if you are a teacher looking for a first step with 3D Printing this would be a great place to start.

Size: This print was 60mm high, 50mm wide and 10mm thick.   This was quite a small design however it could easily be up-scaled to something similar.   Resizing would have taken the student just a few seconds to drag and drop the design.

Cost: We made a conscious decision to use the Bambu H2D printer to complete this task as potentially we would be producing a number of prints (if this would be used as bunting or a decoration).    By using the Bambu inbuilt software we can determine that this print used 6.5g of filament and this was determined to cost $0.16 per produce per unit.   It would have been slightly higher had non glow-in-the-dark PLA used.

Timeframe: Twenty minutes using the Bambu H2D.   Had we used one of the schools Snapmaker the print would have been successful but would have taken twice the time.

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: This was a straight-forward task with a basic simple outcome that was easily completed, although potentially the student could have placed more emphasis on the details involved in the silhouette however this wouldn't necessarily have translated to a better final product.

You can view a post about Cookie Cutters from 2019 here on this blog,  this 'cat' themed design from 2017 a scribble version of a Christmas hat from the same series in 2025, 

3D Printed Christmas Decorations: 2025 Edition

 

Challenge: To produce an original Christmas decoration suitable for display.

Background: As we have been producing projects and ideas with and from our students using our iPads and our 3D Printers since 2014 we have a large and significant bank of examples that have been created from the past which we can sometimes use as a starting point for design tasks.   In this instance the design shown left was part of a group of designs that were first published here in 2022.  The idea at the time was really simple, using Tinkercad, the Tinkercad iPad App  to create something simple but that had the recognition factor.   Importantly since this print was conceived and developed the quality and speed of the prints that we are using have improved considerably.   The basis of the design was the same - it was the 'scribble' option from Tinkercads main interface (for the leaves) combined with three geometric shapes and finally a ring to allow the object to be hung.   As we had one of the originals in the classroom to act as a guide for the students it took a seven year old under five minutes from the start of the build to the completion of the design.

Level of Difficulty: Low - this was designed completely independently by a seven year old and was completed in a very short space of time - they are a talented designer and this was easily within their abilities.

Size: This print measures 100mm across, and was 100mm high.  The print had a width of 5mm.   This was slightly larger than the original that was 60mm by 70mm (and also 5mm thick).

Cost Price: The previous version was not produced at a time where we had a Bambu H2D at school.  There was not any rafting with either version, in this one the printer used 16g of PLA filament and the identified cost to complete the print was $0.42c (NZD).   

Timeframe: The original print three years ago took slightly under ninety minutes to print.  This revised version, which is larger took fifty minutes to complete.  The finish, which is visible somewhat in the photographs with the Bambu H2D is clearly superior to the original with a smoother finish.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: This was a very straight forward project by adding additional details the project could have had a longer focus.  Obviously the design could be tested and put in place with the Tinkercad App and the AR/VR option for it.

As we have stated we have an entire slideshow related to student Christmas themed projects (which is shortly going to be updated for the 2025 'season' available in the Guides/Special Projects tab on this blog above.

3D Printed 'Scribble' Designs: Tinkercad

 

We have discussed in the past how we are looking innovative  and creative ways for our students to use tools such as Tinkercad in conjunction with their use of the iPads.  We have talked about the 'scratch' icon and how we have used it for the ten minute design challenge which has been put towards our junior school students.

We have also been working on our designs for a school award, a combination of the two was required as we wanted to personalise the design with symbols and details that are specific to Auroa Primary School. 

The brief to the students was to use the scribble design tool to create something unique and specific to our school.   In the example shown above the students copied 'Piri the Pukeko' the school mascot and used scribble to create their own version of this.

The scribble design shown left was 80mm long was 30mm high and 10mm high.   With these dimensions the prints took one hour to complete, using the Snapmaker design and completion.

Currently the student could look to add additional features into the design.   The shaded version shown above left has been coloured used the traditional mascot colouring of blue and orange.   The student wants to spray paint the design shown above and look at adding additional details into its presentation.

Another idea was to also look at other features that might then translate into something for our area.   The most iconic feature in our area is the Mountain, Taranaki which dominates our landscape and area and for which our region is named.   This was an early attempt to complete the process - and was quickly produced but the student wants to refine it.

It is currently 100mm across at the base and is 60mm to the top, the design is currently 10mm thick and as a result has a print time of forty minutes. 

The student wants to attend to the features of the mountain, the scale of the peaks relative to its shape and look at revising the design - we also want to make sure the student is aware of their designing and the importance of respectfully and correctly using it as inspiration.

Another student considered the use of 'scribble to completely design a new potential mascot for the school - in this instance the student wanted to look at designing a fox.

The idea behind the animal is that it has several features that stand out and are easily recognisable due to their scale - the ears and the tail in particular. 

In this instance the design measures 60mm across and was 60mm high.     The design was 10mm thick and currently has a print time of ninety minutes (again using the Snapmaker).

The student wanted to look to redesign the facial features of the print as this was the part of the design that the student was least satisfied with, however as they are completing a silhouette of the animal doing so with a combination of the features will provide to be challenging - however the  initial design shown here only took a few minutes to create.

Scribble Animal Challenge - Ten Minute Design

 

Occasionally we have challenges that come up as a result of circumstances, in this instance the opportunity came up for a design challenge that had a limited timeframe.

The students option was to use 'scribble' to design an animal which is one of the tools that is available from the main design page.   As shown left this student designed a cat theme for her design.   As it was created the purpose was a little limited, however when a pair of them were printed the student made the decision to convert them into a pair of ear rings.  We have printed and posted about these in the past, and how it is suited for 3D Printed designs and printing a class set or project.

After the first print was created the next step for the students was to look for ways to use scribble to improve the complexity of the design.   One of the other students in the classroom took the opportunity to use Tinkercads scribble to develop a silhouette of a cat.

Size: The cat measures 80mm from the top to the bottom, is 50mm wide and currently 10mm thick.  For a designed created in the timeframe available.

Timeframe: Forty minutes - given the timeframe and the length of time to design the animal.    The student was able to manipulate the design to their satisfaction.  In this example the student decided to print the design using glow-in-the-dark filament.

Other students have not yet to have the opportunity to print their designs however we have a range of designs waiting to be printed from the students.  A challenge for the students is to ensure that the scribble has linked with the students throughout the design to make sure that the print it is stable.

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

There are a range of designs coming as this was set as a class task, and we have a class of twenty six students.   All of the student were able to produce work, and not all of it will make the process of printing, due to its format and function.  We have also asked the students to test the viability of the prints before submitting them for printing.  We also have the option of having the students AR/VR their design.

Further Tinkercad 'Scribble' Examples

Challenge: Junior students (Y3/4 - seven and eight year olds) to use the scribble icon from the main Tinkercad Interface to create a unique design. 

Background: As we are nearing the end of the class term in New Zealand and the school holidays are nearly upon us it has been a time to revisit some of the activities that we have completed during the past term (ten weeks) to see how the design of the students has evolved and see what can be produced.   Earlier in the term the students first experience with this produced some pleasing ideas, as detailed in the post on this blog.

In this case one of the students decided that they wanted to produce a tag for their items and use the 'scribble' icon from the main Tinkercad interface (shown left) to produce the print.

The student knew from previous experience with the icon that all of the elements of the name/writing needed to be linked.   There also needed to be a ring as part of the print that allowed it to be attached somehow.   Again this was located from the main interface.   The student concerned is a Y4 student whose first experiences of 3D Printing have taken place in the classroom during the past four months.

Level of Difficulty: Medium.  The student was confident with their design having attempted some basic 'scribble' designs before, the student was also directed to view some calligraphy so she could have some idea of flourishing font.  However the student was confident having worked successfully on a number of prints before.  She also opted to add a star to the design as shown left.

Size: 10mm thick, 70mm long and 30mm wide.   Given the dimensions of the print and what it was intended for (a small labelling object) it also needed to be robust enough that it would last while it was in use - therefore the width of the print was needed.

Timeframe: Two hours - this was realistic given the dimensions of what was required for the print.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the Students: Nil - the student was extremely pleased with how the print turned out and felt that it would work well for the purpose that it was intended for.

3D Print: Juniors Using 'Scribble'

Challenge: Make something 'unique' using the scribble tool in Tinkercad.

Background: This activity came about when I was wanting the students who are Y3 and Y4 (some of whom who have just turned seven) to get involved with and be successful with 3D Printing.

Rather than using a template or something that had already been influenced by a design I wanted to have the students experiment with making something unique and new.   

The students used the 'scribble icon' to come up with a. series of designs - and for the sake of an example I printed the cat shown in green above.    There was no linking with the cat - the eyes and ears not being attached to the body meant when it was removed from the printer the print (which was only a small small which took just over half an hour).   While the students were disappointed that the outcome was not successful it took them a new design that was going to include having every aspect of the 'scribble' linked.

An alternative design to that is shown left- although the lettering is slightly hard to read it has a simple message but crucially to the success of the print all of the letters are linked in via the border around the outside of the print.    The print time is still very short well under an hour.   The border around the outside of the lettering gives the lettering itself balance.   While it is not obvious from the photograph shown left it  has a border that is 10mm thick which allows the print to sit comfortably.   We have considered having a series of small prints like this, potentially a different colour that can be placed in order or in sequence to display or have a message.

3D Printed Keyring Using Scribble

Challenge: Using 'Scribble' option from Tinkercad to produce a unique 3D Print.
Background: As a new school year has started in New Zealand we are looking at ways to use the creation process involved with 3D Printing for students to create new projects and cover new ground.   As some of the students in this years class cohort have already mastered using basic Tinkercad design we wanted to use another tool to help encourage them to create something individual.

One of the key Tinkercad design tools is the 'scribble' icon, which can be seen in the bottom right hand corner of this screenshot.    The student concerned was challenged to use this tool to create something unique.   She was wanting to create a gift for another student and work independently to create a design.

By utilizing the scribble design she kept the design brief and was able to create the cat that was featured to the left.   The 'scribble' option allowed this Y5 student to create something with an easily recognisable design.   To ensure that the print was personalised she added the students name to the bottom of the design (which indeed is spelt with a single l).   Finally to allow the item to have a purpose she used the ability to easily put a hole into the design in the top right hand.

We are previously created detailed step by step instructions to complete this sort of task as we would appply it as a basic introduction to 3D Printing for students who are in the Y5-6 year level (independently).
Degree of Difficulty: Low - there is a variety of tutorials and assistance to complete projects like this.  As an introduction to 3D Printing we usually find students can complete it successfully after watching videos such as this.

Size: The design measured 110mm across from end to end and was 90mm high.  One of the key elements to reduce the print time but to also ensure that it was manageable was to ensure that the thickness of the print was 5mm.    Given the purpose of the design, the size ideal for the project.
Timeframe: Three and a half hours.   The printers that we are using for this project are working on a 4mm nozzle and are nearly five years old (although they have been reconditioned).
What we would do differently/next steps for students: 'Scribble' is a basic design to allow students to create more unique pieces of work.   The icon and nature of the design tool does not suit every design, however it is something different and it allows for something unique to be created by the students involved.   Result.