Tinkercad Vs. Minecraft 2026 Edition

 

Its nearly the end - the end of term one here in New Zealand for 2026.   As we're completing a lot of work in our key curriculum areas we've also taken the opportunity to engage students in some of the activities that proved popular last year.

Minecraft is still incredibly popular with the eight year olds that make up the classroom.   Last year one of the most engaged tasks the students had when using #Tinkercad was when we crossed its use with the creation of Minecraft animals.   On Friday in class we started taking small steps in this process.

We started to use Minecraft Education as a source of screenshots and gave the students a limited time to locate and then photograph or screen shot an animal.

When we then went into Tinkercad we had the screenshots to compare to.   The first days activity was to design one animal and then bring it across.  Students had the examples from last year to look at (which are summarised in a blog post on this site here) and started their first designs.

The timeframe that our students were using here was under half an hour to design and then we asked the students to see if they could take their early designs and use the Tinkercad App to AR/VR the design either in the classroom (the dolphin at the top was projected onto a blue classroom table to represent water) or outside the classroom - the Minecraft cow was created to be so large that it dominates our massive school field.

These are very early examples that we are going to be refining, redeveloping and ptoto-typing.   In a number of cases we are using colour matching and details to replicate the animals as closely as possible.   Other students are working on their own designs in their own time and we will be sharing results.

While we are somewhat early in this process it is anticipated that only a few of these designs will make it to a 3D Print stage.   Most of them will work in a digital format just as well, if not better, than in a physical form.

Some of these ideas also feature in our 'non printing 3D printing design challenges and tasks.  You can view that slideshow by clicking on the link here.

3D Printed Panda - Tinkercad vs Minecraft

Challenge: To create an authentic Minecraft animal using Tinkercad

Background: Prior to our School Market Day one of the projects that we looked at in-depth was the creation of Minecraft animals, creatures and locations (such as buildings) using the medium or tool of Tinkercad to create it.  There were a series of prints that were created - nearly all of these we 

One of the stand out early designs was the Dolphin which was so successful it ended up as a item being sold at the School Market Day as an item (when converted into a keychain).

The other standout was this Panda.  In this instance the student used Tinkercad and coloured the different parts of the design to create the famous black and white pattern.

The figure looked fantastic as a design and worked extremely well as a AR/VR creation that the student was able to project into the classroom and around the school in different locations.

The final step was the printing of the design and looking at what might be completed or have the print turned into something.   This was completed when the students had finished the design, checked on its viability and then printed it out as a physical print.     

Level of Difficulty: Medium/High.  This student choose deliberately a challenging animal to create in Tinkercad - which had distinct features and a very distinct colour combination.   This lent to a discussion about the students using two different colours to complete the print in future (using black and white).

Size: Printed as it was designed the print measured 70mm across was 60mm deep/wide and was 80mm high,  A key factor in determining the final size will be the purpose of the print once the students have assessed it.    

Cost: This was printed on the Bambu H2D as part of the software for printing we are able to determine that the print used 28g of filament and cost $0.75 to produce.

Timeframe: This was completed on the Bambu H2D.   It took one hour to print - if we had used the Snapmaker machines there would have been considerably more rafting, less detail and the print time would have been approximately double.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: This print would have absolutely benefitted from a different colour scheme and as a result we are intending to reprint it once its purpose has been determined.   The creation was completed by an eight year old.

If you would like to see additional ideas from our students with regards to cross over designs you can click on the links to further Minecraft vs Tinkercad designs here.   You can click on this link to see our students combining Tinkercad, their iPads and Pic Collage here.

As always a reminder that you can use the search bar top right to use keywords such as 'Minecraft' and 'Pic Collage' to see the designs and creations that our students have been working on and various projects from the last ten years.

TInkercad Vs. Minecraft Part Two

 

Yesterdays classroom challenge was to use two distinct design tools to see if the same object could be replicated as closely as possible.    

We have used Tinkercad extensively as a design tool for our Y3 and Y4 classroom this year, during this time the students design ideas and creations have grown in leaps and bounds.   Yesterdays challenge provided a range of results, the following day a number of students provided additional designs which were more refined, had more detail and also brought some of the details to the fore.

In both the examples above and below, the Panda and the Mushroom Cow the students were able to put detail and colour combinations into the prints.   The Tinkercad design is on the left on the students original design plate - the relevant animal from Minecraft is on the right with a screenshot from the educational release of the game.

The challenge has pushed the students design skills to get something right, to replicate it and to design something by following a plan.  As they do not have the exact design tools in Minecraft that they have in Tinkercad they had to be create and adapt what they were building and problem solve.

We also wanted to give students the chance to use both tools to create a static object and then use the building tools of both programs.   In the example shown left the student opted for a 'Rainbow' design and used the colour palette in both programs to complete it.  There are a considerable range of designs and prints in this run and we will be using other formats to publish these designs at a later date.

Tinkercad Vs. Minecraft

 

We are always looking for challenges to engage and encourage the students in the classroom, particularly in anything related to digital design and creation.

We are using Tinkercad with our class of seven and eight year old students (Y3/4 in New Zealand) and we have a class of 25 students working at a (regular) state school in New Zealand.  We are very lucky to be a ADE school and we have a 1:1 iPad school (of 200 students).   You can locate further information about our school by clicking on the link here.

One of the most popular and enduring games or activities that the students have used and work and design in is Minecraft and Minecraft Education.

Minecraft has a range of characters, creations and locations which are typically block based - which works in wonderfully with Tinkercad which has a design page based on a number of shapes.

This has allowed the class of students to create their own version of the Minecraft characters using Tinkercad as a creation tool.   Our students spent the afternoon choosing a Minecraft character and then attempting to replicate the character in the creation process via Tinkercad.   Students then checked in which each other about details - as we had several experts in the classroom they were able to look at the characters and provide feedback to each other about them.   They then compared the specific details of the creations with the originals and made adjustments to ensure that they were as close as possible.   There were several instances where the originals were very close.

The Tinkercad interface allows the design tool to alter the colour of the individual shapes and details.   This allowed students to introduce specific details and colouring, such as the design shown left.   The student manipulated the design of a specific colour.

We have written in the past about activities that involve 3D Design (CAD) design but do not necessarily lend themselves to 3D Printing.  

This design task was another example of this - if you click on this link it will take you to a page on this blog which labelled is 'guide/special projects'.

Once the design process was completed, the designs had been compared to the originals and then refined the next step was for the students to AR/VR their designs into the classroom setting to 'pose' them.

In this example shown left, the students have designed a Minecraft Creeper and placed it in the classroom setting.   The creeper was designed using Tinkercad in the main interface and then projected into the classroom setting using the AR/VR button on the iPad via the Tinkercad app.

This example shows a basic character from the game when the student presented this and then projected the image the next step was to challenge the student to create a more complex or detailed design.   

There is an example of the next level of design showing below.  In this example the student chose another animal that is popular in Minecraft, the axolotl.   This proved to be an extremely challenging design.

The design is shown left, the design has been AR/VR onto the floor the classroom.

The colour that was created using the design matched the colour of the design in the game.   The ability to recognise the design was high amongst the students.   This was amongst some of the most detailed creations from the students in the classroom.

There will be an additional slideshow that will be published on this learning activity explaining it in detail.