3D Printing - Glow in the Dark School Keyring

Challenge: To use Glow-In-The-Dark 3D Printed Filament in a meaningful and creative way to produce a range of short term prints. 
Background: Completing the run of decorations based around Christmas Decorations for the past few weeks we wanted to move in the direction again of using Glow-In-the-Dark (or liumious PLA depending on the branding) to create an effect.    As such we targeted a couple of simple ideas that we have visited in the past, a keyring and a small badge, with the effect created by the filament to compensate for the basic nature of the design.    The student themselves initiaed the idea, a larger print was planned but the printing using the filament was not successful - the print was in the twenty five hour range and after one to two hours it was apparent the PLA would not produce a clean finish.  Level of Difficulty: Low- the idea here is to mass produce something relatively small that will show some creativity for visitors to the school that we can give them as a gift.  We also will tailor made the gift depending on the circumstances to represent local businesses or schools that might visit or we might have interaction with.   The basic design is very straightforward with a basic shape and simple lettering a hole placed for connection the kind of filament of course is the simple 'x factor' related to the print, Glow-In-the-Dark filament is something we've experienced some success with in the past.
Time Frame: Three Hours - the intention is to mass produce these as school related gifts and therefore the idea was to minimise the size - the object in question is designed to create a stir and the filament choice is the primary way to do so.
Size: Again - delibrately chosen as something that we are mass producing as a basic gift.  We therefore wanted to balance the purpose with the keyring being practical but not too large.  It was 5mm thick and was a square that was 50mm across and 50mm high. 
What we would do differently/Next Steps for Students: Having experienced using Glow-In-the-Dark filament before we are intending to run it through to the end of the spool and produce the same print repeadtely.   This is because after experiencing it in the past we have found information that shows it needs to be sealed when not on the machine.   If you don't then it degrades quickly and we want to utilize it as much as possible before this process occurs. 

Market Day Exemplar: Minecraft Night Light

 

Challenge: Using creativity, innovation and personalisation students from a Y3/4 classroom create a unique product for our school market day.

Background: This Market Day 2025 item started off early with a combination of Minecraft and the use of glow-in-the-dark PLA filament which we have experimented with in the past.  As noted over time the filament has improved significantly and we have seen improvement in the colour options available and the ease at which printing can be completed (which historically in our experience was not always the case).   You can view previous glow-in-the-dark prints here such as 2018 Glow-in-the-dark horse or 2022 recap of previous Christmas decorations of which the glow-in-the-dark has featured significantly.    You can look on the tab labelled 'Guide/Special Projects' for the full range of these activities or use the search bar for activities tagged with this label.

In this instance the students also wanted to organise objects that they associated with Minecraft and while they initially attempted to recreate some of the designs, and were relatively successful they also quickly located a number of items that were available on public domain sites - primarily Thingiverse

The process involved the students locating the items that they were interested in, considering if it was a viable print or not - and experimenting with different elements.   Originally early versions of the project (in May) had a laser cut box underneath the base.   Later on as the students developed ideas the decision was made by the students to use additional boxes of TNT to raise the base off the ground.   Personalisation which was a major feature of the Market Day 2025 Projects was addressed by having a gap between the TNT and Minecraft logo.  Development in June saw the students experimenting with different PLA for the names and displays and using AR/VR to project additional items onto the stand.

Level of Difficulty: Low - the emphasis was on the layout for the designs, the students were able to use designs that were available and the creation of the names to be inserted into the design was someone that the seven and eight year olds were easily able to create, test for the size for the unit and put it together - there had to be some variation for the number of letters of students in their name, which required larger lettering.

Size: The wooden base for the stand was 140mm across.   The standard sword designs were 80mm and the TNT was a 20mm cube.

Cost/Profit: For a standard nightlight we used four TNT boxes - each one was just under 0.20c to produce on the top and three underneath - a total of $1.40.   The sword was close to 40c as was the Minecraft and name plate.   In total assuming the MDF for the base of the print was $1.00 - the entire print could be produced $3.60.   We used standard LED lights available from a local dollar store which cost $4.00.   This gave the project a total of just over $7.50 - and the students decided the cost per unit and wanting to make a small profit that they would set a price of $10.00.   As we have mentioned throughout the process it was not intended as a profit making process - it was focussed more of the three aspects of innovation, creativity and personalisation.

Timeframe:  The stand took ten minutes to print, the TNT was 45 minutes per box on the Snapmaker.  Each of the three additional elements on the stand took just under one hour - the entire print was able to be completed in approximately seven hours, this was done on the Snapmaker and thanks to the extensive testing that we have been completing comparing machines we would anticipate if this was done on the Bambu H2D we would anticipate it would take half of the time.   Once the elements had been produced we also required to glue them into place using a universal plastic glue.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the students: The students experimented with creating their own designs however they were never satisfied with the details that they were able to produce.  This product took a considerable amount of time to produce but was sold out in the process and we could have produced more.  The LED lights were sourced locally from a dollar store a better long term plan would have been purchasing them online from an overseas supplier.

3D Printed Stand - Recycling Projects

Above: Project shown from above

Challenge: Student was challenged to use a previous print, that had not be successful and create something individualised, that had a purpose.   The student choose initially to select the base of the 3D Printed Glow-In-the-Dark base.   Student then choose to mount two unicorns on the base.  Student is nine years old.
Background: One of this students first print was the Glow-In-the-Dark horse, featured on this site, which was a single print.   The  student had been extremely pleased with this, however there were some issues with the strengths of the legs, which were particularly thin.   The student lost the model as the result of an accident and as a consequence wanted to do something proactive with the base.  Given that it was glow in the dark filamaent, the student decided to mount regular PLA printed objects or designs on the base, with the intention that the base would create a glow, which would be then reflected by the objects on top, hence white was choosen for the design.  The unicorns were sourced from Tinkercad and were not designed by the student involved.   They were choosen by the student

Above: Unicorn shown with foot of horse visable,

because they had a squat flat base, which the student felt would prove more stable than the previous design. 
Level of Difficutly: Low - the student was not directly involved in the creation of specific parts of the design.  The base was a simple rectangle expanded, the Unicorns were sourced from freely available Tinkercad projects.  The student was challenged by the front of the design, in the earlier 'Horse' print the student had attempted to sink her name into the design of the plate.   Her solution to this was to produce a white filament plate to cover the space were the name had attempted to be placed.   The glow-in-the-dark filament is striking and effective however we have had issues withs detailing and finer points of design.  Because the details for the name was sunk into the plate the PLA could not really be removed to have a strong effect from the lettering.  Finally the hooves of the horse could not be removed completly from the base, we attempted to use sandpaper to remove them, however this proved to less than satisfactory and was not completed, the hooves were considered to be a minor issue as they are 1mm-2mm.

Timeframe: The total print time for this project was seventeen hours.   The two unicorns that were mounted on the base took five hours to print each.  The base was seven hours.  While the name plate has not been added to the project, the time for this is expected to be no more than one hour.
Size: The size of hte base of the plate for this print is a rectangle.   It has a width of 20mm.  It was 200mm long and 120mm wide.  The unicorns were 50mm by 50mm and 80mm high.
What we would do differently: The student was the driver behind this print, hence her desire to use the Unicorn prints and designs.  Ideally the student could have designed something original herself but she was intent on using the pre-designed Unicorns for the print.   We have had a number of prints this year that have not worked and are looking to use them in some way, another example of this has been the draws that were not size appropirate for meaning that new storage is created.
Next Steps for Students: To look to in ways to use prints that have not worked.   The student who is working on this is having the first year in the classroom using a 3D Printer,       

Market Day 2025 Exemplar: Light Box

 

Challenge: Using creativity, innovation and personalisation students from a Y3/4 classroom create a unique product for our school market day.

Background: You can follow the origins of this project by looking at the initial design concept, which was created in March 2024.   The design at this point was the laser cut box without the 3D Printing combination.   When initial ideas for the group were discussed one of the points of interest was a jar with multicoloured LED - with the 3D Printer used to create the bracket to hold the light in place.   This was published on  this blog as part of the Market Day 2019 posts on this site, which is located here.

The students had brainstormed ideas around different aspects of the light - however as we had been experimenting with glow-in-the-dark projects in the classroom the link between this and the light box seemed obvious.  We have used various PLA Glow-in-the-dark filament since 2018 on this blog and since then the quality of it and the ease of use  has improved significantly - we were reluctant to use it when first starting as it tended to up somewhat unreliable and could at times block the printer heads (particularly it seems if it was not air tight sealed).

The laser cut file for this project was supplied by a student who created the original in 2024.   The students from the classroom then used this file by including the name of the person who wanted to purchase it on the outside.

This was designed in Tinkercad and was a straight forward design for the students who were able to do so independently.    The decision on the size of the lettering was determined by the number of the letters contained in each students name.

Level of Difficulty: Low - the 3D CAD design for the project was a simple series of steps.   The design for the box came from a former student was created using Sketch Up and again was relatively simple - a rectangular box with inserted circles as shown in the picture left.

Size: The box was 120mm high and 80mm wide.  It took ten minutes to laser cut using 3mm MDF wood.   The size of the 3D printing element of the project varied depending on the number of letters in the purchases name, in this example the lettering was 40mm and 120mm high.

Cost/Profit: We estimated the box to cost $1.50 of MDF, the 3D Printed PLA was $1.50 (approx.) the most significant cost of the entire project was the LED lights in this case they were purchased from a local dollar store which cost $4.00 although with hindsight this could have been ordered online from overseas produces of material such as Temu.  In the Market Day this year the students were able to sell ten units of this project - at $7.50 per unit for the total sales of $75.00.

Timeframe: As noted ten minutes for the laser cutting.   Each of the panels of took just under one hour to print using the Snapmaker 3D Printers.   The total time for the production of each unit also included PVA wood glue which was applied to the box after it had been completed 

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: The Market Day for 2025 was held in the evening when it was not dark, the students noted that if they had been able to produce a box or another way to view the box with the glow-in-the-dark elements working so it was more obvious - some people viewing it during light hours missed the significance of how it displays (which is essentially it glows throughout the night, particularly with the LED light glowing.

You can view further details on this project by using the search tag 'light box' and the search bar on the right hand side of this page.

3D Printed Glow-in-the-Dark Project Ideas

 

As mentioned on a previous post we have been looking at ways to incorporate and include glow-in-the-dark filament with some of our students other designs and creations.   For example this is the bead group that has started experimenting with including some aspects of the designs, the first, second, fourth and fifth letters are glow-in-the-dark.

We have several groups who are looking at some variation of a night light theme. One of the aspects that matches with the glow-in-the-dark filament is to have it glow by absorbing light.

The Minecraft themed or similar swords shown here have been personalised with a name on the blade and are going to be grouped in combination with some of the other objects that the students have located.   The students have been experimenting with the size and dimensions of each item, some taking thirty seconds or so to complete.

Using or creating 'Lego-ish' figures (or figures that feature similarities from a range of plastic figures).   Students wanted to design figures that had the physical characteristics associated with the figures - the block legs/feet, the square body, the hands and the head.

This student design also included an object in the hands of the figure and they had some challenge with the head, which is why they decided to work on creating a hat.    

The concept of lego and mini-figure like figures has been something we have looked at over the years and practical experience was gained this year by the process of creating the figures for the Dolls House.

One of the groups for our 2025 Market Day has been the creation of key rings specific to a range of customers.    One of the point of differences for our students, which has been as simple as altering the PLA that we are printing with (and not the design) to produce something with a point of difference.

This is also allowing all of our students to think again about how they can use the technology and how they might use glow-in-the-dark filament for projects and prints.   Already we have had students look at the previous projects including the Christmas Ornaments from the past.

3D Printed Glow in the Dark Container

Container with lid

Challenge: To produce a working container for a School display that is functional and able to store items.   Glow-in-the-dark filament was used to create a point of interest/wow factor.  Container would need to feature a working lid that worked in conjunction with the base.
Background: Group was looking for an item to feature as part of their display for a school and cluster (group of schools) showcase taking place for the parents and local community.    The students had a background in design using Tinkercad having spent most of the year working on the projects featured on this site.  Students were nine and ten years old.   Design was created using Tinkercad and Cura for Printing.
Level of Difficulty: Low.  The students design was complicated only by the filament used.  With our experience with the glow-in-the-dark-filament, instead of regular PLA the quality of the print tends to be compromised slightly, we have investigated changing the print settings but tend to get more challenged prints.   The basic Tinkercad interface was used to produce the base, the lid, the drop

Filament 'burn' shown on container

down lid on the inside and the handle.  We ran the print twice to get a better result from the filament with exactly the same design and settings (this was the first of the new roll of filament).
Timeframe: Six hours.   Print times are exactly the same regardless of the filament used.  The shape could have been slightly refined depending on the purpose of the container of what it was holding.
Size: The base design was 8cm across and 8cm high.   The width of the internal walls was 5mm.   The lid had similar dimension being 7cm across, a 1cm depth in total (including 5mm drop down lid) the handle was 3cm high.    As noted these dimensions were created by the students with the design of the container in mind rather than specific for the project.
What we would do differently: The name of the students and the group that they working as part of could have been included in the design - the lid itself while it had a drop down aspect fitted losely.  Both these things could have added considerably to the design and the project. 
Next steps for students: Research the temperature settings for Glow-in-the-dark filament and then experiment with alternative temperature to reduce the 'burn' part of the printing process shown.   As noted above the container could have been more personalised. 

3D Printed Festive Trees First Printing

 

Challenge: For nine year old student to create an original festive (Christmas) Tree.

Background: This task was the classroom challenge from the previous week of school - as we have posted about on this blog we've created virtual versions which we've AR/VR around our school and are now at phase two - selecting some of these virtual versions for printing to move the students onto the next phase of the design.

We posted on Friday about a larger version of this tree - this is the second smaller tree that was printed at the same time.   This version was not intended to be a super glow-in-the-dark filament tree however the opportunity came up to print it with this filament and decision was made to do so.  This design having not taken this into account had some specific detail that when the filament support was removed left some obvious pitting and damage to the tree (which is visible in the photograph).

The students response to this (that is seeing the physical print) was to redesign the print - this was completed with the version of the tree shown left.  You can see the visible changes the student has already made including reducing the 'clutter' around the decorations on the tree and introducing presents at the basis of the tree.

Resources that we needed to complete this print: iPad, Tinkercad App, Bambu H2D, Bambu Super Glow-in-the-dark PLA.

Size: The printed version of the design measured 50mm across at the base of the tree and had a depth of 50mm.  The tree was 100mm high from its base to the tip of the star at the top.  The addition of the boxes for revised versions of the print would not significantly increase the size of print as each is 20mm by 20mm and a box size and shape.

Cost/Price: The print that is shown left currently uses 70g of PLA to complete the print.   This would give the print a price point of $1.50c.  The revised version which includes the introduction of the presents would increase the PLA to 92g and would increase the price point to $.172.

Timeframe: To complete the initial print as shown the print took forty five minutes to complete.   With the revisions intended and already redesigned the print would take one hour and fifteen minutes to complete.   Other than under the tree there is very little rafting on this design - although the student wants to experiment with further designs aspects (again the tree decorations0.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: The design needs reworking based around what the physical print would look like.   We have experienced in the past the fact that the glow-in-the-dark filament is not as robust as regular PLA. The student is going to look at options moving forward in both regards.

3D Printed Glow-In-the-dark Earrings

 

Challenge: For students to produce an original part of earrings.  

Background: This has been a staple design idea from our students - the size of the prints have meant that its something we've been able to produce in details with volume (such as a class set).  Its featured many times over the years from Market Day projects combining both the 3D Printers and the laser printing.

If you want to see a slideshow with an overview of the entire process and a summary of our projects related to this topic you can click on the link here.  In addition as always there is a search bar on the top right hand corner of the blog - this has the keywords for each of our posts or projects which include the keyword 'earring'.

The decision to print the earrings in glow-in-the-dark was made to pop the designs.   The student concentrated on a single design and then duplicated the design when it was completed.  

Resources uses to complete this print: iPad, Tinkercad App, glow-in-the-dark, Bambu H2D.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - as always this task has elements that makes it appear somewhat simplistic but this is not always the case.  As this was tasked as students to be original the students needed to come up with an original idea that would work and have a high recognition factor - the ice cream idea certainly ticked those boxes for the student.   

Size: Each of the prints from this project measures 45mm across at the front and are 50mm high.   The print is 5mm wide.  The ice creams are 40mm in length height wise.   

Cost/Price: The pair of earrings used 18g of PLA to complete the print.  Using the calculations from Bambu Studios the print had a price point of $0.35 for the pair.

Timeframe: To complete this print the printer took 41 minutes to complete both.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: There are a couple of obvious issues with the prints as they stand.  You can see clearly the hole that is visible in the Tinkercad design (the first image) did not translate into an actual hole in the finished print (essentially it was too small and as a result did not register as part of the process).   The two shapes on the side by the ice cream are a little random and the student will evaluate how to wear them.   The print should be robust enough for a hole to be drilled through the design.

3D Printed Super Glow in the Dark

Previously we've used 'super' glow-in-the-dark filament for a range of projects - from making specific Night Lights and associated projects for the School Market Day.   We have also posted about using the filament to create a 'wow' effect.   We recently ran a couple prints to get students enthusiastic and one of the ways that we did so is shown left.

This is another of the current run of Minecraft inspired Tinkercad designs, which had similar dimensions and details to a print recently featured on this blog

This will hopefully lead to this student and other students considering the role that the different kinds of PLA and filament might have on their projects and also what else related to this might they print.

This parrot shown left is another example of how the PLA use is leading design and creation.  In this example the student found the .stl for a generic parrot and wanted to print the parrot.  In doing so there is little design or creation involved in the 3D print but actually on this project it came in another way, in the form of the stand that the parrot is perched on.

In this example the student needs to consider the balance for the project (including the bird causing the wood roll to tip over) 

how the perch might be displayed or featured ?

what else could be added to this for a final completion? What works better to hold the print in place - hot glue gun? tacks? How can the cord be held in place? When it is prepared and ready how will it hang?

We also think there is potential for there to be a combination with this print and some simple electronics - there are small audio boxes available that are able to produce sounds, what if the student investigated bird chirping and was able to mount a small speaker on the print or somehow include it with the design on the bar? The current support for the bird is a basic light wood, would something heavier be more suitable?

The photograph left is the same parrot shown in the dark in photograph two.  In this instance the parrot has been AR/VR by the student using their iPad and the Tinkercad App onto a desk, in a process that can be completed by a single click with no additional green screening required.  This task has allowed both students to develop their design skills doing something creative and interesting and should lead onto other projects, possibilities and designs in the future.   As the students are both Y4 their have a considerable number of years to develop their skills at our school moving forward.

3D Printed Horse (with storage)

Above: Print pre rafting removal showing saddle storage

Challenge: Student wanted to design their second individual print and wanted to feature horses with the design.   Student is a Y5 student, nine years old, designing for the first week of school.
Background: The student found a horse based design, and individualised it by placing a plate on the base of the horse, which their name was sunk into.   To ensure that it could be actually used for storage the location of the saddle/back of the horse had a cylinder shape dropped down into it.  A decision was made to print the horse with Glow-in-the-dark filament as we were experimenting with using it again (previously we'd run some seasonal themed prints but these had proved to be of limited success - see below and previous prints).   The student created a complicated large print, however as it was the first time a print of this type had been attempted the student was encouraged to go for it and complete the process and printing.

Above: With rafting removed - note loss of tail

Level of Difficulty: Medium.  The horse was sourced from a 3D printed site, the base was designed from scratch by the student, who had been shown how to drop her name into a design.   She also had worked out how to drop a cyclinder shape into her design to hollow it out.
Timeframe: This was a twenty hour print.  It could have had a reduced time had the base plate been halved in size.
Size: The dimensions of this print were significant.   The base measured 25 centimetres across, the height of the head of the horse was 20cm from the base.   The base was 1cm thick and as noted this could have been reduced in alter the print time. 
What we would do differently: Glow-in-the-dark filament was used primarily because it was the last spool before more material arrives.   This has proven problematic in the past, as we didn't have it stored in air tight containers once the spool was started.   We had residual filament on the print which was removed however we are intending to tidy up the print once we have the ability to do so.   The student did not create the horse design obviously and usually these designs we do not print, however they had modified it for a purpose which may encourage other students working on along a similar line.   It conceivably could have been printed to a smaller scale.  Rafting removal (which was done by the teacher fearful of the legs breaking, which did not occur) saw the tail break.  This was kept by the teacher and will be super glued back into place once the print has been cleaned.
Next Step for Student:  None given all the circumstances, this was an extremely impressive first print for a student.
Please note: The filament used for this print was Glow-In-The-Dark.  As a consequence we raised the print temperature by the recommended 15 degrees to ensure that it was completed successfully.  This appeared to makea significant difference to the success of the print.

3D Printed Christmas Tree: Junior Example

Challenge: To produce an original and suitable Christmas tree with potential to include LED lighting.
 

Background: Please note school has now concluded for 2025, our students and our teacher will be back at this stage in February 2026.   In the meantime we are finishing off the year with a series of posts wrapping up 2025 and also including some of the 'best of' highlights of the year,

This challenge was set for the entire class with a range of challenges during the last weeks of school based around the creation of Christmas Trees.   Students created a range of Christmas Trees and AR/VR them into cards and also various challenges around the school.

This challenge was slightly different in that the students (this was created by a seven year old student) had to design a tree and then ultimately the goal was printing the tree and looking at the possibility of using LED lights to light up the tree - similar to how we had worked some of the projects related to our school Market Day for 2025.  

The intention was to include LED lights and potentially use glow-in-the-dark filament to pop the print.

Level of Difficultly: High.   This had a number of elements that the student designed working in conjunction with each other.  Key to this print was how would the LED lights be hung from this design - this was the 'ring' that can be seen wrapping its way around the design.   

Size: The print measures 100mm high, has a base that is 80mm in diameter.   This is the base which extends the furtherest, the tree itself extends 50mm in diameter from the base.

Cost: 72g of filament was used in the production of this tree.  The cost according to Bambu Lab with its price point identifying that the $1.72 to produce the tree.

Timeframe: Three and a half hours using the Bambu H2D.  This was used as during the design the detail that was included (in the groves and in some of the decorations).   We would not have attempted to complete this print using the Snapmaker.  A relatively simple design was completed with grooves (which was intended for the LED lighting).

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the students: This is a straightforward print in some ways, in other ways (the LED lights) there are complex elements to the prints.   Some of the decoration on this tree looked fine in Tinkercad but didn't translate really well to the printed version.

We are very reluctant to complete prints that had a large level of rafting (waste plastic).  This print had a notable print support under each of the levels of the tree - which as a result meant quite a bit had to be removed.

We have yet to complete the print using glow-in-the-dark filament.  In doing so we would imagine that it would considerable add a level of presentation to the print.   The cost or the print time etc would not increase significantly.

3D Printed Art Lettering for Market Day Project

Above: the 20mm 'STAY' lettering

Challenge: A student project team are working on running a classroom business for a market day want to utilise the 3D Printer to produce lettering for words and phrases that could be then combined with wooden blocks/lettering to produce a finished piece of art.
Background: The students of the school have a project this term for them to run a business.  A number of the students groups are producing art based projects.   One group was interested in looking at producing signage on wooden blocks of themes or sayings.   To produce the lettering part of the art project the students wanted to utilise the 3D Printer to produce the lettering and then mount it onto the wood.    This involved the students selecting a design that they were happy with and producing a font that reflected a design and style and that could be combined with the wood.  For the wood the students selected a wood pallet and used the school Woodwork room to cut the wood into blocks.    The students were dealing with a block that was

Above: Live featured as 30mm design

50mm high and 500mm across.    They had the potential to shorten the length of the block dependant of the length of the words or phrase.    The students were able to trial print the lettering and then work out the dimensions of the wood that they wanted to use.   The students started with a basic design and font, worked out the dimensions and then develop an idea of concepts related to that.  They also identified key areas to move forward successfully with the product - that they would need a Wood Glue to mount the lettering onto the wood and also for the wood to be stained to help enhance the look of the lettering.   The colour of the PLA will be contrasted with the staining of the wood.   Once completed the price of the design was minimum - the PLA for the plastic for the 3D Printing and the Wood Glue and stain were the only expenses that the group needed to account for.   The students also are keen to experiment with different PLA relative to the stained wood and look into using different filaments with the potential for the use of glow-in-the-dark PLA.

#3DPrintEdu - 120mm x 60mm

Level of Difficulty: Low - the single challenge for the production of the art block and combination with the 3D Printing.    The font selection from Tinkercad is significant the only aspect that the students needed to determine was the size of the font that they were printing.
Size: As shown in the photograph the 'Stay' font measured 20mm high and was grouped (clustered) as 60mm across.   This font was designed to be 5mm deep.   The 'Live' font shown in photograph was 30mm high, 70mm across and 10mm deep.    The #3DPrintEDU chat font was 120mm across groupd and 60mm high.   The depth of the print was 5mm.    The largest print that was run in this run was the 'LAUGH' print and font - this font was larger that the block of wood that it was intended for.    This measured 130mm wide and 70mm high.  It had a depth of 10mm.

Above: the final trial design

Timeframe: As this was a series of prints the lettering itself varied significantly.   In the four featured prints here the 'Stay' print took thirty minutes.   The 'Live' print was forty five minutes.   The '#3DPrintEDU' print took one hour.    'Laugh' was the biggest print of the series (as noted it is essentially oversized) which took two and half hours.     This would vary depending on the size of the block that the students would anticipate using - that had a measurement of 50mm high (but again could be cut to size). 
What we would do differently: The students have a lot of potential development to come relative to the size of the wood that they had produced and cut.    The colour of the wood that is produced from the staining will influence the final design and PLA choices by the students.   The students are also looking for a 'wow' factor and want to experiment with different PLA options and choices including Glow-In-the-Dark filament.

3D Printed Presentation Props

Glow Worm

Challenge: To choose suitable props to enhance a school presentation.
Background: This is another task to enhance a presentation to take place for the local community and a cluster of schools.  The classroom was developing projects based around two similar themes, gaden worms and glow worms.   As a result of conversation with the teachers of the classrooms an offer was made to enhance the presentations by producing 3D printed models that would then be mounted on the boards.   For the 'glow worm' presentation glow-in-the-dark filament was used.   Due to the timeframe available a decision was made to go with pre-produced material, that was not student created.  (this is the second time this has occurred on this blog, the first being the 'rat' print listed previously which is also linked to this presentation.
Level of Difficulty: Minimum, none.   These prints were sourced from pre-produced locations (in this case a generic search on Tinkercad) and not requiring any student created input.  The only factor that slightly complcated matters was the use of glow-in-the-dark filament for the glow worm.  This filament as a general rule is more difficult to print and requires a adjusted temperature and multiply tries to compete successfully. 

Full display, worms in green

Timeframe: Approximately 40 minutes per worm.  They varied in size and as a consequence the time for each individual piece was different.   The times was a minimum required and as a sourced prints, other than altering the size, minimum changes could be made.
Size: As above the size of the worm/glow-worm varies on a case by case basis.  The longest in the series is shown top left, 12cm.   The worms featured in the display on the right at right angles were this size but split in half due to the angle of the bend.

Collection of 'Tinkercad Worms"

What we would do differently; If time had not been a constraint then it would have been preferable for students to design and create their own individual and unique worms.  Given what students have produced in the past, this would have been more than possible.  On a positive - two furher teachers were provided with practical examples of something produced with 3D Printing, and their displays were enhanced.
Next steps for students: The obvious  is for the students to design the worms or animals from scratch.  This would be well within their capabilities and the animal shapes and design could be inspired to create their own versions that would more than suit the purpose.

Cyclops Challenge Revisited 2026

Challenge: To create something based around the eyes from a regular craft set.

Background: Regular visitors to this blog will recognise this challenge from last year it was one based around the use of a prop or third part challenge and the goal for the students was to incorporate the item into the 3D Design.   We have previously proved successful in doing so with pencil sharpeners (which you can see via this previous post here or inputing this into the search box top right hand corner)

This challenge focussed on the craft eyes shown left.  They were purchased from a local chain store from the craft section for $5.00.  Each of the eyes has an adhesive sticker on the back of it to fix it into place onto paper or cardboard as we are ultimately mounting it on plastic PLA which would mean that we would be gluing it in place with some form of strong adhesive.   As we have mentioned in the past we have a range of previous prints from this site collected over the years for the students to use as an inspiration point for students- one of the featured prints is the series of 'cyclops' prints from last year,

Last years design came in a range of designs with the inspiration for this year being the design shown left (which is printed in pink glow-in-the-dark filament).

To ensure that this years designs were original, and not simply a copy of the example shown left students were challenged to create a design that featured multiple eyes - with a minimum of at least two, however we specified to the students that they needed to ensure that they were not 'traditional' that is they were not placed adjacent to each other like we would expect to see in a regular face.

We started by having the students sketch a 'monster' figure and designing it on regular paper.  We then had the students exchange plans with each other and have students use Tinkercad to create the digital image object of the other students idea.  Once they had their creation checked they were then encouraged to add depth and details to their original design.

This design (shown left) cane out of the process.  Of note is the detail that the student was able to create into the design - the hair in particular was something that was possible with the detail provided by a regular nozzle on the Bambu H2D.    The student opted to meet the brief provided with the eyes by producing two slots one at the top on the top tier of the 'snowman' design.   

To further provide a point of interest this print was printed in green glow-in-the-dark as we have been using some material left over from last years Market Day.

The biggest challenge for this task for the students is allowing for specific measurements for a range of 'eyes' for the print to work in conjunction with.  They provide a striking contrast to the print filament itself but to ensure that it works effectively they cannot really be glued in place without any kind of insert or opening for the eye.

This monster will be featured in an additional post on this blog.

3D Printing School Lore 3: Glow-in-the-dark

 

Recap:

#1 You don't need more than one machine to 3D Print with your students and school! In 2026 we are going to complete all of our projects on one machine.

#2 You don't need to 3D Print all of your 3D Printing projects! In 2025 we started moving away from printing every project and a number of times we used the design process, completed the design but used the Tinkercad AR/VR option as the publishing of the project instead of the physical printing of an object.

There are numerous examples of both of these projects on this blog which you can search for by clicking on the link or using the 'search' box in the top right hand corner of this blog.

#3 - Printing Glow in the Dark Filament is easy! This is something that has evolved over time.   In previous years the printing with specific filament other than regular PLA tended to be something that was avoided.   We sometimes had to store the PLA in air tight containers or clean out the machines once we changed the filament.

When we held our 2025 Market Day we wanted to be able to create a range of interesting prints and challenging for our students - 3D Printing was able to be featured significantly but we wanted to do something a little more interesting and hence the use of 'super' glow-in-the-dark filament.   

Having already ordering various combinations in the past we did so again.   A challenge for you as an educator is to consider what combinations, what differences or what adaptations that you can make by using different filament.   Students have plenty of experience with basic PLA but breaking down the different types available and the different kind of material that can be printed.  To further provide some practical example the video below was created to further illustrate and show the process and examples: 

Project Update: Art Letter for Market Day

Project Update: As detailed previously on this blog the students from this classroom have an upcoming Market Day project where they have to run a small scale business.  The students were keen to adapt the 3D Printer to provide a means for producing word art of phrases that they could then mount on wood.   They wanted to use the 3D Printer to produce the lettering.    In various testing and trialing the students attempted to print various phrases and lettering as detailed in the previous print.   After deciding to use pallet wood as their backing wood, the students then used sandpaper to take away the rough edges of the wood and then used a commercial staining wood stain that was available to produce a finished affect on the wood.   The last stage was then to determine which colour PLA worked with the stained wood and the size of the font and lettering used.    The students made the decision to focus on the "Dream & Achieve" phrase.   The font Dream measured 130mm across and was 60mm high as well as being 5mm thick.   The ampersand in the middle was by far the smallest of the three

measuring 30mm by 30mm.   The final part of the design was the "Achieve" this was also 130mm across but in contrast to the 'Dream' was only 30mm wide but also 5mm high.     This lettering was designed to sit on wood that was 450mm long and was 50mm high.   Originally it was thought the 'dream' would be in a different colour, such as the purple PLA.   However as is shown in the test print on the left the 'Dream' part of the print has a dark stain created on the wood and while the 'achieve' stands out the 'dream' part of the project is hard to identify at distance.  The next step for the student is to work through different colours contrasting to the dark background to see what stands out and is effective at making the print be more of a display piece.   The students have already identified Glow-In-the-Dark Filament as important to this project.   The teacher has given feedback to the students related to the print and how best to attach the lettering to the wood (currently experimenting with wood glue).   The teacher has also spoken to the students about the mounting of the 3D Printed lettering.  In the last prototype shown above the students have not spaced the lettering evenly, and although it is not obvious from the photograph they have not removed the excess PLA from the lettering meaning that some of the lettering is not sitting flat on the wood.

3D Printed Mini Product: School Market Day 2025

 

Challenge: To support Market Day 2025 with additional products for save.

Background: While we've had a process involving our school Market Day with each group creating a specific product.   As we've had a number of pre-orders of significant personalised products which have been significant prints, however we would also like there to be general prints that are available.   

We have been looking at creations that have come from students in the classroom who have created a design that has potential to be a viable product for market day.   We are looking for something that could be produced that is relatively - one of the products that meets this criteria easily is the unique earrings that we have posted about previous, such as the 2023 Market Day business or the recent '101 Guide to 3D Printing: Earrings slideshow.

As we have a group that is working on unique key rings, we also discussed with them producing some generic designs that could be produced easily that would be able to be sold as stock.

The group had a brief discussion and then used Tinkercad to create a design, shown left.

Basic shape, basic generic name - which has been sunken into the design so that it would be more robust.  We have proven that examples such as this can last for a number of years without suffering any wear or damage such as the oversized sports shed keyring.  Designed and created by students in 2018 it is still in (daily) use at our school in 2025.   This has some wear but has maintained its integrity.   

To ensure that something different was also added for the print it was printed in 'super' glow in the dark filament, as a number of recent projects have been.

Level of Difficulty: Low - this was easily completed independently by the eight year old students in the classroom.  As per the brief the intention was to produce a simple design, and given this - the printer intended to be used was the Snapmaker (instead of the newer and  more advanced Bambu H2D was for the prints that would require more detail and a much faster printing time.

Size: The print is 80mm wide, 70mm high and is (in the second print/version) 10mm thick.   The first version which is the first photo shows the version that is 5mm wide.  The difference between the two is simple strength based - the second print would require significant force to damage, the former could conceivably be broken by applying (significant) force.     

Cost: The print requires 7.9m of filament which is 23.5g.   At present prices and assuming that a roll of PLA is full (1kg) 42 key rings could be produced from a single roll.   To ensure that the price could be met the students would need to have a charge of $1.00 per keyring to break even, and charging a larger price would result in profit.

Timeframe: The second more robust version took one hour and fifty seven minutes (on the Snapmaker) as noted previously if this was completed on the Bambu it would take half of the time, however as we have only one at school this is a good project to complete on the Snapmaker while the Bambu is otherwise engaged.

What we would do differently/next steps for students: To determine a price point for the product and therefore for the profit that they might potentially make.  As noted the print was completed deliberately using glow-in-the-dark filament.

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.