There is plenty to celebrate about students’ learning experiences with 3D design and 3D printing. So with the holidays just around the corner, you can use 3D design to celebrate the upcoming festive season. We’ve collated a list of design ideas for your students below.
All of the 3D images in this post are designs created by students created using Makers Empire’s 3D design app.
Challenge students to design and print an original decoration that can be hung up and displayed. Your students designs can then be hung on a Christmas tree, or even in the classroom!
Want a fun and festive challenge idea? Ask your students to identify problems that their families have had with fairy lights. Maybe they are always in a tangled mess or the dog chewed through the wires? The design challenge is for students to design a solution in 3D to address the problem and possibly improve the light design.
Starting with a star shape in the Shaper Module, how many different holiday themed designs can students come up with?
There are many holidays and special occasions across the world. Ask your students to research festivals and create a design related to a holiday of their choosing.
This is a great way for your students to learn more about another country or culture and encourage their curiosity and research skills.
It is the season of giving. Have your students design and 3D print gifts to gift to each other or their family.
Designing gifts for different people is a great way for students to show kindness to one another through an authentic design thinking experience.
Get the entire class working on a project together with an advent calendar. Ask each student to create a small item that you can then fit into a box.
Your students will be excited to see what item will be unwrapped each day. When their item is opened, you could ask them to share why they chose their design with the class.
Forget paper chains this year, challenge students as a class to design chain links that can be 3D printed and joined together with their classmates.
You could also get them to print a tag with their name to include on their chain. The combined chains could then be hung up to display cards.
This helps your students to celebrate the holiday season whilst expressing themselves with their own fun designs and challenging themselves to design a functional item.
Challenge students to design a new, improved way to hang decorations on a Christmas tree.
In groups, students design a festive scene where each member of the group is responsible for an element of the overall scene. This might be Santa and his reindeers, people celebrating New Years or any other holiday.
As a class, design and print a collaborative 3D wreath for the classroom door. Students each design a component of the wreath to be 3D printed. As a class, students decide how to assemble everyone’s designs into a wreath.
The Makers Empire gallery contains endless designs, created by students. Simply type a theme or item in the search bar and you’ll have access to many wonderful designs.
Happy designing!
