The 3D trend of generating objects that are used in educational development or simply playing around, is catching up. Young students in Herrera Elementary School’s 3D design and print club have been working at designing 3D toys of some of their favorite animated characters from movies like “Frozen” and video games such as Angry Birds. The 3D printed toys will be given away, as holiday presents, for other children in their community.
“We wanted to do something nice for the holidays for the kids in our community, so our students made toys that look like little figurines, using our 3D printer and 3D doodlers,” explained technology teacher Afroze Jahan. “The students used the doodler to create images from Angry Birds, Pokemon, Hello Kitty and images of cars and a spaceship.”
The project of designing the 3D toys started earlier this month. The kids spent up to four hours every week working on the project in their after school classes. Students learn to design 3D designs using an engineering software that is simple to understand and manage. There are about 15 students in the after-school club/ The 3D Club had its first meeting in October and is now proudly serving as one of the unique component that completes the magnet school’s integrated technology program.
It is indeed spectacular that not only is the 3D technology used in learning and educational facilities as a learning and educational tool, but it is also starting to be seen as a common and more familiar instrument by children and teachers alike. By creating clubs for the after school part of their program and integrating 3D design and 3D printing classes to boost their imagination and build trust in the new tools, teachers are starting a new phase in the future development of the 3D technology.
“As a technology and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) teacher, my vision for this club is to teach students the engineering behind 3D design, technology and printing using a 3D scanner, printer, and doodler,” Jahan, their teacher confessed. “The kids are really excited to use this technology.”
