Before the kids break out the screens, inspire hands-on creative play with a series of 3D pen projects to encourage skill building and creative exploration.

Drawing and coloring are timeless activities but now kids can take creativity off the page with a 3Doodler 3D pen. Transform your ideas into tangible, three-dimensional masterpieces, letting kids (and adults!) create anything they can imagine.

Jump start summer fun with a few ideas to get those creative gears turning!

Your Summer’s Creative Sidekick

As educators, you know first-hand how important it is to offer options to encourage creative play and reduce summer learning loss. Introducing 3D pens to inspire learning at home, can help in many ways.

Oodles of 3D Pen Doodles

Miniature Beach Scenes:

Create tiny palm trees, surfboards, flip-flops, and even little crabs or fish. You can then assemble them on a base to make a personalized beach diorama.
Pro Tip: Use blue filament for waves and clear/translucent for water effects!

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Custom Keychains & Bag Tags:

Design personalized keychains with names, initials, or summer-themed icons like ice cream cones, popsicles, or suns. These make great gifts for friends or mementos of summer adventures!

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Nature-Inspired Art:

“Draw” flowers, butterflies, or even intricate spiderwebs. Go on a nature walk and collect leaves or twigs for inspiration, then replicate them in 3D!

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DIY Room Decor:

Craft unique picture frames to display summer memories. Design small decorative sculptures for shelves or desks, like abstract art pieces or geometric shapes. Create personalized pencil holders or small organizers for their summer reading nook.

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Wearable Wonders:

With adult supervision, create unique earrings or pendants for necklaces. Design fun glasses or headbands for a quirky summer look (think oversized sunglasses or flower crowns!).

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Bust summer boredom and embrace the world of three-dimensional possibility. 3Doodler 3D pens are a gateway to creativity and hours of screen-free fun. So, grab your pens, a rainbow of filaments, and let the summer doodling begin!

The post Doodle Days of Summer: 3Doodler’s Guide to Creative Adventures first appeared on 3Doodler.

It’s time to move on from worksheets and passive listening. Envision a learning environment where creativity explodes, and students are intrinsically motivated to conquer learning prompts and challenges like never before. That’s the power of gamification, and 3D pens are the ultimate tools to bring it to life!

A Winning Combination: Gamification & 3D Pens

At its core, gamification is about taking the elements and principles of games and applying them to real-world activities – in this case, the classroom.

Unlocking New Lessons

Interested in taking the leap and bringing this dynamic duo to your classroom? We’ve got you covered. Here are some gamified activity ideas using 3D pens:

Objective-Based Challenges:

Frame learning objectives as quests! For example, in a geometry lesson, the “quest” could be to design a specific geometric shape with accurate dimensions to earn “geometric gems” (points or small rewards).

Badge Systems (Tangible Badges!):

Students can create badges to represent mastery of a concept or skill instead of using digital badges. Imagine a “History Hero” badge for completing a timeline project or a “Science Superstar” badge for a successful experiment model.

Collaborative Builds for XP:

Divide students into teams and assign them a 3D design challenge related to the lesson. The team with the most accurate, creative, or functional build earns points or privileges. Think of designing a model of the water cycle or a historical landmark.

Escape the Classroom:

Create a series of clues or puzzles students need to solve related to the curriculum. The final clue could require them to 3D draw a specific object that “unlocks” the next stage or a small reward.

Boss Battles (Knowledge Checks):

At the end of a unit, present a complex challenge or problem related to the material. Students can use their 3D pens to represent their solution visually. Successfully presenting and explaining their creation “defeats the boss” and helps them earn rewards.

Personalized Tokens:

Offer students different learning pathways with reading challenges, for example. As they complete their reading and comprehension tasks, they can draw a small 3D token representing their progress.

The Future is 3D Gamification!

Integrating 3D pens with gamification offers a powerful and engaging way to bring learning to life in your classroom. It fosters creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration and presents learning in a format we know students enjoy. So, get your 3Doodler 3D pens, unleash your inner game designer, and watch your students level up their education in exciting new ways!

The post Leveling Up: Bring Gamification to the Classroom with 3D Pens first appeared on 3Doodler.

What is Algorithmic Art?

You’ve likely seen this type of artwork and didn’t even realize you were looking at mathematical thinking in an art form! The approach uses a system of rules and parameters to generate complex and often intricate forms.

Parametric design uses variables you set, instead of directly drawing every line, and it’s often used in architecture and engineering to create optimal structures. In this process, changing one parameter could alter the entire design. For example, imagine a spiraling tower where simple numbers control the radius of each level and twists or turns!

Algorithmic art, on the other hand, uses a set of instructions to generate unique patterns and create artwork. Natural patterns, mathematical equations, or even abstract concepts can help inform the direction of a particular design. As you expand your thinking, you could create intricate branching structures or fascinating geometric patterns, all based on mathematical sequences.

Instead of complex software, using a 3D pen for this process enables tangible artistic creation that is accessible, unique, and allows for experimentation!

Getting Started: Simple Algorithmic 3D Pen Creations

Let’s get those creative juices flowing with a few quick and easy ways to get started. Get your 3Doodler 3D pen and plenty of colorful filament, and find a clean surface.

Geometric Progressions: Create art with sequences where each term is found by multiplying the previous term by a constant factor! You can use geometric progressionto create repeating patterns where the size or scale of the elements decreases or increases. For example, draw the circles with your 3D pen, making each one incrementally larger. Connect the shapes to form an expanding structure like a cone.

Fractals: These are geometric shapes that exhibit self-similarity, meaning they have the same pattern at different scales. For example, the Koch Snowflakeis a fractal curve created using an equilateral triangle, and each successive stage is formed by adding outward bends to each side of the previous stage, making smaller equilateral triangles.

Mathematical Sequence: There are many mathematical sequences that you can apply to art. The most commonly referenced is the Fibonacci Sequence, which is used to create a spiral by drawing squares with side lengths corresponding to the Fibonacci numbers.

More Tips for Success!

Combining the creative outlet of 3D drawing with the logical nature of parametric and algorithmic design allows you to explore new dimensions of artistic expression — the only limit is your imagination.

Remember to start with simple patterns and basic rules before you increase the complexity. Sketch your ideas with intention and map out how your design will progress. And, most importantly, don’t forget to embrace imperfection. The beauty of art lies in its organic nature, and creating with a 3D pen is no different. Remember that slight variations in your design add character and interest.

The post Go Beyond Doodling: Explore Mathematics in Art With 3D Pens! first appeared on 3Doodler.

Biomimicry, or biomimetics, draws inspiration from nature to solve challenges and design new technologies. It’s an exciting way to approach problems, and using 3Doodler 3D printing pens makes it easy to break down the concept into small lessons for students to explore. We’ve pulled together a few examples to encourage students to experiment with biomimicry using their 3D pens in the classroom!

Students can study the Fibonacci sequence with our lesson plan and use their 3Doodler 3D pens to practice building interconnected lines to form a net-like structure and create a working model.

In addition, students can discuss how spiders use different silks for different purposes, and how this translates to using different 3D pen filament types for different structural properties. How would they apply their learning to real-world problems?

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Patterns & Structure: Seashells

Seashells often exhibit spiral growth patterns and can show the Fibonacci sequence but also feature strong, curved layered structures. Studying these patterns and exploring ways to apply them to real-world problems is helpful. For example, students can explore how seashells are formed through biomineralization and how their shapes provide protection and structural support.

Invite students to learn more about shell structure and design by creating models with their 3D pens. It’s an easy way to study the science behind shells and have fun!

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Color, Camouflage & Symmetry: Butterflies

According to the Smithsonian, there are approximately 17,500 species of butterflies in the world. Butterflies come in all sorts of colors, shapes, and sizes. They are beautiful and curious insects with a lot to teach us, from the unique ways they use color to camouflage themselves from predators to their ability to repel water and dirt.

For younger students, butterflies offer an excellent lesson in symmetry. The 3Doodler lesson plan invites students to study the symmetry of Monarch butterflies and create their own butterflies to demonstrate their understanding of the concept.

Older students could have an opportunity to research different butterfly species and identify their unique characteristics. They can connect their learning to real-world applications and identify opportunities for biomimicry. Examples include self-cleaning surfaces to repel dust and debris, aerodynamic design for aircraft, or using color for textiles and technology.

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The post Bio-Inspired Builds: 3D Printing Pens and the Wonders of Nature first appeared on 3Doodler.

Whether you’re looking to boost collaboration, or offer up a creative outlet for your students, we’ve got you covered.

These heartwarming Valentine’s Day classroom activities will have your students full attention, while teaching communication and problem solving skills all while using their 3D pens!

Add a touch of whimsy to your classroom and dive into STEM with lessons about flowers, their function, and a plant’s lifecycle. Explore the different shapes and sizes or how they attract pollinators. There’s so much to explore and a fun 3D activity to accompany the lesson!

Spring Flowers

Students can explore their artistic style and develop one-of-a-kind 3D or multimedia art projects. 3Doodler’s 3D heart-shaped balloons are easy to design. Use them as pendants, key chains, or even added onto a card for a whimsical greeting. Follow our tutorial or explore your creativity with more complex patterns, swirls, or multiple layers!

Balloon Hearts

Add a tasty and personal touch to Valentine’s Day celebrations with custom cookie cutters students can create and use at home! Explore our tutorial or encourage students to come up with their own designs. The project could involve students collaborating as they brainstorm ideas and share 3D printing techniques. Students might want to give the cookie cutters as gifts for friends and family once finished. It’s a sweet hands-on project your classroom is sure to remember!

Cookie Cutters

The post Surprise Students with 3 Sweet Valentine’s Day Classroom Activities! first appeared on 3Doodler.

This annual event pulls together the brightest minds in education. It offers educators a deep dive into areas that interest them, with solutions and ideas to make progress.

While discussion around AI unsurprisingly took center stage, the breakout sessions focused more on boosting accessibility, play, and collaboration in schools. Catch a brief overview of this year’s event here and read on for our key takeaways from the educators we met with and sessions we attended.

Accessibility & Social-Emotional Learning as a Priority

Educators continue to prioritize social-emotional learning in the classroom. The strategies they rely on encourage students to develop emotional intelligence, resilience, build empathy, and create positive relationships.

One classroom example for younger students included Build Me “Emotions” by Lego Education, enabling students to share their emotions through hands-on building and play. Older students may enjoy an opportunity to introduce themselves to their peers at the beginning of the year. This can be a small, but valuable step towards getting to know each other (and how to pronounce names!) while also building a classroom community.

Accessibility tools are a game changer for many students. Unique tools by Apple and Microsoft make learning much more approachable for various audiences, including built-in tools for those who need visual, hearing, cognitive, or mobility support.

Melissa Stark, a Special Education Teacher and Instructional Technology Coach in New York City’s Department of Education, shared these tools and other critical tips to make learning more accessible during her ISTE presentation.

Importance of Play

A common theme that emerged as the event progressed was the importance of play-based activities, especially given the last few years of disruption brought on by the pandemic and distance learning.

One glance around the ISTE Playground, and it was clear to see how play could boost learning outcomes. Gamification was a clear focus, which adds gamelike elements to increase motivation and engagement.

Teachers are creating interactive and immersive learning experiences and boosting play with a host of learning tools like Class VR, Book Creator, and KinderLab Robotics, to name a few.

Collaboration Through Industrial Design Labs & Makerspaces

Several educators we spoke with explained their role in organizing maker spaces, fab labs, and industrial design labs. No matter what it’s called in your school, these spaces and the people who lead them are incredible. They provide students with an area at school that offers a break from the pressure of strict academic work and allow for more creative, hands-on learning.

Johanna Marshall, a teacher at Ridley High School in Pennsylvania, shared a session with her students to explain how they took an outdated industrial design lab and transformed it into a welcoming, student-centered maker space where everyone could contribute.

Students formed a Girls Who Code club and worked collaboratively to create working mazes. Later in the year, students made functional interlocking stools that tested their skills.

Lessons shared for those looking to create their own maker space included starting where you and your students are, only accepting useful donations, buying equipment with product support, and asking for help when you need it.

Inspirational as always, ISTE 2023 was a great reminder for all of us to focus on what’s possible and to celebrate student achievement at every opportunity.

The post ISTE 2023 Key Takeaways and Promising Practices first appeared on 3Doodler.

Students benefit when they learn to manage their emotions, set and achieve goals, feel and show empathy for others, and create strong relationships.

As adults, we use these skills daily, so it makes sense to give students a chance to test their social-emotional strategies during the school day. And best of all, it’s often more manageable than it seems to incorporate a few social-emotional learning opportunities into a traditional lesson. Best of all, students walk away with more than just a good grade but tips they can use for life.

National SEL Week — March 6-10

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) offers comprehensive educational resources and research to support students, teachers, and parents.

CASEL recommends three daily practices that help support students in their SEL growth. The signature practices are very straightforward and include the following:

Doodling Activities to Support SEL

It’s easy to see how working in 3D could be leveraged to support CASEL’s three daily practices in unique and creative ways. For example, a class could work together on a large 3D printing project as a welcome activity, or students could create individual items to share with a larger group in a morning circle activity. Doodling also provides a fun outlet for students to enjoy while using interactive and reflective moments or even acting as a brain break. Lastly, it’s fantastic to wrap up a lesson, like the ones featured below, with a key takeaway or accomplishment.

This week, explore the following lessons and recognize the value of social and emotional learning!

Grade K-2: Stone Soup

The class will hear the original tale and learn about the value of working together. Then, students will be able to create their own doodled stones using the chosen nouns. Working with a partner, they will create four different story stones. Finally, students will use their story stones as writing prompts, incorporating them into a simple story with a beginning, middle, and end.

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Grade 3-5: Puppets and Props Story Retelling

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Grade 6-8: 3Doodler Stop Motion

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The post Quick Tips to Support Social-Emotional Learning first appeared on 3Doodler.

Established in 1961 by the Art & Creative Materials Institute (ACMI), the creators sought to emphasize the value children derive from art education. Today Youth Art Month is coordinated nationally by the Council for Art Education (CFAE).

3Doodler is delighted to support the visual arts and inspire young creators to use their imagination and bring their ideas to life. Explore Youth Art Month activities and learn how to engage with 3Doodler’s community to celebrate the visual arts!

New York Youth Art Month Poster

Your Art, Your Voice

This year participants will recognize the month through the theme “Your Art, Your Voice.” In addition, participating states host various activities, from a state flag design contest, local and state Youth Art Month proclamations, and art shows at state capitals and legislative buildings.

The celebration is intended to bring attention to visual art’s value in developing critical thinking skills, raising multicultural awareness, and encouraging technical, communication, and expression skills.

The Texas Art Education Association kicks off Youth Art Month with a Big Art Day, where grades K-12 participate in art events across the state. Big Art Day will take place on March 2, 2023, featuring 1,000 art activities.

In Illinois, students participate in a statewide art show hosted by the Illinois Art Education Association. The submissions are reviewed by a panel of judges who select 45 participants to feature in a statewide slide show that travels across the state.

Visit the Council for Art Education to learn more about Youth Art Month events and activities in your state.

Inspiring Young Artists

3Doodler looks to inspire young artists in the classroom and at home through lessons, projects, stencils, tutorials, and more. All these resources are readily available in the 3Doodler resource library and the 3Doodler App.

The 3Doodler App is a great way to encourage budding artists to expand their ability to draw and create in 3D. Through the app, young artists will find stencils, tutorials, and other art prompts to jumpstart their creativity. Plus, they can share their latest doodle creations with the community via an online gallery. The photos featured are from Doodlers like you. In addition, fellow artists can comment on shared designs and offer support. It’s a fantastic way to build community and celebrate art.

Explore Your Creativity

Get started by creating one of the following projects to celebrate Youth Art Month!

Collage Display

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Action Figure

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Keepsake Box

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The post March is Youth Art Month first appeared on 3Doodler.

Science, math, and technological literacy help us engage in engineering and solve problems to help those around us. So let’s learn more about these fields and see how we can contribute with 3Doodler tools as an early introduction to 3D printing, creative problem-solving, and breaking down how things work.

Change Makers

Engineer’s Week began in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) to highlight engineers’ critical role in society. The week coincides with President George Washington’s birthday, as he is often described as America’s first engineer. But engineers go much further back in history, and their contributions are vast.

Look around you and imagine for a moment all the things in your life that engineers have played a part in creating. The list is endless. Engineers have contributed many ways to improve lives, from electricity to the telephone, cars, airplanes, and computers.

Meeting an engineer is one way to help demystify the field and learn more about what engineers do. DiscoverE, the organization that sponsors Engineers Week, hosts monthly Chats with Change Makers to speak with a real-life engineer and learn about a new field. Explore past episodes or join the next one live to learn more about technology fields.

Creating the Future

In addition to meeting engineers, young people can explore the various engineering disciplines at school or home with easy-to-follow lessons. This week we’re sharing a few challenging and fun engineering lessons to build and test designs in 3D.

The engineering design process offers a way of thinking that you can apply to solve a problem. Each step provides new information about the situation and encourages you to think critically about how you might solve it. Engineers often repeat the process to come up with the best possible solution. Working as a team, you can share ideas and find new perspectives by involving others.

The Engineer Girl offers a simple way to think about the engineering design process. It’s also a great place to start exploring careers in engineering and learning more about the field.

Design Like an Engineer

Working with friends has never been better as students explore STEM-focused design challenges that span sports, architecture, and design. These 3Doodler lesson plans will inspire critical thinking and opportunities to apply the engineering design process.

Grade K-2: STEM Doodle Hockey

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Grade 3-5: STEM Doodle Engineering Challenge

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Grade 6-8: STEAM Design Challenge

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The post It’s Engineers Week! first appeared on 3Doodler.

3Doodler took inspiration from the wintry weather and the long history of icy architecture to create a stunning 3D ice castle. See where we found our inspiration and design an ice castle with our latest stencil!

Ice-Inspired Architecture

Ice castles and palaces have popped up in all sorts of cold-weather locations around the world, from Montreal to Switzerland and even St. Paul.

Montreal has a long history of ice castle creations. Before modern technology, people cut ice blocks from the frozen St. Lawrence river. Montreal’s first ice palace was designed for the Winter Carnival of 1884. In addition to the ice palace, the Winter Carnival featured snowshoe races, toboggan slides, and sleigh rides.

Seeking to attract tourists and following Montreals’ lead, organizers in St. Paul, Minnesota, built an ice castle in 1885. In fact, the city has created 37 ice palaces of all different shapes and sizes to date. Today, the ice palaces appear less frequently. In fact, they are often organized to coincide with significant events, like the Super Bowl in 2018. The city of St. Paul features a video explaining how the project came together with a stunning result.

The Jungfraujoch Ice Palace penguin sculptures.

Designing an Ice Castle in 3D

The 3Doodler team took inspiration from traditional ice castles created with blocks of ice and more modern interpretations, like the ice palace from Disney’s Frozen. The 3Doodler ice castle stencil offers a series of easily made shapes. You can create a small or large castle by attaching the pieces together.

In the 3Doodler version, we used four large sides, two medium sides, and two small sides. Attaching these shapes together, we created alternating sides for the ice castle. If you wanted to create a larger castle, you could continue to make the side shapes to build out the castle design. Follow the process step-by-step in the ice castle tutorial.

The post A Winter Wonderland: 3D Ice Castle first appeared on 3Doodler.