![sharing-3d-printing-with-kids-[hackaday]](https://i0.wp.com/upmytech.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/195342-sharing-3d-printing-with-kids-hackaday.png?resize=800%2C445&ssl=1)
Sharing 3D Printing with Kids [Hackaday]
If you have a hobby, it is natural to want to share it with kids. If you are interested in 3D printing, you may even have kids who want to try their hand at printing without prompting. There are a number of “kid printers” aimed specifically at that market. Are they worthwhile? How old is old enough? [Everson Siqueirar] tries out a Kidoodle with this 6-year-old daughter, and the results are good, as you can see in the video below.
Impressively, his daughter [Sophie] was able to set up the printer with a little help. The build plate is very small and not heated. Apparently, a glue stick is necessary for bed adhesion. The printer has WiFi but also has a collection of models you can print without any internet connection.
The results were good, and it looks like [Sophie] did all the work, which was impressive; she did a great job. While you could print some models locally and some on the network. You can also slice your own models, but if you use something like Cura or Slic3r, you’ll have to do some work to get a good profile. [Everson] tried it and managed to jam the printer. That requires adult intervention. But outside of that, [Sophie] was able to work on her own, even printing a few models while dad took a nap.
Technically, the printer has an enclosure, a large screen, and a direct drive extruder with an all-metal hot end. Not bad for a kid’s printer. It normally takes a small spool, but you can print an adapter for normal spools, although it was too fat for some spools and required a redesign.
We thought this printer was already out, but it is, alas, a Kickstarter. We’ve seen other printers try to address this market, including one from Mattel. You might argue that kids learn more from building a printer, but that has challenges, too.