Introduction: Homeschooling Mashup- TinkerCad

About: Hello! My name is Josh, and I'm a Junior (11th Grade) at Olathe Northwest High School! I'm a design member of Team 1710 (FRC) and am interested in CAD, CAM, and machining.

Hi there! I am a homeschooling parent and just these past few weeks I have been teaching my kids how to use TinkerCad. So when I saw this competition, I just knew I had to enter it. TinkerCad is a great website and has been so useful in the epidemic. I can still teach my kids, through all that’s going on. TinkerCad has taught them about 3D designing and printing, and that using your imagination, you can create just about anything. I would definitely recommend TinkerCad to any beginner that’s wanting to learn about 3D design. Also, like I said before, it’s also great for homeschooling parents and also teachers. My kids created 6 different designs for the contest. It took them a few days to design this, and I am so proud of them. They created in one account, and there is a link down below to it. Also, there is a link to TinkerCad’s website. All you need is either to log in with a Google/AutoDesk account, or make one, and your all set! Hope you enjoy their designs! This Instructable is for the Mashup Contest!!!

Supplies

The supplies you will need is an electronic device, a TinkerCad account, and some imaginative students!

Link to my account/designs: https://www.tinkercad.com/users/6nhzTyfumVT-design...

Link to TinkerCad: https://tinkercad.com

Step 1: Skyline Paintbrush

This is something my older son designed. It is pretty much a paintbrush with a city on top of it. It replaces the normal bristles on a paintbrush with a city. It’s like you can paint a city with a simple brush in a few seconds. He first started off make the handle of the brush, and then building off of that. Then, he added the grass, and the buildings. He made the buildings separately and shrunk them down to size. It is a fairly simple design, but still looks very nice in the end.

Step 2: Camera Washing Machine

This is also one of the designs my older son made. It is a camera washing machine. Everyone knows the basic washing machine and my son wanted to somehow change that and make something that looks cools, but could also work in real life. I think he did a great job of making the camera and it has nice details, such as the lens frame, some buttons, and the main screen. It has a glass door instead of a lens, so that you can open/close the washing machine. It also has some towels on top of the washing machine and some inside too. The towels were made using terrain pieces, but making them flat so they look like towels. It’s a pretty funny design and I really like it.


(PS: Sorry, but for some reason, the embedded link doesn’t show transparent objects!?)

Step 3: Sandwich Sandbox

This is a design my daughter made. She first made the sandwich part. It has lettuce, ham, cheese, and tomatoes. Then, she made a hole in it and made walls to cover it up. Then, she used some terrain parts to make the sand, and then made the bucket. It is basically mocking that a sandwich has the word “sand” in it and that’s why she decided to make it. The terrain and the sandwich look really nice and is pretty detailed.


Step 4: Punching Hot Dog Frank

This is something my youngest son made. Boxers use punching bags. So he decided to replace the bag with a hot dog Frank. He is only 5 years old, and this was his first time making his own design in TinkerCad. The chain is made from a torus part that is stretched. And then, he put them back and forth to make the chain. Finally, he then added the hot dog Frank to the chain and then he was done. It’s probably one of the funniest designs, and simplest of them all, and I am proud of him for making it.


Step 5: Donut Weights

This was also made by my younger son. It’s some weights, but instead of the actual weight, he replaced it with a donuts. The donuts he made from the torus object, and then adding the frosting and the sprinkles. After that, he took a cylinder, stretched and resized it into a the grip part. Then, using a cylinder, added a metal part to the end of it. After that, he put it all together. This helped teach him how to resize objects to fit into other ones. It is a very simple design, but still looks very nice.


Step 6: Banana Telephone

This is also a design my daughter made. It is a banana telephone. She first made the base part, added the dial, and then the banana. The base was made using a various amount of objects. The dial was made using a cylinder and then making a hole. The numbers are from the numbers section. The banana is held by grey hooks that are attached to the base. It is a simple and nice design and is a nice mashup of many objects.


Step 7: Overall Thoughts

I am overall very proud of my kids for making this. This has pushed them beyond their limits and has let them explore the 3D printing world. Also, it has expanded their imagination. (Not like they didn’t ever have one!…) I hope you enjoyed their designs and that this will inspire some of you out their to make something using TinkerCad or a 3D design software!


Link to my account/designs: https://www.tinkercad.com/users/6nhzTyfumVT-desig...

Link to TinkerCad: https://tinkercad.com