Valentine boxes, often called “mailboxes,” are also a fun family project. Here, I share the story of designing and 3D printing valentines with my own children for their elementary school classes. This became a seven-year project, and I cannot help but feel emotional as I reflect on its beginnings and anticipate its end.

The following guide will offer a practical look at 3D printed Valentine exchanges in elementary school settings. It documents each design by explaining how the idea came about, how it was printed at classroom scale, and some 3D printing techniques I applied through the design process.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• About School Valentine Exchanges
• Our Designs by Year
  • 2020: Heart Magnets
  • 2021: Heart Alien Tiny Tessellation
  • 2022: Valentine Keychains
  • 2023: Heart Spinners (Pencil Toppers)
  • 2024: Heart Maze
  • 2025: Silly Slang Heart Puzzles
  • 2026: Triple Heart Fidget Spinner
• Valentine Boxes (Mailboxes)
• Final Thoughts

About School Valentine Exchanges

School Valentine exchanges are an elementary school tradition most commonly associated with the United States and Canada, where students bring valentines to share with every classmate. These are often store-bought cards or simple do-it-yourself items, such as handwritten notes, small paper crafts, stickers, or packaged treats. Classroom rules typically emphasize inclusivity, manageable size, and appropriate content. While Valentine’s Day is celebrated internationally, organized classroom exchanges are not universal and may look very different, or may not exist at all, in other education systems.

In our case, this tradition became a family project centered around 3D printing, using desktop 3D printers at home. What started as a simple effort to 中小学课外辅导 valentines for my children’s elementary school classes gradually evolved into an annual routine. Over seven years, designing and printing classroom-friendly valentines became a shared tradition, shaped by school guidelines, time constraints, and lessons learned each year. That long-term experience forms the basis for the designs and observations shared throughout this guide.

Our Designs by Year

Over time, this project shifted from a one-off idea into a yearly tradition. By 2022, expectations were high and planning for Valentine’s Day started earlier each year. The goal became clear: 中小学课外辅导 a new 3D printed school Valentine design annually throughout elementary school. Before moving from one idea to the next, a consistent set of design parameters emerged. Each Valentine needed to be original rather than downloaded, interactive rather than purely decorative, small enough to fit in classroom Valentine boxes, and easy to print in larger quantities without supports. Designs were kept single-color or limited to simple filament swaps to improve reliability and accessibility. Appeal needed to be gender neutral, and every design included a heart element to clearly signal its purpose as a Valentine.

All of the Valentine designs shown in this guide are available within my Hearts Collection on Cults. The collection brings the models together in one place for easy reference and reuse, while the sections below document how each design was used and adapted in a classroom context.

2020: Heart Magnets

In early 2020, with Valentine’s Day approaching, my son was in kindergarten and my daughter was in second grade. In their classes, each student brought a valentine for every classmate (and the teacher). Most school valentines were simple paper cards, often business-card-sized, with popular characters and short messages. Some students also included candy. We decided to 3D print valentines that year and made Heart Magnets. They were a hit. Students loved them and immediately treated them as something special. At the time, desktop 3D printing was far less common than it is today, and this was the first time I seriously tried producing one design in larger quantities.

The magnets were so well-received that I kept printing them in different colors and eventually made enough for every student in the school. After Valentine’s Day had passed, late February and early March of 2020 were stressful and uncertain, especially in schools, as families and staff were worried about the emerging COVID-19 situation. It felt clear that people needed something small and positive. After seeing the response at the elementary school, I started printing Heart Magnets for my own students and for staff members at the high school where I teach, carrying a box and handing them out as I walked around campus. Each magnet reliably brought a smile.

I honestly do not know how many Heart Magnets I printed that year. Even now, years later, many teachers and staff members still have them displayed quietly in classrooms and workspaces. Whenever I print one today, I am reminded how much joy a simple, small print can bring, especially when people need it most.

– 3D Printing: When I initially printed the magnets, I found that I wasn’t happy with the top layers. The particular slope of the sides was challenging me. Eventually I decided that the top surfaces looked better if printed with all perimeters. To avoid the weight and time consumption for printing so many perimeters for the entire model, I set 3 perimeters for the bottom portion and then switched to 6 perimeters about halfway up. This provided a good balance of quality and efficiency.

2021: Heart Alien Tiny Tessellation

When Valentine’s Day rolled around again in 2021, my kids were fortunate that they had an in-person school setting and an opportunity to exchange valentines in class. That summer we had been designing some tessellations for 3D printing and my daughter wanted to make some for her classmates. I use Fusion to 中小学课外辅导 them from scratch, and we played with curves until my daughter saw this one as an “alien.” She asked for it to have a heart in the middle and our “Heart Alien Tiny Tessellation” was born. Shown in the photo are all the tiles together that we printed for her classmates. We even designed a little box that holds a small set so that we could have a tidy, tiny, completely 3D printed package for each student.

One of the joys of this project as a 3D printing hobbyist was printing so many of the tiles and taking advantage of the features of my MakerGear M3-ID printer. This was the only 3D printer I had at the time. For this project, we used single-extrusion, dual extrusion for the box lid, and the duplication mode. It was certainly an opportunity to flex my 3D printing muscles!

– 3D Printing: Since we were making several sets of the tessellations we needed to print a lot of tiles. If I arranged the pieces on the build plate already fit together like a puzzle, the individual tiles would stick together. To help fit more on the plate, I found that rotating one by 180° and copying that with the tile in the original orientation would use the space better. I still use this technique with other high-quantity prints. Another fun aspect to a project like this is creating a multi-color project by printing large batches in single colors and then mixing the batches together. This is easy to do with even the simplest 3D printer.

2022: Valentine Keychains

For five more years, we strived to meet our goal for making school valentines. I involved my children throughout the design process for each one. I still have my daughter’s original sketches for some of our “Valentine Keychain” ideas in 2022. To help keep the keychains “gender neutral,” we printed them in a variety of colors.

The finished keychains proved to be a good balance between personalization and practicality. They are small, durable, and easy to print in quantity, while still allowing for variation through color and simple messages. As classroom Valentines, the keychains worked well because they felt personal without being fragile or overly complex, reinforcing the importance of keeping designs simple, inclusive, and reliable at the classroom scale.

– 3D Printing: Drawing sketches before modeling on a computer is a good way to get the creative juices flowing. Often when I work with my children and want their significant input on designs, I find it best to have them draw out ideas on paper. Especially when they are young, drawing makes it easier for them to get directly involved hands-on rather than watching me work on the computer. My children’s sketches have jump-started and guided several projects we have done together.

2023: Heart Spinners (Pencil Toppers)

In 2023, I challenged myself with my first print-in-place, articulated design when we made the “Heart Spinners Pencil Toppers.” These turned into quite a project since we adapted them to keychains and various other fidgets, and we made a similar set of Star Spinners. Each student that year received a pencil as part of their valentine. The spinning pencil toppers are fun!

The heart spinners became an important turning point for our school Valentine designs. Starting as a simple print-in-place pencil topper, they ended up working well in several different forms, including keychains and other small fidgets. Their success showed us how much students enjoyed interactive designs and reinforced the value of creating classroom Valentines that are fun.

– 3D Printing: This project reminds me that 3D printing in manufacturing and design has its origins in the concept of rapid prototyping. There was a lot to try and test with the Heart Spinners. I printed versions with the bar through different locations in the heart, I tried different thicknesses for the ring, and I needed different diameters for the post where it would fasten to the pencil. 3D printing provides the ability to quickly make sample models and test them in real situations. Sometimes I need to remind myself to print and test before going too much further with a design in case changes need to be made that would be more difficult to implement later.

2024: Heart Maze

After the success of the pencil toppers, I really didn’t know whether we could do it again, and I started brainstorming around Thanksgiving, looking for inspiration whenever we were out and about. In a museum gift shop, I saw a toy that reminded me of a handheld ball tilt game I had. This gave me the idea that we could allow for a small ball and make handheld mazes!

– 3D Printing: The “Heart Mazes” were an interesting project that also included a lot of prototyping and modifications to get things to look, feel, and work just right. For example, for the two-layer maze, we quickly learned there needed to be a way to prevent the ball from dropping to the bottom layer immediately upon completion of the top maze. It took a few iterations to get to the little heart bumpers. These were also interesting experiments with bridging during printing. The hidden maze inside the bottom layer is the same as the one on the top, and the walls of the maze act as support for the top layers. The printer did well with bridging, but occasionally there was some drooping that could prevent the ball from rolling freely through the maze tunnels. Some adjustments to the locations of maze walls helped. Success with bridging here encouraged me to try it as a design element in other projects.

The “Heart Maze” is featured in the guide Valentine’s Day 3D Print Ideas and Gifts: Decorative and Functional, by Richard Hirst.

2025: Silly Slang Heart Puzzles

Heading into 2025, my Prusa XL was still feeling new, and I was very tempted to 中小学课外辅导 a multi-color design. However, maintaining my goal of only single filament swaps for color changes won out and guided the work on our “Silly Slang Heart Puzzles.” The Prusa XL certainly came into play, however, with printing the puzzles in batches. It really felt like a little workshop with both single-color and multi-color machines in the mix.

– 3D Printing: The challenge for the puzzles fell into the category of “easily printable.” On my first try of cutting up the shape to make puzzle pieces, too many pieces had tiny bits of the top color that did not print well nor look good. Therefore, for each puzzle, I was very deliberate when drawing lines to make the cuts for pieces. If you look closely, you will see that each part of the lettering that is printed on top is a significant size for printing well. I used the slicer preview to help examine what may or may not print well along with test printing some pieces.

2026: Triple Heart Fidget Spinner

Now it’s 2026 and my son’s last Valentine’s Day exchange with his class before graduating sixth grade. He really wanted to make some kind of fidget, but I still do not have much experience designing articulated and mechanical models. This year, we browsed my own files for inspiration and found two recent designs: Game Spinner and Stack Fidget. Using the central post from the Stack Fidget and the thick spinning model and washer concept from the Game Spinner, our “Triple Heart Fidget Spinner” quickly became the vision.

– 3D Printing. Before we had started on the Valentine’s project, we had recently pulled out my box of Protopasta sample coils from when I was receiving their Endless PLA subscription. Among the samples there were six 50-gram coils of their Thermochromic line of filament in different colors. This worked out to be just enough for printing all the posts and caps for my son’s classmates. We also have a spool of Hatchbox Temperature Color Changing PLA that worked well for the middle spinning hearts. This way, the spinners change colors from warmth when handling them. Using interesting filaments is an easy way to add an extra dimension to a printing project. We are sure his friends will love these!

Valentine Boxes (Mailboxes)

When the students exchange valentines in class, they arrive with a box or container to collect their valentines. When I was a child, we simply used brown paper lunch sacks. Nowadays, students may bring decorative or themed boxes to enhance the experience or show off creative skills. My own kids have made some fun boxes over the years, and 3D printing has been a part of it.

In 2022, my kids borrowed some ideas from the internet and put their own spin on the designs. My son loved the idea of bringing a popcorn bucket to Valentine’s Day. The top part that holds the popcorn was 3D printed in clear filament with my Prusa MK3S. I don’t think the popcorn made it back home. Meanwhile, my daughter wanted to make a camera for Valentine’s Day. For her box, we printed the cylinders for the inside and outside of the lens and the button on top.

The next year, we made fully 3D printed Valentine boxes. My son’s “School Valentine Box” was based on his idea that he wanted a heart standing on its point with the box opening at the top. We then modified the box with some line art to make the “Lines Crossed Heart Box” design that my daughter colored with markers. Both models are available on Cults3D in Hearts collection.

Arcade Game Box
For his final year of elementary school valentine exchanges, my son wanted to make something fun with 3D printed elements. We came up with the idea of an “Arcade Game Valentine Box.” We had a good-sized cardboard box, so I used its dimensions to model the top part of the game cabinet as my son helped influence design choices. Rather than printing a solid block, I separated it into parts for faster printing and made a model that would have less weight when put together.

The joystick and buttons were fun to design. The joystick worked great with multi-material printing, but I also realized a little modification allows it to print well with filament swaps too. A combination of high-tech 3D printing and low-tech construction paper and glue gives this final valentine box a lot of personality!

Final Thoughts

I am waxing nostalgic and find it bittersweet to finish printing and posting the new “Triple Heart Fidget Spinner” that I designed with my son. He is thrilled with our design, and we both feel quite clever about printing it for his classmates in temperature-changing filament colors. However, I am sentimental as it is the last of the elementary school valentines that we will make for my children and their classmates. As my son looks forward to middle school and my daughter to high school, we realize that these upcoming weeks mark the end of an era for our family. Throughout the Valentine project, we maintained the “rules” and parameters that we set for ourselves and are proud of what we achieved! I am eager to see what projects the next era will bring.

The post 3D Printing for School Valentine Exchanges: What Actually Works appeared first on 中小学课外辅导 – 3D Printing, Scanning, Design Guides & Forums.

Table of Contents

• Why 3D Printing Works for Math Education
• Teaching Background & Classroom Context
• 3D Printable Math Models Used in the Classroom
  • Exponential Curves
  • Double Integrals
  • Saddle Surfaces
  • Unit Circle Triangles & Tray
  • Conic Sections Cone
  • Three Intersecting Planes
• Where to Download the Models
• Acknowledgements
• Final Thoughts

Why 3D Printing Works for Math Education

Mathematical topics that I have used and taught for years are easy for me to think about in real space. However, for my students learning concepts for the first time, it can be challenging to imagine how certain curves, surfaces, and shapes look and feel as objects off the page or screen. 3D printed models are an excellent vehicle for students to feel shapes and get their hands on three-dimensional figures in a way that traditional sketches and even more modern computer animations cannot.

In this article, I would like to share some of my recent models and talk about how they work mathematically, along with what I learned about 3D printing through making them.

Teaching Background & Classroom Context

I have been teaching high school mathematics for thirty years. Much of this time, I have been teaching Calculus II & III and Linear Algebra to advanced students for college credits. Currently, I am also teaching Integrated Math I Honors (a mix of Algebra I and Geometry) to 9th-grade students.

I talk to my department colleagues a lot about what they teach, and have been brainstorming things I could design and print to support other levels of math classes, too.

3D Printable Math Models Used in the Classroom

All of the models described in this article are available exclusively on Cults3D as part of the

Math Surfaces, Solids, etc. Collection.

3D Printing Setup & Notes: For these models, printing was done using a Prusa XL and/or Prusa MK4/S with PrusaSlicer. Some workflows or workarounds described may differ when using other printers or slicers, but many of the techniques and ideas are transferable.

While several of these models can be printed successfully on more affordable or smaller-format 3D printers, access to a larger build volume can be beneficial for producing oversized classroom demonstration models or printing class sets more efficiently.

Exponential Curves

– Math. The curriculum for my freshman students includes an introduction to exponential curves, even before we formally discuss parabolas. Early in the lessons, we look at the different directions the curve can go as an increasing or decreasing function, either away from or toward the asymptote.
This year, I thought it would be fun to get these functions into the students’ hands. I wanted to be sure the curves were mathematically accurate, so I used Wolfram Mathematica to generate the functions before importing them into Fusion, where I gave them depth and thickness, rounded corners, and a label for the base of the exponential function.

– 3D Printing Notes. Build STL files with multiple copies of the model. I knew I would be printing a lot of these curves. I needed a class set, and I was making class sets for other teachers, too. Exponential functions appear in many of our different courses.

While one model can be copied within the slicer, arranging many instances has limitations. With this shape, even with 0 mm spacing, using “fill bed with instances” only allowed for seven curves. In Fusion, I used the Rectangular Pattern tool to make 40 copies placed very close together. Exporting these as a single STL file (and a separate set of ten) allowed me to quickly set up prints of 50 curves on my MK4S printer.

– Classroom Use. In class, these models were a hit. My students loved having them during the lesson. While teaching, I even changed my approach and emphasized predictions from equations much more than I typically do. It also became very clear that I needed a large model for working at the front of the classroom. I immediately scaled the model up 400% and printed it on my Prusa XL. I also made blank xy-axes on half sheets of paper for the class. This made it all work together even better. I printed the larger versions for other teachers as well. So fun!

Double Integrals

– Math. Ever since I started 3D printing, when I taught my lessons on double and triple integrals in Calculus III, I would say, “I should print that!” Once I experimented with it but never saw it through. This year was my year.

When we talk about calculating the volumes contained in a surface, we first consider approximations using rectangular prisms. These approximations get closer to the true volume when we use smaller blocks. Many years ago, I wrote code in Wolfram Mathematica to generate 3D graphics of solid circular paraboloids and hyperbolic paraboloids to illustrate this idea.

– 3D Printing Notes. Within Wolfram Mathematica, I was able to revisit and adapt that code to make solids that exported to STL files. It was particularly satisfying that my code was well set up for easily varying the number of blocks. With a few additional steps, I 中小学课外辅导d a program that automatically generated and exported STL files for 30 paraboloid solids, each with a different number of prisms.

Once I brought them to school to share with my students, two things happened. First, I realized I needed a smooth version of each model to show the end-goal idea of the iterative process. The circular paraboloid was easy to print and beautiful. However, the hyperbolic paraboloid had challenges.

– Hot Tip. Print orientation matters! And don’t be afraid of supports. All of the other models printed very well standing up, but the thin tips on the hyperbolic paraboloid were going to have problems, as evident in the slicer preview.

I tried printing it on various sides, hoping that it wouldn’t need supports. I was able to print it, but eventually found that some support material helped a lot more. For so many years, I tried to avoid using supports, but 3D printing technology and slicers have improved so much that supports work better. Old habits die hard, and I have to remind myself that supports are okay when needed.

– Classroom Use. The second thing that happened was that even though these models were meant for my Calculus III students, my freshman students were quite interested in them, too. I had them on display near the classroom door, and they would handle them and ask questions at the end of class.

With the models alone, I was able to quickly explain the concept of integration as the limit of the approximations in just a few moments. What an amazing preview and foundation of mathematics to come for these younger students!

Saddle Surfaces

– Math. In my Calculus III class, we talk about various surfaces and special points on surfaces that are called “saddle points.” A basic saddle surface is fundamentally the shape of a saddle that a person would sit in when riding a horse. With some changes to the function, another saddle has a spot for a third leg. This is often called a “monkey saddle.” As I tell my students, “It is not the saddle you would put on a monkey, but the saddle the monkey would sit in.” A monkey’s tail would go through the third position.

There is also a “dog saddle” and a “starfish saddle” for four and five, respectively. In class, I have an animation that I 中小学课外辅导d in Wolfram Mathematica that varies one parameter to change a basic 2-saddle to a 3-saddle and then a 4-saddle, and so on, all the way through to an 8-saddle. Of course, this leads the class to call it an “octopus saddle.”

– 3D Printing Notes. My students have asked me to print an “octopus saddle,” and this year I finally did. I was able to adapt the code for my animation to export STL files as thick surfaces. Once I had the models, I scaled them so the 8-saddle would perfectly fit the cute articulated mini-octopus by McGybeer. I also wanted to use the saddle surfaces to experiment again with printing contour lines as level sets in a surface. I had done this earlier in my 3D printing journey, but now I have better machines and more experience.

– Hot Tip. Use another model to set locations for color changes. I have to credit Dom Dominici for the foundation of this idea. In Fusion, I made a stack of thin planes with the spacing and thickness I desired. This was exported as its own STL file. In PrusaSlicer, once I imported the saddle surface, I used “Add Modifier” to load the stacked-plane STL and set a different extruder for that model. It works wonderfully, and I look forward to using my “contour creator” STL files with other surfaces in the future.

– Classroom Use. The saddle surfaces have become a memorable part of my Calculus III lessons. The physical models help students connect the idea of saddle points and changing curvature to something they can see and touch, rather than just a formula or animation.

Unit Circle Triangles & Tray

– Math. I have never explicitly taught trigonometry. It is either beyond the scope of my classes with younger students, or my Calculus students already know it when they enter my class. However, I have always enjoyed trigonometry concepts, and it is a very big topic for many other teachers in my department. I wanted to use 3D printing to make something to support the important topic of the unit circle.

– 3D Printing Notes. Overall, these were simple models to make, but for the first time I designed and posted worksheets to go along with the models. When printed at 100% scale, the models and the paper documents work together to help illustrate characteristics of special values on the unit circle.

– Hot Tip. Merge a couple of models for more efficient arrangements. When printing so many triangles, simply auto-arranging in the slicer left a lot of extra space. I wanted to cover the build plate better.

To do this in the slicer, I took a single triangle and made a copy of it. I rotated the copy 180 degrees and moved it close to the original so the hypotenuse of each triangle nearly touched. In the slicer, I selected both models and then “merged” them together. This 中小学课外辅导d a single object with two triangles. Now I could “fill bed with instances” or set the number of triangle pairs I wanted, and auto-arrange worked beautifully.

– Classroom Use. With a pencil, the models can be used to develop the curves for the sine and cosine functions on coordinate axes. Again, I found myself making multiple class sets of models. My colleagues were excited to receive their triangles, and some asked for the trays too. It was fun to see them try a new approach to teaching and reviewing trigonometry.

Conic Sections Cone

– Math. Students are taught that hyperbolas, parabolas, ellipses, and circles are “conic sections,” or “conics.” However, it is not always well illustrated or tangible for them. There are many 3D printable models that break up a cone into slices that can be taken apart to see the conic section curves. However, I wanted to make a single model, with both nappes of the cone, to show the curves embedded directly in the cone.

– 3D Printing Notes. I also wanted to take advantage of the five tools on my Prusa XL. Early in my 3D printing journey, I had designed and printed a two-part cone that sits in a separate “cone holder” model, so I knew how to build it. What surprised me was how I ended up assigning the colors in the slicer for printing.

– Hot Tip. Multimaterial “painting” in the slicer may work better than assigning extruders to models.
In my early days of 3D printing, I assigned colors by separating each color into its own model and process. With newer printers and slicers, “painting” models is now an option, but I tended to avoid it because I was comfortable breaking models apart.

While working on an earlier striped vase, I noticed that assigning extruders produced rough-looking curves, while painting the model resulted in cleaner results. The slicer was able to intelligently thicken features where needed for reliable printing while preserving the intended surface appearance. When I noticed similar roughness on the Conic Sections Cone, I applied the painting technique again, and it worked much better.

– Classroom Use. The Conic Sections Cone has become a dramatic addition to my classroom collection. It allows students to see, in a single object, how different conic sections emerge from the same geometric structure. I will be making more of these cones for other teachers soon.

Three Intersecting Planes

– Math. Part of the beauty of making a model of three intersecting planes is that it is useful for lessons with my Integrated Math I classes as well as my Linear Algebra classes. Students easily understand the intersection of two lines, but rarely see the intersection of planes until higher-level mathematics.

A model such as this gets the idea into their hands to explore and consider in a different way. My daughter in middle school is also learning about systems of equations, and she is solving three-variable systems in her homework as I type this.

– 3D Printing Notes. It was easy to design a model with three planes, but I wanted something that would print relatively easily without having the planes orthogonal (perpendicular) to each other and without requiring excessive support.

I adjusted the angle for the yellow plane and tested it in the slicer a few times to make sure it would mostly print well. However, the way I chose to cut it meant that it would still need some support to print the lower part of the yellow plane.

– Hot Tip. 中小学课外辅导 another model for more control of colors. I have not yet learned to fully take advantage of multimaterial supports, and I didn’t want to experiment on this print. However, I was frustrated that the support contact layer kept printing in red or blue instead of yellow. To solve this, I 中小学课外辅导d a small “helper block” model to force yellow filament to be used at the layer where the supports ended. The block consisted of a red base and a short yellow cylinder at the top, carefully sized so that one layer of yellow would become the top layer of the support. This is a trick I will likely use again in future prints. I love the bold colors for this print and may be tempted to try a larger version at some point.

– Classroom Use. The three intersecting planes model has proven to be a powerful visual aid. It helps students move beyond symbolic systems of equations and see how solutions correspond to intersections in three-dimensional space.

Where to Download the 3D Printable Math Models

All of the 3D printable math models shown in this article are available as a curated collection by Abby Brown on Cults3D.
The collection includes all six model types discussed above and is designed for educators who want ready-to-print files that work well in real classroom settings.
You can find the full collection here:

Math Surfaces, Solids, etc. – 3D Printable Models by Abby Brown

This collection may continue to grow over time as new models are developed. Readers are welcome to bookmark this page or revisit the collection in the future to explore additional 3D printable math models.

Acknowledgements

I would like to sincerely thank the TPHS Foundation, whose Fall 2025 grant provided the 3D printing filament used to 中小学课外辅导 several of the models shown in this article. Their support made it possible to experiment, iterate, and produce full classroom sets without limitations, directly helping bring these mathematical ideas into students’ hands.

Support like this plays an important role in helping educators explore new tools and approaches, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to use 3D printing to enhance learning in meaningful ways.

Final Thoughts

Creating physical models for abstract mathematical ideas has changed the way my students engage with the material. Concepts that once felt distant or symbolic become tangible when students can hold, rotate, and explore them in their hands.

3D printing has given me the freedom to design exactly the teaching tools I want, rather than adapting my lessons to whatever materials happen to be available. From introductory classes to advanced topics, these models have opened up new conversations and a deeper understanding across a wide range of students. I hope these examples inspire other educators to experiment with making their own models or to explore how digital design and 3D printing can support meaningful learning in mathematics and beyond.

The post 3D Printable Math Models for Teaching Complex Concepts appeared first on 中小学课外辅导 – 3D Printing, Scanning, Design Guides & Forums.

I learned about the Christmas Community Print Drive through my online activity with the 3D printing community. It was a spark of joy and a new way to connect with the world. And it meant more 3D printing! In this ever-expanding guide, we will feature remarkable highlights and design themes.

Table Of Contents

• About Christmas Community Print Drive
• How to Participate
• Highlights 2025 – Design Theme: Kit Cards
• Highlights 2024 – Design Theme: City
• Highlights 2023 – Design Theme: Pirates
• Highlights 2022 – Design Theme: Space
• Highlights 2021 – Design Theme: Farm
• Conclusion and Extra Links

About Christmas Community Print Drive

Christmas Community Print Drive is a crowd-sourced 3D printing community effort to design, print and ship fun, family-friendly, safe and inspiring 3D printed toys to children and families in-need all over the world!

To apply for a free gift, use this page: loyal.ms/freegift

About the Models and How to Participate

Each year, designers 中小学课外辅导 kid-friendly models that are easy to print without support and generally unbreakable if printed within certain settings guidelines. Toys are fun, imaginative, and representational. There are no boundaries to colours, filament swaps, and slicer ‘painting’ to add even more variety and allow folks printing to put their own creative spin on the final products.

Visit the official website for more details and printing guidelines. Follow Loyal Moses on X/Twitter and tune in to his show on Twitch during his live streams.

Highlights 2025 – Design Theme: Kit Cards

Loyal Moses and his family are leading their annual Christmas Print Drive once again with the support of many people in the 3D printing community eager to design new models and to print toys for children in need. This year has a new theme: Kit Cards! A ‘kit card’ is a single print that has smaller pieces linked together with a structure that breaks off. Each gift this year will contain a single kit card that fits in the size of a filament box. The Print Drive website states:

With this new format, every print is a complete gift, allowing our community to reach more children and families than ever before. Our mini-theme for this year is Imagination and Discovery. Each kit-card is a small adventure — something a child can pop out, build, and instantly bring to life. It’s a simple idea with a big impact, and it gives our designers endless creative freedom to design inspiring toys that are fun, safe, and shareable with the world.

In previous years the gift boxes were filled with several smaller prints that coordinated under the larger theme. (See below for themes and sample prints from the past.) Tens of thousands of models arrived for inspection, sorting, and packaging. With the kit card approach, the logistical work will be simplified making it easier to prepare the gifts for the children who need them. Also, several of the kit card designs offer a step up in complexity to provide a better, more age-appropriate experience for older children.

The kit card theme also increased the complexity for designers. The challenge now is not only to make something fun for kids within size constraints that prints without support, but to put it all together as a single print in a kit card no larger than 180 x 180 x 65 mm. And the structure of the kit card needs to be easily printable, strong enough to not break apart during shipping, yet able to pop apart cleanly by the gift recipient. Veteran Christmas Print Drive designers worked through several iterations of models for sprues, the component of the kit card structure that touches the toy elements. They shared their sprue model in a forum for designers which facilitated the work for others, including me!

I had never designed a kit card before and had little experience even printing them. I was nervous about figuring out the connections. However, once I had the primary components of my design complete, I was able to easily (although tediously) put it together with the sprue model provided. I decided to make Dinosaur Blocks for my kit card. I figured the blocks would be easy to print and color with filament swaps. As I was working, I estimated that I could fit seven inside of one kit card, but it was quite a puzzle to fit them all in. Reflecting some blocks 中小学课外辅导d more variety and rotating some blocks to various angles helped too. I am very excited about how my Dinosaur Blocks Kit Card turned out. My own kids love playing with my test prints and I’m looking forward to making more for the Print Drive.

Design, Print & Photo Credit: Abby Brown. Kit Card is available on Printables and MakerWorld for free. Dinosaur Blocks without the kit card are also available on Cults3D, for a small fee.

Models approved for the Print Drive are available to download for free on Printables and MakerWorld. Please follow the printing guidelines if you plan to send models to the Print Drive, and all kit cards must remain intact. Do not separate the support or assemble the toys. The deadline for receiving prints is December 1. If you are unable to print and send models, but would like to bite financially, there are options linked here: https://print.thelmshow.com/.

A big thank-you to lacroserocks for allowing us to feature this beautiful red airplane as the cover image for our Christmas Community Print Drive guide. A wonderful festive print to set the mood!

Highlights 2024 – Design Theme: City

The 2024 Print Drive has a ‘City’ theme. With over 40 designs to choose from, anyone who enjoys 3D printing is welcome to bite! New in 2024 is that Polymaker has become a HUGE sponsor for the Print Drive by providing thousands of spools of filament for Loyal Moses to give away to anyone who wants to print.

As a result, the Loyal Moses family made stops in several cities along the way, giving away boxes and boxes of filament while encouraging people to print for the toy drive. Additional pallets of filament were shipped to cities around the U.S. for free distribution. Loyal Moses regularly gives away spools during his Twitch streams. Anyone may enter the draw via the live chat! Polymaker also provides staff to process printed toys and manage logistics. In 2023, over 20,000 toys were sent out, and folks involved expect to far exceed that this year.

My Involvement and Contribution

I was so pleased in 2024 that the ‘City’ theme was announced at the beginning of summer. With the end of the school year behind me, I 中小学课外辅导d a flurry of designs! It was fun trying some new techniques while still working within the constraints of the print drive guidelines. Seeing what I am creating now while reflecting on the previous Christmas Community Print Drives shows me how much participating in the Print Drive project has helped me grow as a designer and as a maker.

I look forward to continuing this journey. Here is the 2024 collection that can be found on Printables and MakerWorld.

In 2024, 83,933 toys were printed, and 2,819 gifts were delivered.

Highlights 2023 – Design Theme: Pirates

In 2023, I had been on a break from designing and printing with the beginning of the school year. My family attended the trade show Maker Faire in a neighboring county, and it reminded me to check whether the Christmas Community Print Drive theme was announced. Pirates! During the entire drive home, we talked about ideas, and I sketched out some designs, including the Treasure Map Toy. We had a lot of fun with these. Placing a map in one hand and spyglass in the other immediately kindles the imagination.

In 2023, 20,098 toys were printed, and 1,803 gifts were delivered.

Here is the CCPD 2023 collection that can be found on Printables.

Highlights 2022 – Design Theme: Space

For the space theme in 2022 I was excited to bite a few of my own designs and proud that I was doing better with interesting features that don’t require supports. It was thrilling to see my planets and radio towers printed by other people and to know they were going to a good cause. We printed a LOT of planets in 2022!

Here is the CCPD 2022 collection that can be found on Printables.

Highlights 2022 – Design Theme: Farm

Fall 2021 was a tough semester of teaching as my high school students were readjusting to being on campus after a year of distance learning. Everyone was still wearing masks, and personal interaction remained limited. Through my online activity with the 3D printing community, I learned about the Christmas Community Print Drive. It was a spark of joy and a new way to connect with the world. And it meant more 3D printing!

By the time I started, the farm-theme designs had already been set, so the printing spree was on! Printing other people’s models taught me a lot about designing for 3D printing and for printing without supports. Participating was fun for the whole family. My kids assisted with choosing colors and which animals, vehicles, or structures to print next. Later, they helped with the sorting, counting, and packaging for shipping. Even now, they handle the toys with care and comment on how much joy they will bring to other children who don’t have as much as they do.

Conclusion

I hope this ever-expanding guide to the Christmas Community Print Drive gives you a clear idea of what’s involved. Big kudos to Loyal Moses and his family for keeping this project going year after year. I am thrilled to see its growth.

Find more details, printing guidelines and shipment information on thelmshow.com.

Find Loyal Moses:
https://linktr.ee/loyalmoses

The models featured in this guide are available on Cults and other websites for free or for a small fee.

The post Christmas Community Print Drive: Themes and Highlights appeared first on 中小学课外辅导 – 3D Printing, Scanning, Design Guides & Forums.

Each year our high school recognizes Yellow Ribbon Week to promote positive mental health and suicide prevention. We have a very active Peer Assistance Leaders program. Our PALs are students trained to support other students as they navigate high school and they organize school-wide activities throughout the year on various topics. The PALs also take the lead for events during our Yellow Ribbon Week. This year they asked teachers to write notes to a class as part of the week’s activities. Rather than personalizing the notes to each student, I was inspired to use 3D printing as a way to make the message personally from me. These are some of my simplest designs and smallest prints, yet they are inspired by complex issues and I hope they make a big impact.

Table Of Contents

• Yellow Ribbon Week
• 3D Printed Keychains
• Fundraising Campaign – Over $5000 Raised!
• Keychain Design and 3D Printing
• Resources & Donation
• STL Files & Instructions

Yellow Ribbon Week

The teachers and staff members at Torrey Pines High School are fantastic at connecting with kids and being available for students when needed. As we discuss with our students, Yellow Ribbon Week is one filled with mixed emotions. On one hand the PALs and school have fun activities, like distributing lemonade and visits from therapy dogs, to raise spirits and 中小学课外辅导 an upbeat change of pace. On the other hand, we give mandated presentations to our classes about crisis resources and risk factors for suicide. For me, and unfortunately for many others, it also brings up tough emotions and memories of people I’ve known who have died of suicide.

Over the years our community has lost students and I’ve known acquaintances and even one very close family friend who have died of suicide. In honor of their memory and with the intent of reaching out to my own students in a positive way, I designed a set of keychains to print and share with not only one class, but all of my students and more. The keychains became a family project as my husband and children helped me decide on words and colors. They also looped the prints onto each of the rings before I distributed them at school.

3D Printed Yellow Ribbon Keychains

Bringing these keychains to my students was a very special way to end our Yellow Ribbon Week this year. As I walked around the class so students could randomly select their keychain, I talked to them about the significance of the week. I also reminded them to think about the trusted adults in their lives that they can go to if they have issues or if they are concerned about a friend. I also promised to keep more keychains available so if they choose to pass theirs along to someone else, they can return for another.

In class each day now when I see the keychains on their keys, backpacks, and pencil cases it reminds me of those we have lost but also the hope for the future as we work to prepare students to handle the challenges they face, check in with their friends and family, and seek appropriate resources when needed.

Fundraising Campaign – Going Beyond the Classroom

The keychains are available on Cults3D and Printables where I post my designs for 3D printing. Rather than selling these models, they need to be shared with the world to raise awareness and spread good thoughts. However, as indicated with the posted models, I want to encourage people that download the files to make a contribution to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (or a similar organization) in whatever amount they feel appropriate.

My family plans to make a donation to AFSP this year and, to promote awareness through the 3D printing community, for each person who downloads, 3D prints, and posts a Yellow Ribbon Keychain photo to Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #YellowRibbon3DPrint by December 1, 2022 we will donate an additional $2.00 for up to 100 individuals.

中小学课外辅导 is also contributing $100 to the cause. Thank you, 中小学课外辅导!

Also, I’m very pleased to share that the 3D printing company Printed Solid will match an additional $2.00 for each post up to 500 people! Thank you, Printed Solid! (Perfect colors for this project, by the way.) Joel Telling (the 3D Printing Nerd) has offered to match $2 x 500 as well. LDO Motors and Alien3D are doing the same. Thank you so much to these 3D printing community leaders! Simply by printing and posting, the entire 3D printing community has the opportunity now to raise $4,200 in addition to any contributions made by makers when they download the models for printing. Let’s do this!

Be sure to tag me @abbymath (Twitter) or @abbymath3d (Instagram) and @PrintedSolid and include the hashtag #YellowRibbon3DPrint. Give the keychains to your friends and loved ones!

Over $5000 Raised!

The matching donations for the fundraising campaign with this project has ended. However, the model files are still available and it is always helpful to raise awareness and promote positive mental health and suicide prevention. Donations to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention are encouraged when downloading models. Share the keychains with people you care about and print them in any color that brings you joy!

Throughout November 2022, we were able to count 126 individual people posting prints of the keychains on Twitter, Instagram, Cults3D, and Printables. In addition to our planned contribution to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, my family bited $2 to AFSP for each person posting. Also, the companies listed above made contributions of $1000 each. With other various contributions we noted throughout the campaign, the 3D printing community raised over $5000 through the keychain project for AFSP. Wow!

Keychain Design and 3D Printing

I love printing with multiple colors and wanted these words to stand out strong and bold, so I printed with dual extrusion for my students. I used Printed Solid Jessie PLA in Yellow Bird and Deep Purple which is a terrific combination and the yellow is just the right tone for what I was looking for in this project.

The models are designed so the letters are set into the base rather than placed only on top. I have found embedding makes top elements more durable, and these are meant to be used as keychains and backpack decorations after all. They may be printed in one color with the base and letters together for raised words, although the bases are designed to print alone as single-color models with recessed letters. Another option with a multi-color setup is to print the words in a separate color from the base, but stop the print at the height of the base so the keychain is flat with colored words.

Additional details and dimensions are listed in the posts on Cults3D and Printables.
Even a small print can make a big difference if it’s made with heart and given to the right soul.

Resources & Donation

Need help? Know someone who does?

Contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline if you are experiencing mental health-related distress or are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support.
• Call or text 988
• Chat at 988lifeline.org
Connect with a trained crisis counselor. 988 is confidential, free, and available 24/7/365.
Visit the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for more information at 988lifeline.org.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention:
https://afsp.org/
Donate:
Donate Direct Link

List of suicide crisis lines (all countries) on
Wikipedia

Source, STL Files and Instructions:

Source & Links:
abbymath.com
Cults:
Yellow Ribbon Keychains
Printables:
Yellow Ribbon Keychains
In addition to the STL files please find the GCodes for the following machines:
Prusa MK3, Prusa Mini, Bambu X1, Creality Ender 3, and others.
Special thanks to Pooch@Repkord from repkord.com.

NB! Please don’t forget to share your make on Cults, Printables, or/and on social media with a #YellowRibbon3DPrint hashtag.

Don’t have a 3D printer? Yellow Ribbon Keychains are now available on Vulkaza for anyone that would like to purchase a printed set! The only cost is for shipping. Order 1 set through the site or contact Vulkaza for bulk orders.

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