3Doodlers: Activities & Resources

Before you begin your main 3Doodler activity, I strongly advise a brief, hands-on tutorial and short starting activity for teens who are participating. The 3Doodler website has a really handy PDF guide for hosting a 3Doodler workshop, complete with supply list, activity suggestions, and step-by-step instructions.

Themed Doodle-Off

If your program is taking place near a holiday, this is a no-brainer. You could make a scariest zombie competition for Halloween(2D or 3D), provide a skull template for Dia de los Muertos sugar skull decorations, Doodle holiday ornaments for your teen space, etc. This also works for summer reading theme tie-ins, or your teens could write down theme suggestions and pull them out of a hat.

Collaborative Drawing

If your teens like to work together, perhaps they could create a larger-scale collaborative work, like a cityscape, landscape, or larger-scale decoration like a turkey or cornucopia for Thanksgiving. Individuals can create elements for the design or secure or arrange the elements on a 3Doodled (or paper, or cardboard base).

Note:

Because we have a limited number of 3Doodlers, you may want to have another activity available or a preparatory activity for your teens to do while they’re waiting for their turns. If you’re doing a Doodle-Off, teens may want to sketch out designs or ideas before they start Doodling, or make a template.

 

The 3Doodler website has a good collection of resources for classroom educators, some of which you may be able to use for your program. You can find resources for getting your teens started with the 3Doodlers, STEM-related and art-focused 3Doodling activities and more. I highly suggest you check it out. (Here’s the link: http://the3doodler.com/curriculum/)

 

If you find other good resources, please share them in the comments or get in touch with me (Caroline) to write a guest post for the blog!

3Doodlers: The Basics

What are they?

3Doodlers are 3D pens. They use plastic filament, like a 3D printer, and can be used to draw 2D and 3D designs. They are controlled directly by the user, held in the hand. They melt the filament and extrude it in thin strings. Users can draw on flat surfaces or upward (though that takes some practice to perfect).

What do we have?

Currently, we have 3 of the original 3Doodlers (version 1.0, pictured above), as well as ABS filament for use with the pens.

We also have 6 of the 3Doodler 2.0 model, along with additional filament.

What do I need to know before I use them in a program?

The tips get very hot! Be sure to warn your teens to keep their fingers away from the tips of the pens.

To minimize the chance of jams:

• Don’t leave plastic in the 3Doodler when you turn it off. Either extrude the strand completely or reverse it to get rid of the excess.
• Snip the end of any partially used strands- they should be blunt for when they are used again.

Where should I go for more information?

Try the 3Doodler website! They’ve got lots of tips and tricks, templates for 3doodles, and more!

We’ll also be writing programming posts specific to the 3Doodler, and I’ll update this post with those links when they are made!

Programs vs Makerspace-Based Learning

Caroline @ Central

As we here at Central are preparing for our move to the new space (so excited!), we’ve been thinking and talking about how our daily routines and programming structure might change.

I’m hoping to move toward a less structured, more open-lab format for technology programs, and so I’ve been thinking about the best way to structure and organize resources to make it easy for interested teens to learn about the technology tools we have.

I wrote a post for the YALSA blog about my thinking and recent trip to the SXSWedu conference, but I wanted to talk about (and, especially, get feedback) some of the same topics here.

So – what do you think is the best way to make information and resources about our tech tools available to teens who want to learn to use them?

I know I won’t be able to personally create page-by-page tutorials for every resource by the time we open our doors (still on the lookout for some awesome teen tech volunteers to do that very thing, btw!), so I’m thinking that for now I’ll create a page somewhere – maybe a Google Doc, maybe on a blog, with a curated list of resources – step-by-step tutorials, YouTube videos, etc., for teens to consult. I’m also thinking that I’ll make some of our collection into sort of a Lab reference collection for the makerspace.

I have noticed, when I have brought things out for programs, that teens are more likely to consult print materials than digital ones, even if a video is up on the screen of a laptop situated right next to the tool in question.

Do you have teens who self-direct their learning or mentor each other? Are there particular resources you notice them using? Any insights, tips, or related thoughts?