Cool 3D printer projects, like reimagining old tools or creating life-size models of insects, challenge middle schoolers' innovation and creativity.
New 3D printers or 3D pens are 21st-century tools that have become must-have additions to any classroom, and the possibilities for instructional use are endless. Whether you’re a STEM teacher with an engineering curriculum or an ELA teacher looking to enhance a literature unit, there’s a 3D printer project for your students. Inspire, engage, and intrigue your middle schoolers with unique project ideas that take creativity from idea to reality.
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1. Create cool keychain projects
One of the many advantages of 3D printing is that every project is customizable. Show students that the only limit to their 3D projects is their imagination (and possibly your supply of filament) with an engaging keychain activity.
Students can make their own designs, which could include:
- Student names
- School name or logo
- Favorite sports team logos
- Your state name or shape
- Symbols that represent a learning unit
Have the class make their own creations or vote on the most popular option for everyone to make. Then print and attach to their backpacks for class camaraderie!
Keychain 3D Printing Project for Middle School STEM & Middle School Technology
By STEM in the Middle
Grades: 6th-8th
Subjects: Computer Science-Technology, Engineering
This thorough 3D printing resource comes with detailed teacher notes, implementation suggestions, student project packets in multiple formats, and an end-of-project 3D printing celebration certificate. It’s a great way to begin or end the school year!
2. Print a planter with personality
Looking for class projects for middle school engineering classes that use 3D printing? Look no further than a 3D planter project, which combines engineering and biology and prompts students to research the optimal planter design. Based on what they learn, they craft and print their own planters, which they can then use to house budding blossoms.
Tie this project into your earth science or ecology unit with a follow-up observation and reflection on the planter design. How well does the water drain? Which group’s or individual’s plants are flourishing, given the same conditions and different planter designs?
3D Printing Project Makerspace Activities How to 3D print Introduction Planter
By Miss Tech Queen STEM
Grades: 3rd-6th
Subject: Engineering
Standards: NGSS K-2-ETS1-1, 1-2; 3-5-ETS1-1, 1-2
This NGSS-aligned STEM resource includes everything you need to teach middle schoolers to print their own planters. Two Google Forms track student progress, while an introductory slideshow, vocabulary assessment, and detailed teacher guide show individuals the fundamentals of designing and printing a planter that will keep their plants alive.
3. Bring student art projects to life
If you’re a STEM teacher who’d like to be a STEAM teacher, try 3D printer projects that enable students to turn their junior high art projects into models or new media. Using 3D pens or printers, middle schoolers can recreate their paintings, sketches, or other designs in new and innovative ways.
Go even further with this project by encouraging young artists to incorporate 3D printing into their art. Whether they’re designing a project based on multimedia, printing elements for a stop-action film, or taking sketched characters off the page and into the printer, 3D printing is an excellent forum for art to take on a new life of its own.
Introduction to 3D Printing – STEAM PROJECT – GRADES 3-6 – Distance Learning
By Simon Says School
Grades: 3rd-6th
Subjects: Engineering, Robotics
Standards: CCSS RI.3.7, 10; RI.4.9, 10; RI.5.7, 9, 10; RI.6.10; W.3.7, 8, 10; W.4.2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; W.5.2, 7, 8, 9, 9b, 10; W.6.2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; SL.3.4, 6; SL.4.4, 5, 6; SL.5.4, 5, 6; SL.6.4, 5, 6; CCRA.R.7; W.2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; SL.2, 4, 5, 6; L.1, 2; WHST.6-8.2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; NGSS MS-ETS1-2, 3-5-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-1, 3-5-ETS1-2
Aligned to CCSS and NGSS standards, this 3D printing resource is an excellent introduction to STEM concepts and the engineering and design process. It includes detailed teacher directions, research graphic organizers, examples of printed student work, and a self-assessment for students to reflect on what they’ve learned in the process.
4. Fashion fidget toys and spinners
When it comes to cool 3D printer projects, there’s nothing cooler than a fidget toy students can use all day long! These activities allow students to design a device that will truly help them or others focus, channel sensory needs, or use SEL skills to calm themselves down during stressful moments.
Popular printable fidget toys for middle schoolers include:
- Spinning tops
- Interconnected blocks (infinity cubes)
- Gears that lock together
- Fidget spinners
- Spinning or textured rings
- Clickable fidget toys
Especially inventive students may be able to add to this list with their own ideas. Consider extending the project into an economics unit and see if students can sell their designs to peers or at a holiday fair.
5. Build a better bubble wand
If middle schoolers claim they’re too old for bubbles, they haven’t seen this 3D pen project! Students design bubble wands in any closed shape they like using CAD software or another design program, then use a 3D pen or printer to create the wand they want.
This STEM activity for middle school would work well as an introduction to 3D pens or when teaching students about CAD. Have students celebrate their creations with a bubble-filled afternoon out of the classroom once everyone’s finished!
6. Invent articulated animals and insects
With 3D printers and CAD software, it’s easy to create articulated animals that connect together with small jointed pieces — and even move like their real-life counterparts! These activities are great ways to combine an animal biology unit with engineering skills, as different student groups can create animals that would live together in the same ecosystem.
Take it one step further by having students design their own animals to print and build. From dragons to unicorns to anything in their imagination, the 3D printer can bring their wildest ideas to life!
7. Make a maze that amazes middle schoolers
Keep the cool 3D printer projects coming with a printed maze that middle schoolers design themselves. Ideal as a math assignment, connection to Greek mythology and the labyrinth, or any other “amazing” application, this project encourages students to use logic and engineering in one assignment.
Find the design that works best for your class and available materials. Mazes that use rolling balls probably need to be enclosed with acrylic, resin, or another transparent substance, while open mazes may be more flexible and require fewer materials. More advanced students can use this opportunity to create a puzzle box or cryptex.
8. Use a 3D pen to enhance a diorama
How can social studies students demonstrate the usage of pottery in Indigenous cultures, or show the way a medieval fortress used to look right before a battle? Printing elements of a diorama can be an excellent 3D pen project for ELA or social studies, combining these humanities subjects with core STEM skills.
Creative students may find especially innovative opportunities to use 3D pens in their dioramas and visual displays. From designing 3D lettering, historical inventions, or loom artistry, to bringing characters from a short story to life, 3D pens are an excellent interdisciplinary tool for middle school students.
9. Manufacture molecules that lock together
Impress the judges with a middle school science fair project that shows molecular structure on a much larger scale — all while showcasing engineering skills with a 3D project! Encourage students to research molecules they’ve learned about in class and have them use CAD software to design the molecule structure itself. They can then print individual elements and connect them to demonstrate its molecular structure.
Possible molecules that students can choose include:
- Water (H2O)
- Methane (CH4)
- Caffeine (C8H10N4O2)
- Isopropyl alcohol (C3H7OH)
- Glucose (C6H12O6)
More advanced students can also attempt to create a DNA model in class. Consider making a group DNA double helix in an advanced class, with each student contributing their own printed elements.
Tips for Using a 3D Printer in Class
Don’t hit “Print” yet! If you’re ready to start planning and facilitating 3D printer projects in class, consider these tips and tricks of the trade to ensure success for your lesson.
- Master the printer yourself first. Your middle schoolers may be tech-savvy, but you should know what every error message means before you start teaching with a 3D printer.
- Teach the basics with 3D printer challenges. Before starting a larger project, have students complete a series of smaller challenges, so they know the basics.
- Keep designs small. Middle schoolers have big imaginations, but smaller projects make the timing and material balance easier to manage in large classes.
- Choose the best printing time for your needs. Beginning 3D printing teachers may want to print student projects as they teach throughout the day, while more experienced teachers may feel more comfortable letting the printer run after school while they’re gone.
- Make sure there’s more than enough filament. Nothing’s worse than running out of materials in any project, especially one where everyone’s waiting for their turn to use the printer.
Create an engineering challenge with 3D printing projects
Get middle schoolers used to the way your 3D printer works with resources focused on 3D printing fundamentals. With small project prompts that build on each other, these activities are great ways to build expertise and confidence before you begin a more extensive assignment.
3D Printer Design Cards {3D STEM Print Designs} -32 Cards!
By EduTechie Teacher
Grades: 4th-10th
Subjects: Computer Science-Technology, Instructional Technology, Library Skills
If you’ve got a 3D printer system and are short on project ideas, this resource is exactly what you’re looking for! Find inspiration in 32 design idea cards that make great starting points for 3D printer projects, or use the cards as a challenge to increase STEM skills in an engaging team-building activity.
Make 3D printer projects work for your curriculum
3D printing allows students’ imagination and skills to come together in a tangible way. With a variety of middle school 3D printing lessons and activities, you’ll have everything you need to inspire and engage STEM students across subjects, skill levels, and grades. All you need to do is choose the best no-prep, high-quality materials to teach the basics, and your middle schoolers will lead the way toward innovation!
