Welcome to the Elementary STEM Coach Podcast. I’m your host, Naomi Meredith, a former classroom teacher turned K-5 STEM teacher and coach. With over a decade of experience teaching and a master’s degree in STEM leadership, I’m here to coach you throughout the year to help you gain back more time to create innovative experiences for your students.

 

This is a fun episode where I’m going to be sharing with you my top favorite tools that I like to use when 3D printing with kids, and it might not be tools that you are expecting. Of course we have our 3D printer and the apps and all of those types of things, but I’m talking about specific tools that I like to use when the prints are printing or when they are finished. And you may or may not think of these tools, but I’m going to tell you about them and why I like them.

 

All the things that I’m going to be sharing will be linked in the show notes for you. None of these are sponsored. These are things that I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy throughout the years.

 

First are paint markers. What I typically like to do when students are creating their prints is print them in a lighter color filament. So white or yellow are great filament colors to have on hand, especially when you are printing a whole school’s worth of prints throughout the school year.

 

It can be really tricky when you are doing multicolored prints. I am not against multicolored printing, and when I talk about multicolored printing, I’m meaning that the actual physical print is printed in more than one color. In fact, my current printer, the Bamboo P1S, can print, I believe, up to 16 different colors in a print, which is a lot.

 

I have the AMS system on top that can print up to four colors, which I don’t use the multicolor printing as much as I thought for student prints, only because they do take a long time and can waste a lot of filament. So again, I’m not against multicolored printing, but for the sake of being a teacher and the amount of prints that you are doing, especially if you are 3D printing with all the grades K-5, which I do, printing in one color, a lighter color is great. And when you have the paint markers, you can have students color their designs afterwards.

 

Now, if you have colored Sharpies, these can actually work as well. I have a few that are actually in the bag of my paint markers, but I have found the paint markers work a little bit better because they are a bit more vibrant on the actual print, and because it’s more of a paint base, you can actually layer the colors. When I was coloring my samples of my Halloween key chains that I drew, they were printed in all white, and then I colored one side with my paint markers, and I wanted to draw a little face.

 

So having that first layer of colors that I did, so my candy corn, I had all the stripes, let it dry for a couple minutes, and then I was able to add another layer of color on top for the face. These are really handy. They are pretty inexpensive.

 

There’s a brand that I currently like right now that I rebuy all the time, and it has a fatter end and a skinnier end on the same color, so they work really well for what you need them for. So definitely have those on stock. Make sure the caps are on nice and tight when you are storing them, but those are really handy to have when you are 3D printing.

 

My next favorite tool I like to use when I’m 3D printing with kids is printing in glow-in-the-dark filament. Glow-in-the-dark filament can be a little tricky on some printers, so definitely see what your printer can handle, and maybe if there’s recommendations for glow-in-the-dark filament or maybe your printer has their own brand. I’m going to link a couple that I currently use that have worked well, but glow-in-the-dark filament isn’t really more expensive than regular filament, and there is a white one that I use, so for some reason it just adds this fun element to the kids’ designs, and they are just so excited that their design not only looks cool, but it glows in the dark, and it blows their minds.

 

So it’s just a fun little thing to have on hand for these keychains. I printed them in glow-in-the-dark because I thought it added a fun little spooky effect, but honestly you could use glow-in-the-dark filament year-round. It’s super fun.

 

It’s a great way to talk about how things can be charged by the sun’s energy, like glow-in-the-dark. So this is just a fun little thing to have when you’re printing with kids. And the last thing, this is a newer thing I’ve started to use with my printer to help things stick a lot better on my base plate, is I like to have a pack of alcohol wipes, just some small little ones on hand, and I actually clean my print bed quite often.

 

I actually clean my print bed. Mine can come off with soap and water and let it dry fully, and then in between like every five prints or so, I will actually wipe down the print bed with one of these alcohol wipes. So supposedly it’s supposed to get off any extra oils from your hands if you’ve touched a print.

 

So when I know I’ve touched the print bed a lot to get the prints off, I like to wipe it down. And I have found it actually has helped my prints stick a lot better. That just little tip is great.

 

I have them on the side. They’re really inexpensive and good to have. I prefer using the alcohol wipes over like a container of rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs because cotton swabs can, you know, leave that little bit left on the print bed.

 

So just these little wipes in their own little containers are really helpful to have. And the bonus tool that I like to use with 3D printing with kids is my 3D printing station. I have this set up for you absolutely free.

 

It’s a free downloadable, and it’s the system that I use to keep track of all of my prints, especially when I’m printing multiple classes, multiple things, days at a time. It’s hard to keep track of everybody and knowing who’s currently printing, which prints are complete, and which prints are coming up. So I created the system right from the start when I was 3D printing with kids in K-5, and it is still the exact same system that I use today.

 

Whether you have one printer or multiple printers, I usually have at least two printers. I have them going right now, and if you can hear it in the background, it is what it is. That’s just the life of 3D printing.

 

So definitely check that out. Print it, download it, get it set up in your classroom for all of your printers. Like I said, it’s completely free, and it will really help you stay organized, stay on top of your prints, and get those prints well on their way off of the devices, off of the printers, and into your students’ hands.

 

Thanks so much for joining me. If you have any other tools that I should check out, let me know. Feel free to send me a message on Instagram or TikTok at Naomi Meredith underscore, and I would love to chat with you and hear more.

 

Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode of the Elementary STEM Coach Podcast. I would love to connect with you over on Instagram at Naomi Meredith underscore, or send me an email to elementarystemcoachpodcast at gmail.com. Also, make sure to check out my website, NaomiMeredith.com, to see all the show notes from today’s episode and shop my K-5 STEM resources. Any questions you have, needs for resources, or ideas for episodes, get in touch.

 

I’ll talk to you soon.