3 ms·

I’m not sure how they compare in price but I really enjoyed erector set and k’nex when I was a kid 30 years ago. And now I’m a robotics engineer! Also, an Ende

• londons_explore 4y ago
  +1 to buying a child a 3d printer. There are okayish ones for about $140 now. About age 6-8 seems like a good time. Set them up with an easy to use bit of cad software and show them how to 3d print a cube... Then let them 3d print whatever they want to make. 3d printers have hot parts - let them burn their fingers once or twice and they'll soon learn which bits not to touch. After that, a 3d printer is pretty safe. Test it first, but generally the motors aren't strong enough to crush a finger placed in the wrong spot. The only downside is many 3d prints take 1 hour + to print, which is pretty frustrating for a child. You need another activity to entertain them during printing breaks.
  • TaylorAlexander 4y ago
    I have no kids but I definitely found that waiting for the print was tough! Often what I do now is I get all my design work done at night. have fun getting design features sorted, or searching online libraries for printable parts, then get everything configured and start the print before bed. Watch the first layer or two to make sure it's gonna work, and then go to sleep while its printing. I wake up and the print is done! idk if this would work for kids but it works for me! it also means that prints which are 8-10 hours don't feel long, because I start it an hour before bed time, then as I am waking up and doing my morning routine the print is on its last few bits!