A leader in educational 3D printing pens, the 3Doodler team has certainly played a key role in enhancing maker education and creative exploration during the middle and high school years. Their 3Doodler Create+ features a re-engineered design and provides an overall improved doodling experience, increased strength, durability, and control. Just as importantly, its supreme usability and user-friendliness helps make it a super reliable and increasingly viable MakerEd option in schools. It's also environmentally friendly and completely safe for students thanks to its non-toxic and BPA-free 3Doodler filaments.
The Create+ is definitely geared more toward older students and especially effective among those who've used the 3Doodler Start previously. When it comes to the 3Doodler Start vs. Create, there are several key differences. The Create+ features a number of upgrades and, though it's built differently, it helps to provide students with intriguing and enjoyable ideas for classroom 3D printing projects. It instantly extrudes heated plastic, allowing students and makers to invent new projects or improve older ones. Plus, students can use the Create+ in freehand projects or incorporate stencils to make sure their designs come out flawless. They will, however, need to keep the pen connected to the power adapter while using it—a basic difference from using the 3Doodler Start.
3Doodler Create+ features.
Some main improvements to the 3Doodler Create+ include its dual drive system, enhanced speed control features, dual temperature capabilities, and, as we mentioned, this ease of use. Among other benefits, the 3Doodler dual drive system helps to eliminate 3D printing jams up to 99 percent of the time. Depending on how artistic students are, this pen can accommodate their needs and help them flex their STEAM muscles. Though the filaments come in a bunch of basic colors, the pen itself is a sleek shade of marine blue. Paired with STEM or non-STEM subjects, it really helps kids bring ideas to life and engage with maker learning.
The dual drive system allows students to doodle longer and also helps eliminate jams. The improved speed control enhances the pen’s fast mode, so kids can cover bigger areas faster. They also have greater control when using the pen in slow mode. This is perfect for doodling detailed designs or for making extra intricate adjustments to 3D sculptures. Children could switch from fast to slow mode by pressing the corresponding fast or slow button on the pen's surface. The dual temperature feature optimizes the temperature based on the plastic type students are using, providing a more efficient experience. Also, the 3Doodler Create+ is so easy to use. Just click it once to start, once to stop, and twice to reverse the direction of the filament. Kids also won't need to worry about tired hands since they don't have to hold the button down while doodling.
Student safety and simplicity.
While printing, this heated plastic hardens almost instantly, providing a smooth experience when drawing on templates or in the air. And, there are tons of free projects and stencils on the 3Doodler website to help spark project ideas. Students can create glasses, bridges, characters, decorations, and wearables or they could build a quick fix for just about anything. With over 70 filament color options in four different types of materials, the possibilities for creative expression are endless. Plus, teachers can easily inspire children to add STEAM elements to projects in any subject, inspire active problem solving, and show kids what it's like to make creative projects their own.
The Create+ is designed for just about anybody to use—whether they’re a more experienced maker or just getting started. Not only can students use the pen to create new projects, they can also use it to fix what’s broken. We know that, in makerspaces, it’s common for materials to wear down after students tinker with them a lot. Now, they can 3D print replacement parts for anything that breaks thanks to the quickness and precision of the pen. The Essentials Kit contains a 3D printing pen, a 6-piece nozzle set, a mini DoodlePad, three packs of ABS and PLA filament refills, the Ultimate Guide to Doodling, a power adapter, a small kit of tools, and a user manual.
The Create+ is also compatible with FLEXY and wood filaments, too. This allows your students to explore different classroom 3D printing techniques and create with different materials beyond just typical plastics. Though there is variety when it comes to the 3Doodler filament types, students should never try to doodle with any other type of materials. They should only place 3Doodler filaments into their pen—whether they're using the Create+ or another model. Also, students might notice a popcorn-like smell if using the 3Doodler Create+ with PLA filaments. This is because this filament is corn-based and the smell is totally normal!
In terms of bringing the Create+ into a classroom or makerspace, there are a bunch of different kit options. If you only need the 3D printing pen itself, the standalone Create+ Essentials Pen Set is ideal. There's also the 3Doodler Create+ Learning Packs of six or 12. These classroom kits for 3D printing provide teachers with everything they need for leading effective 3D printing lessons in middle or high school. The kits come with pens, DoodlePads, and adapters in the Student Kits and lots of accessories in the Teacher Kit. Those accessories include the 3Doodler Jet Pack, the Create+ manual, nozzle removal tools, unblocking tools, a 3Doodler Create+ troubleshooting guide, lesson plans, and a lot more.
The 3Doodler Create+ bundles.
These learning packs make a great addition to MakerEd experiences or a possible makerspace curriculum. Students could use the pens and accessories individually or collaboratively. It's recommended for no more than two students to share a pen and the accessories, however, for efficiency and equal participation. The Teacher Kits in these Learning Packs also provide educators with a great deal of useful components. Like other makerspace tools, the 3Doodler Create+ can jam from time to time and knowing how to resolve this can help reduce down time during student use. Beyond that, the Learning Packs also come with charging cables, a plastics kit with 1,200 strands of filament, carrying pouches, and challenge card sets.
Plus, the Learning Packs and these materials help make things easier on educators in their classrooms. We mentioned the pen's redesign but it truly does help to streamline 3D printing lessons and increase inclusion for every student. With this improved versatility, power, and quickly hardening filaments, the Create+ works great with students aged 14 and up. Not only can they explore lot of new applications for using technology to solve problems, they have the chance to build soft skills and learn about art and design principles, too. Finally, educators can find downloadable 3Doodler Create+ lesson plans and design challenges online.
Where to find the 3Doodler products.
You can find all of the latest 3Doodler kits and pens in the 3Doodler section of our store. Besides the pens, we also have filament refills for the Create+, storage pouches, challenge cards, the project book, and more. If you are interested in exploring other makerspace tools and materials, we also offer additional 3D printing product lines, like MakerBot and LulzBot, too—plus many other school makerspace favorites. If you have any questions about these 3Doodler offerings or 3D printing, feel free to reach out. After checking out our store, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more on today's EdTech and STEM tools.
