TinkerCAD a Fairy Planter

This instructable is brought to you as a collaboration between Ray, age 7,and myself.

As part of our "at-home-school" this spring, both of my kids have been learning a bit of beginner CAD because it is fun, and because it helps practice design skills, spatial reasoning, learning to iterate and not give up, etc.

I was working on instructables of other projects for my students, and Ray saw the plants challenge, and the TinkerCAD part and wanted to enter her design.

So... here it goes, from here on out, these are the words and design work of the seven year old, with technical assistance from the adult (mostly how to take and upload pictures, when to make a new step, etc).

TinkerCAD

Fairies like pretty spaces but they also need to hide. Make sure to give them both. You can draw your idea first, or just go to tinkercad, It is a fun program where you can make things 3D and sometime print them with a 3D printer.

Ms.Phippard note: TinkerCAD is free and web based which makes it a really great starter CAD program for kids

Make a cylinder. Make it big enough for your flower pot.

Make a cylinder hole. Make it smaller. Put it inside.

I put mine not in the center because I am building an underground fairy house.

Use group and stick the two shapes together. You have a pot now!

If you made a wide wall you can make rooms for the fairies.

You take the shape you want for rooms and push it into the wall and turn it into a hole shape.

The you group it to cut it out.

I made stairs from square holes. I push them in the sides like the rooms.

You can make copies quick by you holding the alt key when you move the square. So yo hold the key, and move, and then hold and move. I start at the top and moved down and over. I just did a lot of them.

You need to turn some of the boxes or push them in more.

Then group and cut them all out.

The fun part is stuff for the fairy home.

You can build it or use stuff people made. My wall and flowers are things that were made in the menu and I just put them in my pot.

My grass I use the scribble tool. You can draw any thing and it makes it. That is fun.

I am going to scribble a path later maybe.

The couch I made from the round roof pieces and the bed is from those pieces and from boxes. You can make anything!

The fairies need somewhere to sleep and some nice things to do. Make it good for them.