Back in 1980 my grandparents bought me a toy - "Little Van Goes" by Tomy. This was a bunch of plastic plates that had raised images of van parts. You could combine three plates in a holder, put a piece of paper on it, and rub with a crayon to make the most awesome 70's vans you could imagine. There were others of this type of toy, but pretty much entirely fashion oriented: Fashion Plates, Barbie Fashion Plates, etc.

Thirty-two years later I decided to make my own version of those types of toys, but this time as there is a community of makers, together we can overcome the problem with the originals: lack of variation in plates!

Now we can design as many plates as we want: sleepy robot eyes, rabbit mouth, pig nose, googly eyes, parts made from kids' drawings, ornamental parts, ABCs, and so on!

Have fun!

Read more of my thought process and story here: myplasticfuture.com/cottage-frottage-or-making-creative-fun-at-ho

Recently, while looking for how to best make a salsa-jar snow globe, I saw that a lot of people were turning juice boxes into boats and other cute objects by using stickers or paper. And I thought: "Wait a minute! What if I printed pieces for juice boxes? What if you could mix and match the pieces too?!"

Surprisingly, I was unable to find a commercial product that did this. This seems like a gold-mine to some mass-produced toy company (which is why I was going to set the license to non-commercial, but decided that if folks wanted to make and sell on Shapeways or similar, feel free :-)

I was going to title these "juice box heroes", but there is a musical band by that name (apparently doing children-friendly versions of classic songs). Given that I made an owl with goggles on, "weirdos" is more appropriate.

More info and pictures at my blog: myplasticfuture.com/one-for-the-kids-and-kids-at-heart

These are more for sparking imagination than being "things" on their own. Which is why I've included a plain, basic end-cap for YOU to make your own things on: pirate ships, aircraft carriers, cats, alligators, dinosaurs, mars rovers, you name it!

I have included all the SketchUp files to use as a launching point.

A friend of mine has two young kids, and, as is normal some of their toys aren't indestructible.

3D printing to the rescue, and there is now a compatible corner part for "Free Time 4 Kidz" Tent.

She also suggested the excellent category of "Replacements for stuff that kids break"

Another CSIRL (computer science without computer) project of NancyBidouille, the lasercut meeples+house are just a test but already usable :)

wiki.nybi.cc/index.php/CSIRL

I printed a locomotive for my nephew when he turned two. His 4.5 year old sister asked what I brought for her. I told her that she was old enough to design her own toys if she wanted. She enthusiastically set to work with markers and scissors. Once we scanned the drawings into the computer I traced the drawings by hand in Inkscape and rendered them from DXF in openscad.

Sorry I didn't get a photo of the finished toys. When asked if she liked how they turned out she said "I love them."

Make your own funny robot,
You can create a funny face by moving eyes and mouth.
Made of 21 parts. His/Her head is looking like a Makerbot printer.
Hands, Arms and legs are ambidextrous. Pivoting articulations.
Give him/her your personal final touch by inserting a piece of plastic thread to make an antenna. Hands can grip lots of things.
This must be funny near computer screen ^^

A clutch to connect a trailer to a bobby car. Made for my son to enjoy early trucking ;)

You know... for kids!

I had a couple long flights recently and I thought I'd play around with a couple croc charm designs based on the shoe spikes I posted last month.

Same motivation as before: I'm not interested in adorning my crocs; not my thing. Kids, on the other hand, love this kind of stuff. Getting something on their feet that gets them thinking about making instead of buying is a worthwhile endeavor.

These are quick prints that should be able to hold any kid's attention and get a some good Q&A flowing.

A replacement tip for your beyblade collection. The kids were fighting and crying and wailing and gnashing their teeth today when I got home from work. It seems that the 5 year old had lost the 7 year old's beyblade tips. Out of 5 beyblades, only one was tipped. That's 80% tiplessness with a high misery index. Hopefully when they wake up, the peace of the family abode can be restored by this $0.10 print. But if not, well, I'll be heading off to work. :)

I can't believe this thing worked the first time. It has all the retaining ledges and little clippy ridges and stuff. It fit the beyblade without much cleanup at all.

OK, I guess I should have searched thingiverse first, here is a similar project. thingiverse.com/thing:8327 . I'll have to try his designs too and see if they work on the kids beyblades.

I, like Mario Batali and most school children, own a pair of crocs. Mine are lined and are great for walking the dog in cold weather.

I've often wondered why they would intentionally leave those iconic holes open on the top. These things are supposed to be keeping me warm! My guess is that they wanted me fill them with those charms they sell, thereby giving them some extra money.

Well 3D printing to the rescue! I made myself a nice set of spikes to plug those holes, and I got to keep my money.

I doubt anyone will want their own set of croc spikes, but there MAY be some interest in using the base to make derivatives. These charms are a quick print (5-10min.) What a nice thing to give to a young kid to get them excited about 3D printing. Maybe the makerbot M? or, um... a bunny rabbit? ...the bust of Colbert?

A cutbag entry. A chair/stool made from cardboard and a bag. Good for a kick around chair for the kids to play around with.

If you have kids around protect their little fingers from finding the outlets.

I am still waiting for my Makerbot so I haven't tried to print this yet.

I have included the original model and the model after being fixed in Netfabb. Enjoy!

I just a simple case again made using heekscad to customize the case for usb stick that is loaded with sugar the learning free sofware platform for kids, so you can get sugar from sugarlabs.org and print this custom XO like case for yours !