What grade students and 3D Printers appropriate for?

[curious aardvark]

given that even tiny kids seems to spend their entire lives playing on tablets and minecraft (essentially design software tagged onto a weird game) I'd say any kid who can play minecraft will have no problem designing for a 3d printer.

There are some great apps and simplified programs around now - so basic designs aren't an issue.

My flashforge ceator is set up now so that I only bed level when changing print temps and with the pla I use I rarely change temps. 60c bed and 210 extruder wrks for almost every pla type.
So it just works, print after print after print.
I just don't need to mess with it. So kids wouldn't either.

It's got to the point that I don't envy anyone with auto bed levelling. It'd get used maybe once every 3-4 months. Why bother :-)

It's as idiot proof as you could get it (well it has to be really ;-)

So yeah - the only age limit I see is their ability to use the design software.

Love the idea of a 3d print camp.

As for support removal - Stop printing things that need support and the problem goes away :-)

teach them to design for 3d printing right from the get go and you won't ever need supports.

[ralphzoontjens]

I'd say to get kids involved with 3D printing at about 8 years of age. They will understand in basic terms how the machine works, what they can do with it and what they can not do with it. However I would let only adults touch the machine and keep it out of reach for students.
When students are 14-16 years I would have them independently use basic 3D printers with decent instruction, and only for specific purposes.