3D Printing

Welcome to Kideville: CAD Turned Gaming with 3D Printing

Serbian-born Dejan Mitrovic has developed an educational program called Kidesign that brings technical design and 3D printing into classrooms, offices, and museums. The program supplies Bits from Bytes 3D printers, with their own dedicated computer aided design (CAD) software. To create what he calls Kideville, Dejan challenges participants to design their “dream house,” first in pencil sketches and clay, then in the CAD.

kideville 3d printed village

Layer by layer the designs are printed in plastic, creating robust little toys. Kide students then collaborate on urban design, deciding where the houses should go, and how blocks and neighborhoods are arranged. Children can learn constructive planning and design, and about “materials, consumerism and the circular economy” as they plan out miniature cities.

Seeing how much time children spent in front of screens, Dejan set out to “create a balance between virtual and live play” through Kide. The gap from virtual design to physical object is bridged via the 3D printer. On the Kidesign site, playkide.com, Dejan describes himself as a “swiss army knife” with many tools at his disposal. His program offers children and adults the opportunity to add another tool to their own set, in preparation for a future with more 3D design, production, and global internet collaboration.

 The program has visited the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and most recently appeared at BETT 2015. Kide shows no signs of waning enthusiasm for learning through play. Interested in the program? Submit an inquiry on the main site, or email [email protected].