Kids Puzzle Sphere

thingiverse

The main goal for this puzzle is to educate kids about 3D printing, and puzzles are a great way to do just that by making it fun and easy to understand. Kids love solving puzzles and playing games as long as they can grasp the concept behind them. When designing this puzzle, I kept several key requirements in mind: 1. The puzzle had to be simple and easy for kids with small hands and limited dexterity to assemble. 2. The print job needed to complete quickly, within 30-45 minutes on a well-tuned printer, ideal for 3D printing demos. 3. The design had to be open, allowing others to see how it was made. 4. It had to be easily scalable to different sizes and tolerances. I searched for existing puzzles that fit these criteria but couldn't find one that met all the requirements. So, I created my own in Solidworks, making it parametric so it can be scaled and adjusted by changing a few key dimensions using an equations table. The puzzle consists of three basic pieces, with two copies of each used to build a sphere when assembled. I've included two sets of parts: one with a 0.2mm gap between the parts and another with a 0.3mm gap. As with all my designs, I keep them open and provide the STEP files or source files to promote open design and 3D printing.