Kole Sloane of British Columbia, inspired by his wife Chrystalyn’s homeschooling their children, has designed the Land Forms for 3D printing.
Chrystalyn explained, “During my research of various methods of teaching I came across the Montessori Method. There is no Montessori school in our community. We have limited access to Montessori materials or even stores to buy the crafting supplies to DIY the materials. They can be expensive to purchase online for a homeschooling family. My husband, Kole, started a new 3D printing hobby and these Montessori Land and Water Form trays were his first designing project at my request.
“There are other files out there for 3D printed Montessori-inspired materials, however the Land and Water Form trays had not been created yet. He put them up for free because he has benefited from “maker’s” plans that others have made available to him at no cost; this was his way of giving back. Reflecting on this, I know Montessori never intended education to be inaccessible to the poor; on the contrary she began with teaching underprivileged children from her community.
“To make a set of these trays it takes about half a roll of filament, so at cost they were $12 for my husband to make! PLA (Polylactic Acid), which is the material a 3D printer uses to print, is typically made from fermented plant starch such as from corn, cassava, sugarcane or sugar beet pulp. There are PLAs that are infused with different kinds of wood for creating 3D printed projects with different colours of wood. The possibilities of 3D printing for the Montessori layman or schools with a limited budget are very encouraging.”
Click to access the print plans and learn more.
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