10 Fun And Useful Things You Can 3D Print During Lockdown

During lockdown, we’ve got more free time to learn, play, and share together with our loved ones. But as most of us can’t go out to do anything but go grocery shopping, exercising or enjoying the sunlight in some park in our city, we have to turn to and rely on what we have at home. If you have a 3D printer at home and you’re not giving it enough use, here are 10 fun and useful things you can 3D print during lockdown:

1. Lego Bricks

We understand that most of us have children at home, that when they aren’t taking online classes they just want to play. If you want to spend time with your kids, the best way is to 3D print something fun for the whole family: Lego bricks.

Image by Hroncok via Thingiverse

Yes, no matter how old you are, you know you love Lego as much as we do. It’s the perfect toy to get creative and let the imagination go, letting all that stress from work and quarantine go for good. A user with the name of Hroncok, on Thingiverse, provides Lego fans with over 5000 Lego brick models. So you can 3D print the pieces you need to create whatever you and your kids want.

If you are looking for a specific design, and you are a fan of Star Wars, another user called Nickyp1 uploaded a Yoda set with instructions on how to build it. Darth Maul and the Death Star sets are also available on his profile.

2. Cat Armor

We understand cats are asking themselves “why is this human not leaving my house?”, but their company is vital for those who do not have anyone to spend the lockdown with. To remind everyone who the owner of the house is, why not get your cat some armor? PrintThatThing designed armor and shared it on Thingiverse for everyone to download. Now, next time your cat interrupts your video call, he will be majestic.

Image by PrintThatThing via Thingiverse

3. Office At Home

Most of us had to transform our house into our office. It’s not easy to do if you don’t have your office’s organizer to keep everything you use in place. StIzZo knows what is important. This user uploaded an office tools holder that has 4 sided holders for your coffee capsules. It always comes in handy, having your favorite morning beverage at your side.

Image by StIzZo via Thingiverse

If you’re looking for something that helps you organize your office tools a little more, try Dagongar’s Office Desk Organizer, which includes a pencil pot, drawers, trays, and a pocket.

Image by Dagongar via Thingiverse

4. Web Camera Cover

Taking our work to our houses also implied taking our computers with us. A Web Camera Cover, created by Horizon_lab, may save you from entering a videocall and not being ready to show yourself just yet. Or to give you enough time to put on the 3D printed armor on your cat to show it off to your coworkers. If you’re concerned about privacy, this is pretty useful instead of just using stickers that eventually end up coming off.

Image by Horizon_lab via Thingiverse

5. Minecraft Chess Set

If your kid loves Minecraft and you love chess, PotatoFi’s Minecraft Chess Set can be a great idea to 3D print and spend time together. It’s also a fun way to teach your kids how to play chess and keep their head working. The pieces are a representation of Minecraft’s monsters: Creepers, Endermans, Zombies, Skeletons, and slimes.

Image by PotatoFi via Thingiverse

6. Birthday Cake Decoration

Birthdays are hard to celebrate during lockdown. Our friends and family can’t come to our house and celebrate, and the party is thrown through a video call. But if you are celebrating it and your cake looks boring, a 3D printed cake topper and a few decorations will do the trick. If you are a fan of the “Happy Birthday” toppers, there’s plenty of them on Thingiverse.

Image by Muzz64 via Thingiverse

You can 3D print a “Happy Birthday” topper with candles by Glennco, or just a number topper by Muzz64, which also holds candles. If you want to add an extra decoration to your birthday cake, try Gwhancock’s butterflies, or get a cute little birthday elephant by the user Mariuspeed.

7. Book Holder

Lockdown is also a great time to finish your favorite books. We’ve all struggled keeping those pages still to prevent the book from closing. There are many book holders to 3D print, like ZenziWerken’s book holders. These are perfect to hold the book with one hand and hold your coffee cup with the other.

Image by ZenziWerken via Thingiverse

8. Drink Holder

If you’re enjoying your lockdown by playing videogames and you happen to have a Nintendo Switch, the Joy Con Drink Holder by Fr3zno it’s pretty practical for holding your favorite drink. Remember it’s important to keep hydrated, and while you’re gaming, this is the best way to remind yourself to do so.

Image by Fr3zno via Thingiverse

9. Door Knob Grabber

Coolioiglesias created the “Savegrabber”, a 3D printed hook perfect to prevent from touching door knobs, handles, and to help reduce the spread of the virus. It comes with a tip, which is very useful for pressing light switches and even elevator buttons. As the user states, “the touching surfaces are designed to be as small as possible, so the contamination should be low.”

Image by Coolioiglesias via Thingiverse

10. Super Tic Tac Toe

To keep the fun going, a 3D printed Tic Tac Toe by Mizonu that comes with two games in one. You can either play the traditional Tic Tac Toe, or the Super Tic Tac Toe. If you just like the traditional one, Rusbrown64’s Tic Tac Toe board comes with a drawer to store the pieces and prevent you from losing them.

Image by Mizonu via Thingiverse