Making
Tinkercad
Kids stack and cut simple shapes into 3D models, wire up virtual circuits and build designs from code blocks.
Tinkercad is Autodesk’s beginner 3D design tool, and it opens in a web browser or on an iPad. From the look of the workspace, kids drag boxes, cylinders and spheres onto a work plane, stretch and rotate them, group them, or use one shape to carve a hole in another. A handful of those moves seems to be enough for a keychain, a robot, a house or a game piece. Designs can be exported for a 3D printer or brought into Minecraft. Two other areas widen things out: Circuits, where kids wire virtual LEDs, motors and Arduino or micro:bit boards and watch them run, and Codeblocks, which builds models from stacked code. Built-in tutorials walk through the basics. It looks suited to older kids comfortable with a mouse or stylus, while younger children may enjoy it more with a grown-up alongside at first.
- Ages
- Older kids ready to design on a computer or iPad
- Works on
- Web browser; iPad app
- Topics
- Making, Coding, Science
- Languages
- English
- Listed
- 2026-10-18
What kids do
- Combine basic shapes into a 3D model
- Carve a hole using a hole shape
- Wire a virtual LED circuit
- Stack code blocks to build a model
- Export a design for a 3D printer
Who it suits
Older kids ready to design on a computer or iPad.
Notes for parents
Autodesk, the company known for professional design software, makes it. It needs an internet connection, the iPad version works with Apple Pencil, and the maker offers a Classrooms version for teachers.
What you need
- Computer with a web browser or an iPad
- Internet connection
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