3D printing is an invaluable tool for prototyping designs and manufacturing end-use parts. However, a 3D printer is much more than just a tool. It can also be thought of as a toy (to be carefully played with). A toy for making other toys! Using 3D printing to make toys gives you control over the material, color, size, and other details, so the resulting prints will be unique!

If you don’t have a 3D printer, you can still create some amazing 3D printed toys with Craftcloud. With suppliers around the world printing to your specifications, the kids (or adults) in your life will be delighted while someone else does all the work!

With thousands and thousands of 3D printable toy designs, it’s difficult to choose just a few. With that in mind, here are some super fun toys that fit into three main categories: Print & Play, Some Assembly Required, and Batteries Not Included.

Now, let’s stop playing around and get to the list!

Flexi Sea Creatures

With a wide variety of filaments available, flexible parts are absolutely feasible. But you don’t have to use TPE or TPU to create flexible parts.

Making use of some awesome print-in-place hinges, you can make flexible toys with filaments such as PLA, PETG, and ABS. You don’t even need special settings! A standard 0.2 mm layer height and at least 15% infill will work just fine.

The shark and octopus we’ve included here are always popular examples, but there are countless flexi animals on platforms such as Thingiverse.

• Who designed them? McGybeer
• How printable/popular are they? The shark has around 350 makes on Thingiverse, with glow-in-the-dark filament prints looking especially cool. And the adorable flexi octopus has 1,000 makes and counting!
• Where to find them?
  • Shark: Thingiverse
  • Octopus: Thingiverse

Bird Whistle

This bird-shaped whistle chirps like a real bird when you put some water in it. Younger kids love these, and we have to admit we’re a little partial to them ourselves. They’re just fun! Outdoor fun, of course, because dripping is guaranteed.

Our standard PETG recommendation for projects involving water applies here, but plenty of makers out there confirm that PLA works fine. If you want to make it as watertight as possible, we have a few pointers that might help.

• Who designed it? Sevro
• How printable/popular is it? Most of the 103 makers don’t just print one. For example, user AndyLowe printed 50 for kindergarteners.
• Where to find it? Printables

Collapsing Swords

This may probably not be the best thing to hand your kid to keep them occupied in an antiques shop. In the right environment, however, collapsible swords are loads of fun. The designer has created collapsing pirate swords, katanas, daggers, lightsabers, and more to add even more fun to make-believe games.

A successful print of a collapsing sword requires a printer with good retraction, wipe, and coasting settings. Be sure to use a 0.4-mm nozzle and print slowly to avoid letting the blade sections fuse together. After you pop the sword off your build plate, give it a few wiggles, and gently retract and collapse the blade to allow for a smoother collapse over time.

• Who designed it? 3DPrintingWorld
• How printable/popular is it? 171 makes have been posted in a variety of colors, materials, and printers. Just be sure to dial in your retraction settings and consider using a forgiving material like PLA instead of PETG.
• Where to find it? Printables