This week’s selection is the Crayola Marker Lid System by Thingiverse contributor Chris Prendergast.
This might be the most perfect 3D printable designs ever: it’s easy to print and provides an incredibly useful function.
The Crayola Marker Lid System is basically a set of eight tubes linked together, and is used to hold standard Crayola markers.
You might think this is merely a pen holder, but if you do, you probably don’t have kids.
Markers are super-useful for young children, as they can be quite creative with them, all while building up their fine motor control skills. Aside from the obvious “Sorry Mom, I wrote on the wall” problem, there is another issue with these markers.
Leaving them without lids.
It’s easy for a child to crack open a marker go to town on a piece of paper (or the wall in some situations), it’s much, much harder for the child to consistently replace the cap on the marker. Not doing so leads to dried out markers, and sometimes accidental markups as a rolling pen’s tip can touch unexpected surfaces.
Enter the Crayola Marker Lid System, where the concept of capping the markers becomes a kind of game. The child can easily recognize that this is the “house” for the markers and is far more likely to actually replace them.
There’s a certain psychology going on here, all done with an extremely simple 3D design.
The design is freely available for download at Thingiverse, and it’s quite easy to 3D print. No supports are required, and it’s a single piece.
Those with young children might consider this, as well as forgetful adults who have a passion for markers.
Via Thingiverse and Reddit
