3D Printing This Fast?! The Kid-Friendly Kidoodle Printer Is Surprisingly Easy to Use
Hi, I’m Hide — tech journalist and part-time house-husband. This 3D printer turned out to be incredibly well made.
The Kidoodle MiniBox A1 is a 3D printer built around the idea of unleashing kids’ imagination. But don’t write it off as a kids’ toy. It actually prints faster than the much-talked-about AnkerMake M5, with specs good enough for 3D printing beginners or a company’s first printer.
Everything you need for 3D printing, all in one setPrint 3D objects quickly and easily — kids love it!There’s also a plan that includes a dedicated 8-color filament set
**Official site: [Kidoodle](https://kidoodle3d.com)**
**Product site:**
[Kidoodle 3D Printer](https://www.makuake.com/project/kidoodle/)
For my articles, I sometimes receive products on loan or as samples from companies, within the bounds of Yahoo! News’ rules. However, if a product doesn’t meet my standards for writing about it after actually using it, or if its downsides significantly outweigh its good points, I return it and don’t write about it. I don’t receive any payment from companies.
Stable and seriously fast!
3D printers have had a reputation for being impractical at home: “initial calibration is everything,” “the slower you print, the better the quality,” and so on.
The AnkerMake M5 I mentioned shook that up, but even it topped out at 500 mm/s.
The AnkerMake M5 wowed the world with its speed
Sure, the AnkerMake M5 has things the Kidoodle doesn’t, like a camera and a bigger build size, but personally I felt its target was a bit fuzzy. Printing faster lowered quality, and you needed a fair bit of know-how to use it.
The Kidoodle, on the other hand, has a clear target — STEM education for kids — and a clear concept: “Quality just needs to be decent; let’s make it print reliably and fast.”
Some stringing and visible layers, but the results look on par with the AnkerMake M5
The result: print speeds of 600 mm/s, beating the AnkerMake M5, with no calibration or modeling needed beforehand — you can print using just the printer itself.
Even this dolphin model with a ring-linked bodyI was amazed it printed in just 17 minutes
There are trade-offs, but I think it’s great that keeping the specs focused lets true beginners print anytime.
A safe design for kids
The Kidoodle MiniBox A1 is really thoughtful: printing stops when you open the door, and it uses non-toxic materials.
The boxed-in design also prevents accidents like burns, and lets you print regardless of outside temperature in summer or winter.
You can’t touch it while it prints, which also keeps kids from breaking the machineThe print bed is magnetic and comes off easily, so removing prints is simple
Basically, you pick preset models from the printer or the app and print. As kids grow and want to do more, they can move on to more advanced tools.
Plenty of preset models to choose from, sorted by categoryOnce you’re used to it, you can print models you made yourself
It supports Kidoodle’s own slicer and Cura, so once you’re comfortable, you can design and print your own models.
Print parts separately and glue them together for colorful creations or bigger pieces than before — perfect for sparking kids’ creativity.
What I love about the Kidoodle is that it massively lowers the bar for 3D printing and maximizes the “let’s just try printing something” spirit.
My older daughter, totally hyped watching 3D shapes come to lifeWith the dedicated filament, just cut the end at 45° and insert it — doneThe spool hangs on the back, so filament loading errors are rareThe filament scraps from start and finish drop into a tray, so you can remove them without reaching into the printer — another kid-friendly touch
## Print a holder and you can hang big spools on the back
The dedicated filament spools are smaller than regular onesYou can set it up like this, or print a holder for bigger spools and hang it on the back
It’s also nice that there’s an option for 1 kg spools. The included holder only fits the small dedicated spools, but the presets include a holder model for bigger spools — print it and hang it on the back.
Whether filament feeds smoothly is a big factor in print quality, so I liked that they’ve covered this too.
This speed is practical for adults too, not just kids
Printing at this speed is remarkable — I think adults will find it just as useful as kids.
Simple shapes are fine even at high speed, so I can easily see a workplace where someone who knows modeling preps commonly used parts or bag hooks, and other employees print them with one tap.
It’s definitely perfect for nurturing kids’ creativity, but it’s also stable enough that I’d confidently recommend it to adults as a first printer. I didn’t expect this level of polish — honestly, it surprised me.
If you’ve never used a 3D printer, give it a try with your kids.
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Tech journalist / part-time house-husband. Renovated a 50-year-old danchi into a smart home. Writes the “Hidenori Kimura’s Tech Magic” column for BCN+R, official Yahoo! News Expert, GIZMODO writer.
