This is a simplified version of BB-8, the demo for a kid's blender class I teach. This was their second lesson (their first lesson was making a bunch of balloons like in UP). It took us roughly 5 hours in all to build him (3 classes). We learned about modeling, how to use a few simple modifiers, how to make a dirty material with a simple noise texture, how to apply 3 different color materials to different parts of the mesh, and finally a teeny bit of animation at the end! :)
Their ages are 8, 11, and 17, all of them did awesome. Of course there are plenty of pitfalls as we go, and I expect them to maybe remember 30% of what we did. Regardless, a challenge up front and successfully creating something from scratch is a major boost to a kid's confidence. And of course I believe it's far more engaging to make something cool and familiar than to play with cubes and spheres when learning about materials and keystrokes.
Very nicely done!
Very good looking though the material of the BB droid reminds me little of a beach ball :)
Loving this!
Great stuff. I love seeing everybody's different take on things when they do a group project. Illustrates how diverse we are. Sometimes they learn simple ain't so simple.
way cool that you are making this available to your students...
keep up with that!!