Using Google SketchUp is a child’s play

Using SketchUp is child’s play! It is so intuitive that a child who has never seen Google SketchUp before manages to draw a table with a pot in: just 30 minutes ‘training’ included.

When I started using Google SketchUp mid 2009, I found it so easy that I used to say to everyone that my daughter of 9 years old would be able to design something in SketchUp. Last month, somebody asked me : “why can’t she try it ?”

My 9 year old daughter''s first SketchUp model and first 3Dprint by i.materialise

My 9 year old daughter''s first SketchUp model and first 3Dprint by i.materialise

So I took the challenge and …one evening, after supper, I launched Google SketchUp, called my daughter and showed the basic principles.
After 10 minutes  she took over the mouse, saying she was going to draw a table. 20 minutes later, she didn”t only have a colored table, but she managed to get a pot on the table as well.

FUN
To be honest, I was impressed by the speed she got familiar with the tools and her enthusiasm and fun she had during the modeling -the effect of the push-pull tool on her model made her laugh several times somehow-that I promised to 3D print a small model in color for her.

I added a picture from her birthday on top of the table, shrunk the table to minimal printing dimensions for the pan handle and uploaded the .skp file to the i.materialise.com site. When my daughter got the mini-table in her hands she was excited that she said she wanted to draw a house around the table,which she did …well,  if the notion of ‘house’ is stretched a bit.

Anyway, I was right, using Google Sketchup can be child ‘s play!

3DPrinted model of the table, printed by i.materialise