Let’s Learn Tinkercad! is an official Tinkercad tutorial, composed of five guided activities that take place inside the 3D design environment. It’s great training for complete beginners not only on Tinkercad but also on 3D digital design. The learning experience is based on messages that pop up on the screen informing the user what has to be done and how to accomplish the task. Instant feedback is given based on whether you’ve done the right sequence of commands or not.

The five guided activities teach the basics of 3D design mechanics, such as how to move and manipulate objects. It also teaches some fundamentals like how to recognize the axes, the shapes, the workplane, and how to navigate within the environment. The tutorials are best as an introduction to 3D modeling and Tinkercad 3D design for absolute beginners of all ages.

• Type: Guided activity
• Author: Tinkercad
• Price: Free

Released in 2020, Learning Tinkercad is a LinkedIn Learning class that offers a wide view of Tinkercad possibilities. Aimed at beginners, it teaches the basics of 3D designing but works up to topics on creating complex shapes. The course also touches on the Circuits and Codeblocks environments and presents tools for educators.

The course also introduces possibilities with other compatible software, such as creating 2D vector artwork, which requires Adobe Illustrator, and Minecraft’s worlds editing, requiring the game Minecraft and the software MCEditor. It also touches on Fusion 360 for when you want to transfer Tinkercad models into a more professional parametric design software for fabrication.

The course is divided into 11 sections, not including the introduction and conclusion, which include final quizzes to check your understanding after the lesson. Each section is composed of 2-7 tutorial videos, most of them lasting less than 5 minutes. The entire course is just over two hours long and gives you a sharable certificate of completion to post on your LinkedIn account.

• Type: Course
• Author: Kacie Hultgren via LinkedIn Learning
• Price: ~$40 or free with LinkedIn Learning (1-month free trial available)

The book Tinkercad Step by Step is an introductory book about Tinkercad that explores the basics of Tinkercad 3D Design, Codeblocks, and Circuits with Arduino projects. The book is intended to be fully hands-on as the projects are presented in a succession of screenshots so you can easily follow along. Written for people with no previous experience in computer-aided design (CAD) and electronics projects, the projects are quite simple. Besides the English version, the book was also published in French, Italian, Spanish, and German.

Tinkercad Step by Step is the first book covering the fundamentals of Tinkercad. One can then move on to progressively advanced projects with other texts by the same author, CAD Projects with Tinkercad | 3D-Models Part 1 and Part 2. Each of the books presents four projects explained step by step, including a clothespin, a skateboard, a floor plan of a house with a garden, a bicycle, and a retro alarm clock.

For Tinkercad Circuits, the author has published an Arduino series of three books from basic to advanced Arduino users. The first book is Arduino | Step by Step, devoted to the basics of electronics through Tinkercad Circuits. The second and third books, named Arduino Projects with Tinkercad and Part 2, go into detail about the Tinkercad Circuits environment and include five circuit projects in each book. All of the books in the series are available in multiple languages as well.

• Type: Book (Amazon Kindle or paperback)
• Author: M.Eng. Johannes Wild
• Price: ~$20 paperback, ~$10 for Kindle

Sim Lab is a feature of the 3D design environment launched in 2023 by Autodesk. It is the perfect way to introduce STEM learning for all ages because in Sim Lab one can add physical behavior to 3D models. Material, gravity, and movements can be applied in 3D design assemblies, simulating real physics without the need to replicate the systems with actual objects.

A great way to get to the core of Sim Lab is by watching the YouTube playlist Tinkercad Sim Lab Tutorials from the HL ModTech channel. As most videos go straight into the design of the models step by step, previous knowledge of basic 3D design may be required.

The videos are aimed at kids, teenagers, and tinkering enthusiasts given that the tutorial often creates challenges and games that can be tinkered with in Sim Lab tools. For example, there’s a variety of domino runs, a snake run, and games like the basketball hoop and loop challenge. The challenges incite STEM reasoning in the sense that the person has to think about what materials and restrictions have to be set to reproduce that movement.

• Type: YouTube video playlist
• Author: HL ModTech
• Price: Free

As an interactive learning activity, the three official tutorials Intro to Shapes, Moving Shapes, and Rotating Shapes offer the basics of Tinkercad Codeblocks mechanics and logic for absolute beginners. It’s also excellent for acquiring visual space sense.

Each of the tutorials consists of seven steps, and the respective titles clearly reflect the content so that you know what to expect. Intro to Shapes focuses on adding a shape to the workplane and changing its color and dimension through codes. Moving Shapes guides the user through adjusting the position of a shape as well as some basic shape editing. The Rotating Shapes video details how to rotate objects in set angles or along a certain axis.

The other tutorials in Codeblocks Learning Center aren’t guided activities; they’re completed projects including the code in the block editor with comments that explain each programming block. One can then run the code step by step to see how it works in the 3D viewer. Different types of blocks are progressively presented in each tutorial. For example, the Basket project uses only Control blocks, and more advanced projects like the Tea Light Holder and the Picture Frame use Template blocks.

• Type: Guided activities
• Author: Tinkercad
• Price: Free

Creating with Codeblocks is a complete playlist on Tinkercad Codeblocks of the HL ModTech channel. The playlist is extensive, with about 83 tutorial videos of step-by-step projects to be modeled through code, including tips for programming efficiently. The videos demonstrate that it’s easier to design more complex shapes with programming than it would be in the 3D design environment. Before diving into the playlist, one should have some familiarity with Tinkercad and its 3D design concepts, but no programming experience is needed.

Each video tutorial covers a single project, such as a jet, a house, a lighthouse, a spaceship, and even a turkey, among many others. While there isn’t a specific video that teaches the basics of Codeblocks, the videos introduce the tools as you watch them sequentially. The first video introduces simple Object code blocks, such as Shapes and Modify. Gradually each project brings new block types as Control, Math, and Data types.

To enrich some tutorials, HL ModTech designs simple movements in the modeling using Control tools. In others, such as Speedy Spiral Stairs, you can discover how to import the project coded in Codeblocks into the 3D design environment from your Shapes Collection. There are also videos on bug fixes to aid your comprehension. In the long run, the playlist offers extensive examples of coding, giving more than technical knowledge, but also basic STEM concepts.

• Type: YouTube video playlist
• Author: HL ModTech
• Price: Free

One of the main motivations for Tinkercad Circuits is to learn how to program an Arduino without needing physical components. For that purpose, Learn Arduino with Tinkercad Circuits is a playlist with six tutorial videos on the Autodesk Tinkercad channel on YouTube.

Each video is about 5 minutes long, so the entire playlist lasts less than 30 minutes. The videos intend to cover the basics of using Arduino in Tinkercad Circuits for absolute beginners. At the same time, they provide tips and information about reproducing the same circuits with actual components.

The complexity of the circuits increases along with the video’s sequence in the playlist. Despite covering elementary circuits, it would be helpful to have some understanding of the basics of code-based programming and basic electronics to get the most from the videos.

Whenever you find yourself lost in the videos, you can access written and more detailed explanations in an Autodesk Instructables page for each tutorial video that is shared in the video description. Tutorials include how and why to use oscilloscopes and multimeters in a circuit and present insights into how to extend the use of the simple circuit demonstrated.

• Type: YouTube video playlist
• Author: Autodesk Tinkercad
• Price: Free

Learn Circuits with Tinkercad: Arduino based Robots Design is a 4.5-hour course on how to use Tinkercad Circuits, primarily with Arduino. The course is composed of seven sections, including an introduction and a conclusion. The first five sections present the basics of electronics and Arduino, to provide a base for the sixth section, in which the Arduino projects are demonstrated. In the conclusion, some insight on how to make robots with physical components is provided as a starting point.

The author mainly uses the block-based programming of Tinkercad Circuits. However, along with Tinkercad Circuits, mBlock is also used, which is another kid-friendly block-based programming similar to Tinkercad’s Codeblocks.

Throughout the course, examples like the use of integrated circuits and passive infrared sensors, among other components, are covered. As the course aims to teach absolute beginners to intermediate users, the author concludes the course with projects on how to make a basic 7-key piano, how to program a remote control for an RC car, how to make a high pollution alarm with an LCD display, and more. Some of the circuits can be found (and remixed) in Sandeep Saini’s Tinkercad gallery (you need to be logged in to view them).

• Type: Udemy Course
• Author: Sandeep Saini and Manpreet Kaur
• Price: ~$50

Circuits & Electronics is a playlist of 19 videos on Remi Wauthy’s YouTube channel that aim to teach electronics and circuits, using Tinkercad Circuits for demonstration. Mr. Wauthy is a Mechanical and Biomedical Engineer and teaches robotics and makerspace in high school. The playlist includes 13 videos that are original creations of the channel, plus other helpful ones included for further information. In the first 10 videos, the author uses Tinkercad Circuits to demonstrate how and why to use each electrical component, covering the basics of how to use the platform while doing so.

Aimed at high school students or general beginners in electronics, the original videos of the channel are well structured, being divided into laboratory practices. Each lab video has a free PDF for the viewer to follow along with the tutorial. The channel also offers a free PDF guide into physical electronic components, with their symbols and brief descriptions.

Instead of using block-based code in Tinkercad Circuits, the author works with Blockly@rduino for programming, offering a great introduction to block-based programming for beginners in a different environment. The complexity of the circuits presented increases with the playlist sequence, up to the last tutorial labs that use reflective infrared sensors, Bluetooth sensors, and an Adafruit Motor Shield.

• Type: YouTube video playlist
• Author: Remi Wauthy
• Price: Free

Tinkercad Circuits and Arduino: 50 projects you can build and simulate is a 241-page e-book with an overview of electronic components and basic electronics, as well as the basics of Tinkercad Circuits. After the basics, 50 projects are presented, some of them tested with physical components too. The book doesn’t present step-by-step instructions to build actual circuits but rather demonstrates the final project.

The book has nine chapters, including an introduction. From the second chapter onwards, each section contains 6 to 9 different projects. Each project includes a picture of the circuit with its respective block-based or Arduino code, along with a brief explanation and tips from the author.

The projects of chapters two and three are quite simple, including the use of LED, sensors, and motors. More complex projects are introduced later, such as building games, using NeoPixels, and calculating circuits. Chapters eight and nine present logical circuits, including the use of electronic gates (AND, OR, NOT, XOR), bubble sort, and hash table circuits.

• Type: Amazon Kindle e-book
• Author: Ronald Tanikawa
• Price: ~$10 (or free with Kindle Unlimited)