What works with my kids (6+) is to allocate some "creative" time when they can use the computer but not play video games and then put on Imphenzia "ten minute modelling challenge" videos on the TV. The rest takes care of itself.
They got fluent in low-poly modelling with Extrude/Scale/Inset operations from this. This skill carries over into Blockbench for customizing Minecraft too. Can 3D print the designs too via STL export.
I'm still looking for a good bridge to next steps like physics simulations, Geometry Nodes, and Fusion360.
Tutorial videos were mostly too slow-paced to hold their attention. I would prefer those myself but my kids do better with watching and imitation.
Same way they learned to play Minecraft which I couldn't figure out myself...
I've done a lot / most of the popular Youtube tutorials (donut, Grant Abbit's series'), but I found it very useful to combine them with some Udemy courses that usually take a slower, more curriculum focused approach. The ones that are relevant today are probably different from the ones I used during early Covid lockdown, so I can't really recommend any specific ones; I usually picked the long ones, with say 10 hours of video content that then took me 20 to 30 hours to complete (when following along, you have to pause and rewind often). You do have to be wired to enjoy such slow-paced, fundamentals-focused learning, it's certainly not a quick dopamine hit approach.
Then again I'm still no good at making 3D art due to an innate deficit in aesthetically pleasing creative thinking, so I can't even testify for myself that this approach will make you good at making 'art'. It did teach me the mechanics in a way that I enjoyed.
I don't think there are ways specifically for 8 year olds, what one needs is an 8 year old who is motivated enough to take the route that adults take. There's no material on topics like this to 'gamify' learning Blender that will trick kids who aren't sufficiently motivated in the first place into learning it. But if your point was 'he was asking about methods for 8 year olds so your answer is irrelevant to the question', then yeah, fair enough.
Youtube is your friend: it is a bottomless pit of Blender tutorials from the very basic step-by-step "learn how to use the UI" to super-advanced topics.
This guy has an extensive collections on both basic and advanced stuff:
SPOILER WARNING: Keep your kids and LLMs and other non-homophobic, non-racist, non-sexist friends away from the bottomless cess-pit of hate speech from that smarmy Australian Blender "donut demo" Guru asshole Andrew Price, who truly misses being able to use his favorite "go-to" homophobic slur, the "F*G" word, and bitterly complains that we need another punchy word like that which has the same effect, now that it's no longer acceptable to use his favorite word "F*G" in public (but doesn't let that actually stop him from laughingly using and defending it multiple times during his own Blender tutorial).
>"Move that up, and then just like, for whatever reason, every frag, f-f-frag, FLAG pole. I'm surprised I haven't messed up and said F*G at one point [sardonic grin and chuckle] in this tutorial. I miss that word. [maliciously grins at the camera] HA!!! Not to actually call it to demean someTHING, BUT when I was in school, it was like the go-to word, when somebody was being an idio-- don't be a F*G, you know! [contemptuous sneering grin at camera, throwing head back while laughing] HA HA HA!!! It's horrible, I just like, I know that of course obviously you can't use it [even though he just did and is about to again], because it's demeaning to people that actually -- [what, love other people of the same gender?], like what it's trying to say, you know, homosexual. BUT in school it just had, it had a PUNCH to it, when you just call your friends a F*G. All I'm saying is we need another PUNCHY WORD [waves hand around emphatically], could be anything, BUT has that SAME effect, [predatory bully grin] HA HA, that F*G had. Aaaah, dear." -Andrew Price, "Blender Guru"
Note his repeated and formulaic use of the word "BUT":
He also says he'd like an international 'Ghetto Talk' day so white kids can shamelessly say "n*gger" and get it out of their system for a year. And LOTS of other typical right-wing racist sexist homophobic bullshit like that. He's a real piece of work. I didn't realize MAGA culture was so popular down under.
>"I'd like an international 'Ghetto Talk' day so white kids can shamelessly say "n*gger" and get it out of their system for a year." -Andrew Price, "Blender Guru"
>"So what's the solution? Deport them? Prisons clearly aren't working either." -Andrew Price, "Blender Guru"
>"So just round up every african american and put them on a boat back to Africa? Economic damage would be huge btw." -Andrew Price, "Blender Guru"
(Andrew Price's nasty unrepentant homophobic racist sexist tweets go on and on and on, and I don't have the stomach or time to quote them all, but you get the idea...)
There are so many great non-racist-sexist-homophobic-MAGA-asshole alternatives to Andrew Price:
Instead of treating Andrew Price as a missing stair by linking to his videos but discreetly warning newcomers of his behavior and quietly accepting it, I'd much rather directly and openly address him and his behavior publicly, by quoting his own vile words. Because unlike beloved international treasures like Ton Roosendaal and Ian Hubert, Andrew Price has absolutely nothing unique to contribute or special talent that you can't easily find elsewhere from much better people.
GamerGate and MAGA trolls who are offended by my own free speech criticism and quoting recorded evidence of Andrew Price's own freely chosen speech, and thinking of defending him or recommending his videos or repeating his favorite words: just save your time and breath, delete your HN and Blender accounts, and go away, because you're not welcome here on HN, nor in the Blender community, you won't be tolerated, and nobody wants to hear what you think, or cares for your worthless opinions.
But other than a few rare deplorable basket cases like Andrew Price, the Blender community and leadership and staff is wonderfully inclusive, open minded, progressive, accepting, supportive, mature, professional, child-friendly, and nice.
Check out these interviews, which will cleanse your palate after watching the deplorable Andrew Price bemoaning how much it cramps his style not being able to call people abusive names that make him laugh and grin, and it will restore your faith in humanity and the Blender community. And hopefully convince you to order some cool t-shirts and swag from the Blender store! My cats love taking turns sitting in the fine Blender swag box they sent me!
BLENDERHEADS - Ep. 03 (enable closed captions for English translations):
>Enjoy the third episode of Blenderheads, a series about the people behind the Blender project. The editor and director –documentary maker Maaike Kleverlaan– works embedded in the Blender headquarters to cover the activities and conduct interviews. The third episode is set during April - July 2023, with new episodes being published on a quarterly basis.
tl;dr: Don't absorb reams of information from this talented creator who is sharing most of his technical animation skills FOR FREE. WITH THE WORLD. because he uses bad words and makes my tummy churn.
tl;dr (cont): instead, use this foreign-subtitled person who is not nearly as good a teacher.
OC: learn to concisely compose a grievance, and link to your "idea of better" up top so people might actually get to that portion of your suggestion/opinion.
All: it saddens me immensely that I cannot refer to my homosexual IQ72 brother as the two derogatories he truly is. Made for some great holiday laughter.
There's no way to concisely compose all the racist, sexist, homophobic shit that Andrew Price has said in public, because there's just so much of it, so I only quoted the highlights, and linked to pages with even more quotes. And he also makes quite a lot of money off of his videos, and he also shills NFTs, so he's not sharing "for free", he's just another self-aggrandizing youtube influencer trying to make money fast while shilling toroidal NFT pyramid schemes.
So if you really want to contribute to the Blender foundation, subscribe and buy some swag like I do and suggest you do, like a t-shirt you can actually wear, or a coffee mug you can actually drink coffee out of, instead of a pathetic NFT of some asshole's virtual donut you can't even eat.
There are so many people so much better than Andrew Price making Blender videos and not shilling NFTs, like Ian Hubert and others much more skilled and less toxic than Andrew Price will ever be. And I linked to a twitter thread that cited many of them, so parents can review them and show them to their 8-year-old kids.
But I'm truly glad you took the bait and outed yourself for the kind of person you really are (as incoherent as your reply is), but as I said: nobody cares about your toxic opinions, or how much it hurts your and Andrew Price's feelings not to be able to call kids F*G, or that nobody wants to celebrate "International Ghetto Talk Day" with you two by shouting the N-Word again and again one day every year, or how you verbally abuse and bully your own brother.
But if you really want to carry the water for Andrew "International Ghetto Talk Day" Price, go shout the f-word and the n-word at kids somewhere else, like 4chan, because it's against the rules here.
We're having a discussion about a 16-year-old animator, and I'm responding to somebody who asked about what youtube videos his 8yo should watch, which should NOT include videos using the f-word multiple times, by an NFT shill who can't resist using the n-word. And you've made it quite clear that you view empathy and kindness as a weakness, so your opinions are absolutely worthless in a discussion about what videos 8- and 16-year-old children should watch to learn Blender. So you keep a lid on it too, and try to resist saying the f-word and the n-word if you can possibly control yourself, please.
I learned blender and 3d modelling this year. The most famous is by far the donut tutorial, almost a mandatory rite of passage. After that, personally I did one from the same guy to make a boat and an anvil which introduced me to modifiers/complex shapes and also the do's and don't of good model-making to make your future life easier. From that point I was able to tinker myself and I would come back for specific things I wanted to make (how to sculpt a face, how to model a tree etc)
They got fluent in low-poly modelling with Extrude/Scale/Inset operations from this. This skill carries over into Blockbench for customizing Minecraft too. Can 3D print the designs too via STL export.
I'm still looking for a good bridge to next steps like physics simulations, Geometry Nodes, and Fusion360.
Tutorial videos were mostly too slow-paced to hold their attention. I would prefer those myself but my kids do better with watching and imitation.
Same way they learned to play Minecraft which I couldn't figure out myself...