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MakerForge

Design, prototype, and virtually fabricate objects using 3D printing simulation, Arduino circuit building, and materials science — mastering the full engineering design process through constrained challenges.

MakerForge app icon

Meet your mentor

Every Spark & Anvil app has a friendly mentor character that demonstrates, praises, and patiently scaffolds learning. On-device AI personalizes the mentor's responses to your kid's progress — never connecting to a server, never collecting data.

MakerForge mascot demonstrating
demonstrating
MakerForge mascot praising
praising
MakerForge mascot thinking
thinking
MakerForge mascot working
working
MakerForge mascot encouraging
encouraging
In planning 8 themed avatar accessories Swift 6 · SwiftUI · FoundationModels NGSS CCSS Math ISTE Hero color: #29B6F6

MakerForge is a digital maker workshop where you design, build, and test real-world objects! Simulate 3D printing, wire up Arduino circuits, and experiment with different materials. You will learn the complete engineering design process -- from idea to finished product -- through hands-on challenges

Distributed-narrative cast

Meet the cast

MakerForge's distributed-narrative cast embodies the 5 stages of the engineering design process — ideate, spec, fabricate, iterate, document — as 5 animal-maker characters Spool introduces across the 16 question kits. Tool-safety + failure-as-feedback framing is foregrounded; Mill carries the Wave 19 maker-cluster tool-safety gate that sibling apps cross-app inherit.

Sketch portrait

Sketch

Ideation + concept development — the wild-thinking squirrel-tween who treats divergent brainstorming as judgment-free play ('many before few; wild before tame; crooked sketches are also sketches')

Spec portrait

Spec

Material + constraint commitment — the measured owl-tween who treats spec-commitment as the moment imagination meets physics ('constraints are the shape of the possible')

Mill portrait

Mill

Fabrication + build — the careful beaver-tween who carries the cluster's tool-safety anchor ('tool first checked, adult first told — then we build')

Try portrait

Try

Prototyping + iteration — the patient salamander-tween who treats first failure as expected design-process behavior ('first try fails, second try tells, third try shapes the design')

Log portrait

Log

Documentation + reflection — the wise turtle-elder who treats the notebook as the actual deliverable ('make it, mark it, share it — the notebook is the project')

What's distributed-narrative methodology? →

What's inside

3D Print Simulator

Design objects layer by layer and watch them come to life in a virtual 3D printer. Choose your material, set the print settings, and see how your design turns o

Circuit Builder

Drag and drop wires, LEDs, sensors, and other electronic components onto a virtual breadboard. Connect them to make circuits that light up, buzz, or respond to

Materials Testing Lab

Experiment with different materials to learn their properties. Which is strongest? Which conducts electricity? Which is best for your project? Run tests and rec

Design Challenges

Tackle engineering challenges that have real constraints -- a budget limit, a size requirement, or a specific material. Design, build, test, and improve. That i

Mentored by Spool — on-device AI, no data leaves the device.

How MakerForge handles your kid's data

  • ✅ All progress, settings, and AI-generated content stays on the device
  • ✅ No analytics, no tracking, no third-party SDKs
  • ✅ No ads, no in-app purchases — you pay once
  • ✅ COPPA compliant under the 2026 FTC amendments
  • ✅ Parental controls + session limits + content filters built in

Full parent privacy guide →

Built with ForgeKit

MakerForge runs on ForgeKit — the open-source Swift Package Manager framework that powers every Spark & Anvil app. ForgeKit ensures consistent accessibility, COPPA compliance, and design language across the portfolio, so your kid's progress and preferences feel coherent across every app they touch.

Coming to the App Store

MakerForge is in active development. Email us to hear when it ships — no marketing, no spam, just a one-shot launch announcement.

Email me at launch