3D printer advice for tech dinosaur!

[swingsandroundabout]

My son is really keen to get a 3d printer with his birthday money, my husband and I are hopeless with tech.
Do you have any recommendations for a beginner/easy to use and not going to break the bank?! And what apps work best for this?

Honestly, no. Unless you know about 3d modelling and using the software I would not bother

My husband has a 3d printing company and uses voxelab proxima.

However, as mentioned above, your son would need to know a minimum about 3d modelling softwares and learn to use the 3D printer, which will involve cautiously manipulating a few toxic liquids, ultra violet light, alcohol etc...
So i guess it depends how old he is, I guess?

There might be child friendly ones that use filaments instead of liquids maybe though

Ok great, thank you. Good advice and maybe I'll go back to the drawing board!

my son refurbished one, and programed it to make tiny plastic clips dh uses for his bee hives. it's a monoprice iiip 3d mini.
it is insanely sensitive, room temperature changes affects the melting process the bed needs to be meticulously flat (it warps and the coating sometimes lifts). and even the quality of the plastic used affects the end product.
my point is, it's fussy.
great for a geek who likes to be forever tinkering with a gizmo that's forever needing to be tweaked :(

Kids can absolutely use 3d printers and the majority used by hobbyists use plastic filaments. I've heard good things about the Ender3 for something affordable. They can get quite pricey otherwise

Oh ok! Do you know if the endear 3 can be used with an iPad?

You can pay attention to these printers, because at the initial stage, since neither you, nor your husband, nor your son know what you want, inexpensive ones will do.
About programs. There are several ways to get a plastic model: draw it somewhere - accordingly, you need drawing applications. It is also possible to create a small copy of a large object using photogrammetry - Meshlab is an indispensable app here.