Abstract Three-dimensional (3D) printing of active materials is a rapidly growing research area over the last few years. Numerous works have shown potential to revolutionize the field of four-dimensional (4D) printing and active self-deploying structures. Conventional manufacturing technologies restrict the geometric complexity of active structures. 3D printing allows the fabrication of complex active structures with no assembly required. In this study, we propose active 3D printed auxetic meta-materials that are capable of achieving area changes up to 200%. With these meta-materials, we design geometrically complex active structures that can be programmed into versatile shapes and recover their original shape given an external stimulus. We simulate the proposed meta-materials based on thermoviscoelastic material properties obtained by experimental characterization. A reduced beam model is constructed to predict forces and deformations of complex active structures. Excellent correlation is found between f...