Shrinky Dinks!

I am a product of the 70’s and “Shrinky Dinks” was a favorite childhood craft activity! The passing decades have not diminished their appeal and my 7th graders absolutely LOVE creating designs using this shrinkable plastic. I usually save this for the last few days of the trimester after all graded work has been submitted and student portfolios have gone home. It’s a great way to keep my kiddos engaged when they otherwise might have a “checked out” attitude.

I’ve used many brands of shrink film and find Grafix Brand Shrink Film in matte finish to be the best: It’s economically priced for class use, translucent so you can easily trace on it with a variety of materials, and anything left uncolored shrinks to an opaque white when baked. If you’re on a budget, cut the 8.5″ by 11″ sheets in half— students can make several designs on this 5.5″ by 8.5″ sheet if they are conscientious about placing images strategically!

The Matte version of Grafix Shrink Film is translucent before baking, but white and opaque after baking! The white portions of this “Hobbes” design were left uncolored.
Trace or draw first, then color on the film

I have invested in a small toaster oven for my class which makes baking the finished pieces super easy —they only take about 30 seconds to shrink to their finished size at the optimal temperature of 350 degrees! Be sure to watch them: they will curl up at first and then flatten when they reach their maximum “shrinkage”. Be sure to line the metal tray with baking parchment paper, otherwise the hot plastic will stick to the tray.  

Some “Before Baking” and “After Baking” shots

I also have a stiff piece of cardboard wrapped with parchment to quickly flatten any shrunken pieces that emerge from the oven with a bit of curl left. (Once they cool, they’ll be quite rigid, so press them while fresh out of the oven.)

A sneak peak at the designs in “mid-shrink”: they will curl, then flatten!

In terms of designs, students can freehand their own picture, but this is the one project where I always allow tracing. (It’s not a graded assignment.) Sometimes we spend half a class searching for images: top choices tend to be cartoon characters, emblems of favorite brands, logos, and pictures of food! The kids create a one-page Google Doc and share it with me and I print it out on our school copier. Over the years, I’ve saved these pictures and I put them out in a big bin to be reused and shared over and over.

Years of collected logos, characters and images!

Check out THIS INSTRUCTION PACKET for more “how to” tips and tricks along with some pros and cons of different coloring options.  

This can also make a great sub lesson: Students can do the tracing, coloring and cutting of the film in your absence, and you can do the baking easily on another day. I usually have a big Ziploc bag for each class period in which we store in-progress Shrinky Dinks from day to day.

Last but not least, invest in some cheap jump rings, key chain rings, earring hooks and jewelry cord and your students can fashion their own wearable art!

Have fun if you try this with your students and let me know how it goes!