They’re my favorite, with one side that has a sanded surface, which, takes mediums really well! It’s like a magic art project – you draw on the shrink film, heat it up, and watch it shrink! Label the type of plastic if you’re using more than one kind to avoid confusion. Use small bins or drawers to organize markers, colored pencils, scissors, and hole punches.

Mother’s Day Shrinky Dinks Keychain Ideas

Watching them shrink and curl was mesmerizing, making crafting feel more like a science experiment you could hold in your hand. Have fun crafting with shrinky dinks! Can I color shrinky dinks with colored pencils? We used colored pencils to color in our design and it worked perfectly.

Winter Craft Ideas

Trying to fix samples that shrunk unevenly is difficult since they become tacky (sticky) when hot and would stick to an iron’s surface. So THEN I used my brain and we cut out a sheet from each side of the box (giving me now 250 sheets! WOOT! I do love a bargain) and shrunk those with absolute perfection. We added a jump ring to some of our shapes and strung on cording along with beads to make necklaces. Next cut out the shapes and bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about 1-3 minutes. When cool (it doesn’t take very long to cool) add lobster clasps and jump rings.

Smashing Cotton Balls Fun Kids Activity

• For the key chains, I poked a little hole in the top of my shrinky dinks and attached some random chain with a jump ring to the shrinky dink.
• It’s like a magic art project – you draw on the shrink film, heat it up, and watch it shrink!
• Although Shrinky Dinks are primarily an arts and crafts item marketed for children, adult crafting buffs also use the sets for jewelry making and other projects.

Real Shrinky Dinks shrink to about 1/3 of their size when placed in a 350 degree oven. Think you can save your crafting dollar by using take out boxes for Shrinky Dink crafts? As you can see, it didn’t go well. Mitch’s Minecraft figure turned white on one side and barely shrunk. Our first attempt on recycled plastic didn’t go so well.

Kids can create charms for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas, or end-of-year teacher gifts. They’re fast—most kids can finish their drawing and cutouts in 10–20 minutes, and the baking takes less than 3 minutes. Shrinky Dink crafts check so many boxes for caregivers, teachers, and parents.

How to Make a Shrinky Dinks Cake Topper:

Leave enough space at the edge for it to stay strong (at least the size of the hole). Punch a hole (the backpack doesn’t need it if you cut out inside the top handle.) I do recommend using a regular sized hole punch – not a small one. Remove the images from the background, and make sure you didn’t miss any important spots. You can make this as a bracelet or ring if you manage to size it right – and curl it around something while still hot (wear heat-proof gloves to do this.)

Let kids watch through the oven window

Work in a kitchen with an exhaust fan or open window to keep air fresh. Smudges happen when inkjet sheets move through rollers with wet surfaces. Let pieces cool naturally rather than rushing them under cold air, which stresses plastic. Use low-tack painter’s tape to hold fragile shapes flat on the parchment during shrinking. Hairline cracks appear when narrow sections cool at different rates from bulkier parts.

Make sourdough bread…and learn some colonial history and modern science in the process! Learn more about the imposing tsunami with this worksheet about the science of tsunamis. Learn more about the swirling, whirling science behind tornadoes with shrinky dink plastic sheets this wild worksheet. For science lovers and chemistry geeks alike, here are some sweet science valentines to print for friends and family! This is the same process used to “shrink wrap” items like food containers or other products that have protective plastic wraps. The cool thing about thermoplastics is that upon reheating the plastic, it reverts to its original state, in other words, it shrinks.