Shrinky Dink - Shrink-a-Dink - Shrinky Dinky - Magic Mini Maker - Lots of Fun

As you know, I spent a few days with my daughter and my grandchildren last week.

I enjoyed spending time with them so much. I took lots of fun activities to do with them during the days and things I know my kids enjoyed doing when they were small. 

The crafts were a hit with the grandchildren, and I look forward to doing these types of things in the future with more grandchildren as they come. I am learning which activities are functional and ones that aren't and which are best for age groups. 

I have other activities that I want to take up when Princess One has her next baby this coming spring. I am so excited to have another grandchild! 

I wanted to share with you this fun activity that I did as a child and also did with my children when they were younger.

I have heard these called several different things. I remembered them as "Shrinky Dinks" but then thought maybe they were called "Shrink-a-dinks" or "Shrinky-Dinky" but the kit I have, and that I remembered doing and have now, is called "Magic Mini Makers" so I actually searched Wiki for what they were called and here is a link to the official page.

The official name is "Shrinky Dinks" according to Wikipedia. No matter what you call them or the actual name, this is a fun activity for children. The possibilities are endless!!!! 

Basically, all you have to do is color on plastic sheeting. We used to purchase the plastic container lids from the deli and used those to make circle charms when we were children. 

Once you have the picture drawn, you need to cut them out and then lay them on a foil lined cookie sheet. They go into the oven at 300 degree for about 8 minutes but you just watch them and once they shrink and flatten, you take them out and use a spatula to press them down and flatten them as needed before they cool. 

If you are going to make a charm, you need to make sure that you punch a hole in the plastic BEFORE you shrink the picture as it won't be possible to punch a hole after. Maybe you could drill a hole after it has shrunk but it is so much easier to make the hole before. 

Grand Princess One saw me wearing my silver butterfly necklace made of real butterfly wings when I arrived and wanted her own butterfly necklace so I drew one and let her decorate it with markers and put a hole in the top before shrinking it using a hole punch. Once it was shrunk, I put necklace elastic through the hole by pushing the center of the rubber through the hole and sliding both ends into the loop that was stuck through the hole and pulling the ends through and then tying a knot tying the ends together making it into a necklace. 

She was excited about her "butterfly necklace" like grandmas and it made her happy. I then took the other shrunk handprints and a baby foot print and made refrigerator magnets for their parents to put on the fridge. 

I used tacky glue to put them onto the magnets but I think if you used super glue, you would need to let it dry well before putting them on the fridge or the weight of the plastic may pull off the magnet so let them dry flat on top of the magnet before using.

If one rips before baking it, you can shrink it still and then glue it onto paper or a magnet etc and it will glue together and hold. In the hand above, you can see there is a little break but it glued well enough to work. 

One more activity that I know kids of any age would like. You can purchase kits from $5 on up all over at stores and online. 

Have a Blessed Day!