I remember when Shrinky Dinks were new and the coolest thing ever.  I remember the first time I saw my hand colored Shrinky Dinks shrink in the oven.  It was magical!  Apparently, these have gone out of style because this was new to most of my students and some of the parents.  Yes, I did feel old when my students’ parents told me they hadn’t heard of them either.  I could be wrong, but I’m thinking this ranked a good 8 on the cool scale. : )

To finish off our Walk Like an Egyptian Workshop, we made Shrinky Dink cartouche necklaces with the students’ names written in hieroglyphics.  I traced a cartouche image onto the Shrinky Dink Paper and printed off sheets on computer paper for students to practice on.  They used pencil to draw out their name in hieroglyphics on the practice sheets and then traced them in Sharpie marker on the Shrinky Dink paper.  We then used Prismacolor colored pencils to add color.  The best part was watching them bake in my toaster oven.  Shrinky Dinks roll up and move around when baking.  Most of the time, they flatten back out without issue.  Occasionally, they get stuck.  Out of 18, this happened twice, once in each class.  I was still able to flatten the stuck ones, but they weren’t perfect. : (  My students were part of the process and realized there wasn’t much to prevent a stuck one.  The two students who had theirs not turn out perfect were such good sports about it.  I think it was still fun for all and would do it again.

Here are a few finished pieces.