Some of my fondest memories as a child were making Shrinky Dinks at my grandmothers house. They were kind of pricey for our family budget, so we only got to make them at Grandmas. For those of you that aren't familiar with them, they were sheets of pliable plastic that you could color and put in the toaster oven. They would shrink to half their size and become hard, thick plastic. The "Smurfs" were my favorite Shrinky Dink characters to buy. Well, today in 2008, I can buy 9X12 sheets of the "Shrink Film" as they call it now. The students are amazed at what this stuff does. Several 2nd grade classes are learning about the artist, Pablo Picasso and his abstract art. We have been focusing mostly on his portraits and the unusual way that he painted them. The classes are making Picasso style portraits on the shrink film and we have been cooking them in my classroom toaster. I punched holes in them prior to shrinking them because these will soon be pendants for a Picasso style necklace. Bead making has also begun and I will post about those later. Here are some before and after pictures of their art and even one shrinking in the oven. This is so fun!
