Do you ever struggle to find meaningful, affordable gifts for your students or projects that students can make for their families?
I recently helped at my son’s spring party, and we made the cutest craft that would work perfectly as a student gift or a parent keepsake.
It’s a fun throwback to a classic craft I loved as a kid: shrinky dinks!
These simple keepsakes are easy to make, budget-friendly, and perfect for holidays like winter parties, Mother’s Day, or end-of-year celebrations.
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What are Shrinky Dinks?
Shrinky dinks are art pieces created on plastic that shrink when baked in the oven. Students design their shrinky dink, the teacher bakes it in the oven for about 3 minutes, and the design shrinks to about a third of its size and becomes much thicker. This makes for super cute personal keychains, earrings, or other trinkets.
Why are Shrinky Dinks Good for Student Gifts?
These are the perfect gifts for you to make with your students. Students enjoy the chance to make something themselves. It is a chance for students to be creative and make something unique. It is relatively inexpensive to make. While it does require some work on the teacher’s part to bake, it is relatively simple but leaves a big impact.
What is Needed to Make Shrinky Dink Student Gifts?
- You can buy pre-made shrinky dinks that come in a variety of precut shapes and designs.
- You can buy shrinky dink paper that can be printed on. This lets you create your own designs
- You can use plastic #6. Food containers or packaging are often made from this plastic.
- Hole punch
- Keychain rings, ribbon, or strings
- Colored pencils or permanent markers
Step-by-Step: How to Make Shrinky Dinks Student Gifts
- Plan the design (or find a premade one to purchase)
I liked using this shrinky dink paper because you can print on it. For my son’s class, I used AI to design various templates for the students. For their spring party, his class had a circus theme. I uploaded a picture of their school mascot to an AI and asked it to generate circus-themed ornaments featuring the mascot. Since I asked for ornaments, it generated 6 circles with holes that would be used for the keychain.
You can also have students draw their own designs, write something, or use clipart or Canva to design other templates.
- Color
Students can color their shrinky dink with either colored pencils or permanent markers. It is important that students don’t use crayons or washable markers. The colored pencils and permanent markers will bake on while other mediums don’t work as well.
- Prepare and cut
Have students cut out their shrinky dink. Students should write their names on or near the shrinky dink. This will help you give the correct shrinky dink back to each student.
If you are making a keychain or earrings, make sure to hole punch the shrinky dink before baking. It will shrink down when baked and be the perfect size for the keychain or earrings.
- Bake the Shrinky Dinks
To bake the shrinky dinks, preheat the oven to 350°. Put the shrinky dinks on a baking sheet and bake for about 2 minutes.
- Cool and Finish
Once your shrinky dink cools, you can add a keychain ring or yarn. I like using this keychain clasp and ring set. Make sure you divide the total number of pieces in half, because the total includes both the hooks and the rings. Depending on how many shrinky dinks you are making, you might want to get a tool to help you open the rings.
Easy Shrinky Dink Gift Ideas for Students
- Name keychains
- Ornaments
- Backpack tags
- Positive affirmation charms
- School mascots
- Rewards
Tie Shrinky Dink Student Gifts to Curriculum
You can have students create their own keychains related to the content that you are working on. For example, I enjoy throwing a birthday party for my state, and students can create something related to state history. I have also had students create their own name tags with our license plate as the background.
You can also have students create a shrinky dink that relates to gratitude or kindness. This is a great tie-in to SEL connections.
If students are creating a diagram or visual presentation, they can create related visuals using shrinky dinks. For example, if students are creating a diorama about a given habitat, they could make shrinky dinks of animals that live in it. This would be a personal touch to their presentations.
Shrinky Dink Student-Made Gift Ideas for Parents
- Best mom or dad keychains
- Designed earrings
- Handwriting keepsakes
- Mini artwork pieces
- Holiday-themed gifts
Will you Make Shrinky Dink Gifts with your Students?
These simple DIY gifts are a fun way to create lasting memories in your classroom without spending much time or money.
If you try this activity, I’d love to hear how it goes!
Make Every Teaching Moment Count,
