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End Of The Year Ideas For Kindergarten: Shrinky Dinks Keychains

Want to know one of my favorite end-of-year ideas for kindergarten?  SHRINKY DINKS!  When I was a kid I LOVED Shrinky Dinks!   I remember getting them on Friday when we went shopping and coloring them and watching them shrink in the often was pure magic.  I mean…they shrink.  And get hard.  Like, how?!  Why?!  My favorite shrinky dinks were He-Man (thumbs up if you remember He-Man!). 

mother's day gift ideas for kids

End Of The Year Ideas For Kindergarten: Shrinky Dink Supplies

You’ll need:

Acrylic Paint (gloss finish)

Shrinky Dink paper (Click here to find it on Amazon)

using shrinky dinks in the classroom

Hole punch

keychains (click here to find it on Amazon)

End of The Year Ideas For Kindergarten: How To Make Shrinky DInk Keychains

Paint each child’s hand with the paint.  Place the handprint on the shrinky dink paper.  Allow the paint to dry.

end of the year ideas for kindergarten shrinky dinks

Next, trim around the handprint.  Write the child’s name and year on the handprint.  Use your hole punch to punch a hole where you want the keychain.  Learn from my mistakes:   put the hole close to the edge!  If it’s too far away, putting the keychain into the hole will be nearly impossible! DO ALL THESE STEPS BEFORE BAKING!

end of the year ideas for kindergarten end of the year gifts

Next, put your shrinky dinks in the oven at 300-350 degrees.   It takes a couple of minutes for them to shrink.  THEY WILL CURL UP!  Don’t panic.  Leave them alone.  They will flatten out!  Once the flatten out, remove them from the oven and pat them with a spatula.  Allow to cool.

Next, you need to cover them with a clear coat.  You can use Modge Podge, but I grabbed a clear spray next to the acrylic paint at Wal-Mart.

These are the handprints right out of the oven!

Finally, insert the keychains into the hole.

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The finished product!   The kids loved them and so did the families! These make great family gifts or end of the year gifts for kids!

end of the year ideas for kindergarten

Shrinky Dinks Video

For more ideas and resources, check out these posts:

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