Pocket Shrink Art

In the grocery store are many hard plastic containers. Most of them have a
symbol in what type of plastic they are. (This symbol is found usually on the
bottom in a triangle. Especially in the bakery section, watch for the 6 type of
plastic. If you happen to buy something in this type of plastic, cut out the flat,
clear parts and save it. This is shrink art plastic! Yes, you can buy it at craft
stores, but that’s no fun.

Besides, the boys only need pieces that are about 1” square. If you give him a 5”
square, he’ll do one thing right in the middle and it won’t shrink as successfully,
anyway.

1. Use “Sharpie” permanent marker pens to draw bugs, arrowheads. sport logos,
their name in a shape, etc. Cut out the piece close to the picture. Hole-punch a
hole in it if you want to.

2. Give each boy a 6” square of aluminum foil to place one cutout on. Place foil
on a small cookie sheet. Put into a 250-degree oven or in a toaster oven set on
“toast,” Watch closely. Within seconds the piece of plastic will curl up and shrink.
Then it will lay out flat again. Remove it from the oven. To flatten them even
better, press down with the bottom of a drinking glass while it’s hot.

3. Now make more things out of the scraps left over. How small can you make
them and still see what it is? If you hole punch the item before baking, you can
string them together. But the most fun is just putting your microscopic collection
in your pocket. It’s your very tiny treasure!