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Father’s Day Shrinky Dink Keychains

These shrinky dink keychains are the perfect Father’s Day gift! Keep reading for a list of all of the materials and directions you need to help students create these in your classroom!

I am obsessed with these keepsake keychains!  Aren’t they adorable?  And they make an easy gift for Father’s Day.  And we share the directions below so you can make these too with your class!

This article works well with these Simply Kinder resources:

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Shrinky Dink Father's Day Keychain dads will love. Print the template, color, cut, bake, and put on a keychain! The perfect Father's Day give for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade students to give their dads. Free Father's Day printable template from Simply Kinder.

What you need:

  •  Shrinky Dinky Paper Ink Jet Paper (Click here to see what we ordered on Amazon)
  • Keychains (we got ours at Hobby Lobby but click here to see the same ones on Amazon)
  • Color Pencils (to color the keychains)
  • Black Permanent Marker (to write name)
  • Scissors
  • Hole Puncher

Celebrate dad with this fun trophy keychain.  Here’s how we made them:

  1. Download the printable and print it (keep reading for the download). Follow the printer ink settings recommendations on the directions of your Shrinky Dink paper.  When I did not, they printed very “inky” and smudged.
  2. Cut out the keychains.
  3. Color the keychains using colored pencil.  We tried to use markers, but they were very smudgy on the Shrinky Dink paper.  Color the whole keychain (don’t leave white) so that if there are smudges they are less noticeable.
  4. Have the student write the name using black marker.
  5. Hole punch the keychain.
  6. Bake them (see directions below).
  7. Put the keychain in the hole.  You will have to push it through a little, but once it it works fine.

What if a child does not have a dad?  Well, we give you the template without the word dad!  Keep reading for the download.

Make these shrink film keepsake keychains for Father's Day with your students using Shrinky-Dink paper! These fun names will preserve how they wrote their name when they were first learning! We share how on Simply Kinder.

To bake them is so simple; I actually made a bigger deal out of this than I originally needed to. Of course, follow the directions on the package for your shrink film, but here is what we did.

  1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  2. We used glass baking pan and a baking sheet with foil on it for this project.  Both worked well.
  3. Place on cookie sheet and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Some took 2 minutes, some took 3 and there was no rhyme or reason why.
  4. Let them cook until they are flat.  They will shrivel up but that’s OK!  Let them keep cooking.
  5. Remove from the oven and let them cool.  We pushed a paper plate over them when they came out and cooled so they were super flat.

KEEP READING FOR TIPS AND TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS BEFORE YOU START.

Tips and tricks and frequently asked questions, don’t make the mistakes I made.

  • Cook 2-3 at a time. No more.  Because if you have to fix them they will cool before you have enough time to fix them.  Trust me.
  • They will curl, as seen above.  This is where I made A mistake. I freaked out and took them out and tried to flatten them.  Nope.  Let them keep cooking because after they curl, the flatten out on their own in the oven.
  • The directions said to seal them.  We did this on some and ruined them.  We used Modge Podge and it distorted some of the marker images.  I think this kind of sealing is more appropriate for painted projects.
  • Sometimes they will curl over and overlap.  Watch them. If that happens and it does not correct itself, open the oven and flatten it out super quick.  The moment the heat escapes the oven they start cooling.  This will happen on longer item and random ones.  Just watch and fix if needed.
  • If you don’t feel like they are getting flat enough once they have fully shrunk, when you take them out of the oven immediately press a paper plate on them.  (Again, cook 2-3 at a time).
  • You can over cook them.  Don’t do that.  LOL.  Whoops.
  • Give yourself a couple days to do these just in case you need to redo one so you have time to have the student rewrite their name.
Shrinky Dink Father's Day Keychain dads will love. Print the template, color, cut, bake, and put on a keychain! The perfect Father's Day give for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade students to give their dads. Free Father's Day printable template from Simply Kinder.

I also want to start by saying these are not the easiest project in the world – especially if they don’t work as planned.  I would suggest practicing at home first to get the swing of it.  That being said, after 2-3 practice runs I was able to get them to work perfectly.  Stick with it, play with cooking times, and remember they cool very fast so open the oven, fix fast, and close the oven if they do not come out flat.  I would also suggest giving yourself a couple days time to redo any that don’t cook well.  Check all the FAQ above for more tips and tricks.

Shrinky Dink Father's Day Keychain dads will love. Print the template, color, cut, bake, and put on a keychain! The perfect Father's Day give for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade students to give their dads from Simply Kinder!

And if you are looking for the perfect book to go along with your new keychains, our World’s Best Dad Toolbox is a fun project!  Students will create this fun (and super easy) toolbox and then write some sentences about dad.  Click here to check it out.


And if you are looking for more Shrinky Dink projects, check these out:

Five Shrinky Dinks Keychain Projects

We have so much more for those Shrinky Dinks!  Click here to check out all of our ideas that make keepsakes!

Make these shrink film keepsake keychains with your students using Shrinky-Dink paper! These fun names will preserve how they wrote their name when they were first learning! We share how on Simply Kinder.

I just love making things using student names.  It’s such a great way to preserve this amazing stage of development.  And we share how, click here to read it now.

 

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