1. Glass Art by Dale Chihuly Art Lesson Grade: 3 Activity: Shrinky Dink flowers Keywords: Glass Art Pattern Art Guide Prep : Supplies 2 toaster ovens (supplied in workroom) Shrink film (Shrinky Dink) Clear Colored sharpies floral wire Green cardstock Beads pipe cleaners leaf cutout Scissors “anywhere” hole punch (workroom) Flower template Hot glue oven mitt brown paper bag (cut to size of oven pan) Small old towels tongs These flowers will be kept in the classroom till the week of Mother’s Day and then students can take home to give their mom. Color on the ruff side, display smooth side up. Practice makes perfect.: Volunteers should practice making flowers during the lesson prep meeting. When the flowers are melting, they tend to curl and stick together. You need to know when to take out and how to correct problems if any happen. If flowers curl and stick together, you can leave in oven to soften and then take out and pull apart. Has to be done quick or it will cool and harden. If it hardens, place back in oven to soften. Two volunteers per class to highly recommended if possible! Make sure to always use a cloth, tongs or oven mitt when handling the hot plastic! Cut hole in center of each shrink film. You may need to cut a few to make a bigger hole. Use the leaf template and cut out leafs for each student. You can find green cardstock in the workroom on top shelves. They are smaller stacks of paper. Cut pipe cleaners about 3”, twist two onto the top part of the floral wire.

2. Hands On Art : Helpful Hints: Remind the kids up front to create large images, use variety of contrasting colors, etc. Keep reminding them that the final product will shrink to 1/3 the original size. Use flower template to ensure that the flowers are big enough and easy for them to cut out. use only flat edge scissors. Using decorative scissors will create sharp edges after the baking. Make sure the holes are large enough to fit whatever you want to attach to the final product – the holes will shrink to 1/3 the original size Shrinky Dinks are hot plastic when they come out of the oven – be careful touching the hot products. If the students are going to write words on their image, remind them that the image will be backwards when they display the final product (e.g., we write on the ruff side but display the shiny side.) Tell them that they need to have it about 80% colored. You want It have lots of bright bold colors, but a little clear is good too. 1.Get ovens turned on and heated to 325-350 * see directions on shrink film for recommended temp. 2.Give each student a full size shrink film with hole in center. And let them pick out a flower template. 3.Have them put the shrink film on top of flower with hole in the middle. 4.Next they will trace the flower with a colored sharpie. 5.Have the students create a colorful design to fill the rough side of their Shrinky Dinks page. When heated, Shrinky Dinks will shrink to 1/3 the original size. Therefore, have the students create one or several images that are large. They should use a variety of colors with contrasting colors next to each other to create offset. Students should consider outlining their images with the ultra fine blue or black markers to help accentuate the image. 6.Once design is done, have them cut out the image. Some students may need help cutting. 7.When students are done, have them come up with a volunteer by an oven so they can see their flower take shape. The kids love to watch it take form. Do one at a time in the oven. 8.Place flower on a brown paper bag (cut to the size of the pan) Shrink film – ruff side up. 9.Takes less then a minute for it to start to shrink and curl, wait for it to flatten out and then take out with tongs. 10.Have a towel in one hand and place the hot flower in that towel. Cup your hand and form flower shape. You can also use heat gloves or mitts. 11.Let cool on a towel before you give to student.

3. 12. While students are waiting for their flower to cool. Have them make the stem for their flower. 13. They can decorate the pipe cleaners with small plastic beads. 14. Pass out the leaf and have them write – Happy Mother’s day and sign the leaf. 15. When flower is cooled and student has decorated the stem, a volunteer will need to put flower on stem and hot glue a small bead at the bottom of the flower. This will keep it from falling down the stem. You can also add a small dab of hot glue to the top part of the hole and underneath the pipe cleaners to keep it from coming off the top. 16. Last, hot glue the leaf to the stem. Finish and Display : You can display in a vase in the class room till Mother’s day week, then send home with student.