SHRINKY DINK FUN
THE STONE PEAR PAVILION SHRINKY DINK FUN Shrinky Dinks were introduced in 1973 . They had kids ( and crafty adults ) creating artwork on flexible sheets of plastic . When they were popped into the oven , they would magically shrink . They shrunk down to approximately 1 / 3 their original size . You were then supposed to play with whatever it was you made . But the entertainment value was all in coloring pictures of your favorite cartoon characters . Then you watched them crinkle up in the oven . And then they mysteriously lie down flat again .
But , magic isn ’ t behind the toy ’ s quirky properties . The sheets of plastic you get in a Shrinky Dinks kit is polystyrene . It ’ s the same stuff as recycled plastic # 6 . It is commonly used for those clear clamshell containers . You often see them in cafeterias . Raw polystyrene is heated when it is made . It is rolled out into thin sheets . Then it is rapidly cooled so that it can retain its shape .
Remember Shrinky Dinks ? Joyce , Vickie and Judy , pictured here , share an afternoon with friends talking , laughing and making Easter sun-catchers that bake up with vibrant color .
The polymer chains within the polystyrene are bunched up by nature . They are randomly clumped together . Then they are heated and rolled . They are cooled . This process forces them to straighten out and get into a more orderly configuration . All the polymers want to do is bounce back into their more disorderly arrangement . They are able to do this when the polystyrene is heated again . It ’ s like when you pop a cookie sheet full of Shrinky Dinks into the oven . The term “ magic ” works pretty darn well . That is when it comes to marketing purposes . Learn more from the Smithsonian Magazine at https :// www . tweentribune . com / article / tween56 / science-behind-shrinky-dinks /
WELCOME NEW RESIDENTS Please welcome our new residents when you see them across campus !
Stone Pear Pavilion Louise B . Dawn H . Edith H . Bonita R . Marilyn T . Paul T .