Shrinking Cup Flower Sculptures
*Editor’s Note: We were given the book “101 Kids Activities that are the Bested, Funnest Ever!” [1] by Holly Homer and Rachel Miller to review. I decided to review it with my daughter and after putting sticky notes on about every other page that had ideas that we wanted to try, I must say that we love the book. I, as the mom, especially love that each activity comes with modification tips for younger or older children. I let my daughter select the craft (lots to choose from) and she chose “Shrinking Cup Flower Sculptures” for us to try out. The publishers allowed us to share it with you all.
*Please note: we were inspired by this craft and decided to add our own spin. See below for our modifications.
Shrinking Cup Flower Sculptures
While growing up, I was mesmerized by Shrinky Dinks. Because they were out of my allowance range, it was a rare occurrence to be able to draw something on a thin plastic sheet and then bake it into a magically appearing keychain. The whole process was awesome.
These flower sculptures use a similar concept to transform plain clear plastic cups into colorful art. The good news is that the allowance can stay in the jar!
Materials
- Clear plastic cups
- Colorful permanent markers
- Scissors
- Baking sheet and oven (use with adult supervision)
Decorate the clear plastic cups with various colors and patterns. Use scissors to cut slits every inch (2.5 cm) or so around the rim of the cups, leaving the bottom of the cups intact.
Place the colorful cups on a baking sheet. Place in an oven at 350°F (180°C or gas mark 4) for a minute. Watch carefully so as not to over melt. Let the flower cool before touching.
Try using a deeper clear plastic cup and leaving the bottom two-thirds unslit, to create a usable vase.
Modifications for Younger Kids
Younger kids can help decorate and design flowers, while saving the cutting and baking for adults.
Modifications for Older Kids
Older kids can plan what the finished project will look like through several trials of flower making. Petals could be shaped more specifically with scissors and colors coordinated to imitate real flowers.
*Inspired Modifications
After the cups we colored, I (the Mom, not the child) placed the cups with the bottoms up and put a rectangle pyrex glass pan on top to hold them down on the baking sheet while cooking. Once they cooked (1 min) and cooled, we threaded the green pipe cleaner through the hole and created the center of the flower as well as the stem. One pipe cleaner seemed a little too weak (flimsy) so we braided an additional pipe cleaner to the first one to make it sturdier.
[Source: 101 KIDS ACTIVITIES THAT ARE THE BESTEST, FUNNEST EVER! by Page Street Publishing] by the creators of the popular site, KidsActivitiesBlog.com [2], Holly Homer and Rachel Miller
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