I am absolutely on cloud nine today because I get to introduce you to a new product that I have fallen in love with- the AllStar SuperStar Machine from Ellison Education!
This post is sponsored by Ellison Education, but all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.
What is a Die Cut Machine?
If you’re a teacher, you most likely have heard of Ellison Education and used their die cut machines at school. (I think we’ve had them in every school I’ve taught in!) For those of you unfamiliar with die cut machines, they are basically machines that can cut all kinds of shapes, designs, and letters from various materials.
Die cut machines cut materials much more quickly and in a greater volume than just using scissors alone. They are a huge timesaver!
What I Thought about the AllStar SuperStar Machine
When Ellison Education asked me if I’d like to review the AllStar SuperStar Machine, I was absolutely thrilled to try it out!
The first thing I noticed when I took it out of the box was how lightweight and portable it was. It has a handle right on top so you can carry from one place to another easily. I currently store it in my “office” (which is a corner of my bedroom) and bring it out to the kitchen to use. I can imagine a classroom teacher could easily store this in a cabinet and pull it out to use at any time in the classroom or even bring it home to prep. Super convenient!
It’s also a cinch to use. Simply sandwich the die and material to be cut between two cutting pads and use the handle to pull the sandwiched pieces through the machine. Voila! That’s it!
I was surprised to learn this machine can cut more than just paper. It can cut felt, thin balsa wood, magnet sheets, foam sheets and more! I love the idea of being able to easily make all kinds of felt sets and crafting supplies.
What can you do with your own die cut machine?
I had actually been wanting to do some activities with my kids that required lots of little shapes, but the thought of cutting them all out had kept me from doing them- so reviewing this machine was perfect timing!
The kids love playing with pattern blocks, so I wanted to provide them with a way to create on paper using the same pattern block shapes. I used some dies to cut out all kinds of pattern block shapes from construction paper. (For this activity I made sure the construction paper shapes matched the color of the corresponding pattern block.)
We had fun creating all kinds of pictures and designs! You can use the shapes to make rotationally symmetric designs like these…
… or just create your own picture like my six-year-old did.
Even my 3 year old had a blast using the paper shapes. He loved using a gluestick to stick each shape onto his paper. It also provided a wonderful opportunity for using the names of shapes as he worked. He was so happy he learned a new shape, a hexagram, and felt so proud being able to identify it and say its name.
More Shape Activities
What I love about this die cut machine is you can individualize each activity. I wanted to use the pattern block shapes for creating fall pictures. Instead of cutting the shapes out from the usual pattern block colors, I cut out the shapes using fall colors, and we used them to make fall pictures.
My next after school enrichment class session is going to be all about robots, so I have robots on the brain constantly. I decided to cut out shapes in gray, light blue, and red and create a shape robot on some graph paper. This activity was so much fun that I’ll definitely be using it in my upcoming class!
How to get your own AllStar SuperStar Machine
Head on over to Ellison Education where you’ll find the AllStar SuperStar machine, as well as all kinds of accessories for it. (You’ll go crazy over the all the dies there are to select from! I already have a list of more that I want.) You can also find the SuperStar Machine on Amazon!
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