DIY juggling balls made from balloons and rice are on the agenda today! A great kids crafts for rainy days.They also double us as great homemade stress balls, so make a good gift for Dad. This idea came from my neighbour’s (who blogs over at The Good Life Bloggers) 9yrs old son – the balloon juggling balls have been around a while.. but I love the idea of turning it into a superhero! What a clever and imaginative boy he is indeed. With lots of red, blue and white balloons left over from the Jubilee, we got cracking. Don’t you think that our Superheroes are perfect for 4th July too? Would make for a fun activity on 4th July party – first make some with the kids and then challenge the kids to learn to juggle…
Materials: 2-3 balloons (3 if you are making these with young children), approx 60g rice, pen, small plastic bag
UPDATE: I love the suggestion in the comments to fill these with sand as an alternative filling for stress balls!
1) Snip the end of one the balloon – the one you intend on having in the centre. We filled the white one first and kept the dark blue one for the head. In retrospect, as we drew faces on with marker pens, I would reverse the colours – our faces don’t show up very well on the dark blue.
2) Fill you balloon with rice. This was a bit fiddly and messy.. I held the balloon open, whilst Red Ted scooped in the rice with a spoon. As it got fuller, I squished the rice down as he filled. Tricky. I had a look online if there was a clever way of doing it.. and low and below there is: see Tip Junkie’s top tip of filling your rice in a small sandwich bag first! Ha. Clever. It works… but if you don’t have any sandwich bags… then stuffing it with a spoon and fingers works too.
3) Cut the top off your second balloon and stretch over the rice filled balloon – making sure you cover the hole to keep the rice in. Try not to create any are bubbles.
4) Using the “snipped off bit” – cut a piece off – approx 2cm or an inch. Then stretch it over your ball to make a mask. Using nail scissors or a needle, carefuly poke some eyes in mask. Take care not to damage the juggling ball. The majority were easy enough to do. But for some reason on the blue ball with the white mask, the white kept splitting and splitting and splitting… mmmh.
5) Draw on your face with a ball.
Red Ted’s favourite!
Pip Squeak’s favourite!
Isn’t my neighbour’s son simply too clever? Go him!
Now juggle or play. My kids decided that they were not interested in juggling, but throwing. Fine. Which did mean that half the masks ended up coming off. But the faces are still there and intact and look good. So all is well!
Here is our Video How To Make Juggling Balls:
Carolyn @ Mama's Little Muse says
June 20, 2012 at 2:18 amI love your squeeze ball craft. I used to work with children with special needs, and we used these with the children to help them calm down. Once upon a time I made one with sand, and it was completely gratifying and affordable, not to mention useful for when children need to “take a breather”. I now work with typically developing children, and I think the squeeze ball serves as an incredible tool for when they need to take a break. thank you for this tutorial. I think it is a valuable little tool for teachers and parents alike! I love your spin on it…I always enjoy your posts!
Ali says
June 20, 2012 at 2:51 amThose superhero masks are awesome!!
Chrissy @ muse of the morning says
June 20, 2012 at 3:50 amThat’s awesome!! What a fun craft- we’ll have to give that a try this summer. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Chrissy
Pinkoddy says
June 20, 2012 at 5:51 amWhat a great idea. They would make good fathers day presents too if I can remember for the next year.
Honest Mum says
June 20, 2012 at 6:07 amThese are utterly fab!
jack says
June 20, 2012 at 6:23 amme and mum love these! going to make them on our friday off together this week! x
Red Ted Art says
June 20, 2012 at 6:36 am@Carolyn yes of course – I forgot that they double up as stress balls!!! Very good point (in fact, we have been kneading them a lot here!) Have added the point about the sand! Thank you.
@Jack have fun!! 🙂
And thanks for the kind comments everyone!
Cerys @ Rainy Day Mum says
June 20, 2012 at 7:25 amThey are really cool – something to pin to the do when the kids are a little older board I think 😀
Red Ted Art says
June 20, 2012 at 7:28 am@Cerys yes, it was a little fiddly… though they DO love PLAYING with them!
JDaniel4's Mom says
June 20, 2012 at 11:27 amThese are so cute! I love these masked balls!
Rainbow Prams says
June 20, 2012 at 3:40 pmOh how fab, I had never heard of these before! Where have I been? My youngest is forever using up every balloon we have so I guess this would be a perfect solution for something constructive! Thanks again too great not to share! xx
Red Ted Art says
June 20, 2012 at 6:14 pmHave fun making some!
Kristen S- Craft Gossip says
June 20, 2012 at 8:22 pmI love the idea of making the balls into superheroes!! Just posted on Craft Gossip!
http://lessonplans.craftgossip.com/?p=6580
Erin @ Making Memories says
June 21, 2012 at 3:19 amYour juggling balls are adorable!
Red Ted Art says
June 21, 2012 at 6:56 amOooh Kirsten, thank you SO much!
Rose :: Fine Craft Guild .com says
June 26, 2012 at 9:33 amSuper cool, again. You only have unexpected items on your blog. I love this. Thank you for linking it up also at our linky party, http://www.finecraftguild.com/party . Tomorrow a new party opens up, so I am inviting you to come again with more great inspirational ideas/project tutorials.
The Iowa Farmer's Wife says
July 1, 2012 at 2:36 amOh my Maggy these are fabulous! Love the faces!!! Might have to make some of these for my daughter. SHe would get a kick out of them! Thanks for sharing at The Sunday Showcase.
Debbie says
August 21, 2012 at 8:47 pmGreat fun to make, my kids love them. Also great to fill with cornflour as it makes a great noise when squished (sort of crunchy fart!) keeps the kids in giggles even at the age of 13 and 15!
Red Ted Art says
August 21, 2012 at 9:10 pmOooh what a great top tip! My kids will LOVE that too!
AmyOT says
November 12, 2014 at 2:28 amLove making stress balls… I often make them with FLOUR. An easy way to fill is to use a soda bottle top as a funnel and do not cut the top of the balloon off. stretch the opening of the balloon over the top of the soda bottle and use this as a funnel. Because of all of the air in flour and the stretch of the balloon, you can compress the flour/ stretch the balloon to add more. We also use a chopstick or something similar to help poke the flour in. I always double my balloons before filling as well!