High five! This was one of the easiest and funniest crafts we’ve ever tried.
No stress here!
You would think that these crafty 12-year-olds were too old to play with play dough, wouldn’t you?
I recently came across this fabulous recipe for the softest play dough ever from Kids Activities Blog, and couldn’t wait to test it out on my daughter and her friend.
It’s basically 2 parts cornstarch to 1 part hair conditioner.
That’s it! That is the whole recipe.
I found some yummy smelling hair conditioner at the Dollar Tree store, and gave them some corn starch to mix together is a big plastic container.
Each girl started with 2 cups of corn starch and 1 cup of hair conditioner to make the ball dough you see below in the picture. It was really sticky at first, and we found we needed to add a little bit of corn starch. Once they worked it together in a ball, I gave them each plastic trays to play on.
Then they wanted to add color to it and we added a little food coloring into the mix.
To avoid getting their hands stained, they each put on rubber gloves to work in the color.
That’s where the magic happened!
..at least for the girls!
They decided to put the dough into the rubber gloves and tie off the end.
Um, seriously, hours of giggles….
…and hilarious play acting to be had.
I’m sure this would work with balloons too to make a more traditional stress ball, but these girls had so much fun with just the hands, I wasn’t even going to go there!
Check out the Kids Activities Blog for more great ideas for all ages.
Enjoy and happy crafting!
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A stress ball, usually not more than 7 cm in diameter, which is squeezed in the hand and manipulated by the fingers to relieve stress and muscle tension or to exercise the muscles of the hand. Such pieces are a must for everyone, from kids to adults because everyone feels stress and there’s more and more stress in our lives now. You needn’t buy one, just make such a piece yourself and personalize it as much as you can, I’ve prepared a whole bunch of ideas you may try. These tutorials are divided into kids’ and adults’ ones but this is rather conventional because all of them can be used by both kids and grownups, just kids’ ones are more colorful and fun.
For Adults
This tutorial will tell you how to make a squishy and playful item suitable for both kids and adults. Making it isn’t difficult at all: you can gather a small round balloon, a funnel, and about 1 cup of flour for this recipe. Additionally, if you decide to decorate the stress ball, use permanent markers so that it won’t leave stains on your hands when you squeeze it.
Here’s one more tutorial to make a simple stress ball for everyone. the craft is about filling a balloon with cornstarch and water, read the tutorial to find out how to mix and what proportions you’ll need. Adding food coloring or not is up to you.
These stress balls are ideal – moving them in your hands will help you reduce stress very easily and making them isn’t hard at all. The balls are made of colorful balloons and flour and glue mixed in exact proportions inside. Read the details in the source.
These stress ball use something really genius as filling and you won’t need to make any mixes, just put some playdough inside! If you don’t have any at hand, make some yourself and put it into a balloon. The tutorial also contains a recipe to fill the ball with rice, read it, too and maybe you’ll try both.
Here’s one more genius idea to go for: a stress ball filled with slime. If you’re stressed out and want something fun to calm you down, this slime stress ball will help you get through the day. It’s something for kids, and adults of all ages to enjoy. This tutorial will tell you how to make the slime but you may use ready slime, too.
Have you been feeling stressed a lot lately? This simple stress ball filled with flour is all you need to get rid of stressful energy and finally relax. Such a ball can be a fit for kids, teenagers, adults and everyone else, for each situation, you can even take it with you if you want.
For Kids
Even kids can go through stress. Even if they’re not stressed, sometimes they just need something to do with their hands to help calm their minds. These colorful and fun emoji stress balls will be stress relievers and whimsy toys for children, this is a noiseless sensory object as well, so you won’t have to worry about them being a distraction to others in the room. They are filled with cornstarch, read the recipe and make some for fun.
I love this water bead stress ball because it looks really unusual and fun. A transparent balloon filled with colorful water beads makes for a soothing and fun kids toy or stress reliever! Watch a video tutorial to make this fun piece and both kids and adults in your home will love squeezing it.
Here are some different emoji balloons, this time they are filled with slime, which means that it won’t take much time – only creating emoji faces will. Buy some ready slime or make some yourself not to waste money and create these cuties for everyone to feel relaxed.
A stress ball is a simple way to keep your child anxiety free and to allow them to release frustration too. These colorful stress balls are filled with cornstarch and look very space-inspired thanks to the unique balloons taken for the craft. The balloons won’t pop because the latex is still not stretched tightly, so it will hold up for a very long time.
Every classroom needs stress balls, they are a must for kids and teachers, too. The cuties are filled with a mix of hair conditioner and baking soda and the balls are given very different and creative forms and shapes. Read how to make them yourself and enjoy!
Create a whole bucket of stress balls of various colors and looks for your kids. They are filled with flour, which won’t take much time to make, read the tutorial and make as many as you need. take them to relive your own stress, too, it helps!
Make these super colorful and fun stress balls showing stressed people in various colors – they are so fun! Choose different shades and faces to make each one personalized, you may also show the members of your family. Read how to do that in the source.
DIY stress balls are so easy to make! All you need is a balloon and a filler like flour or rice and you end up with a super fun, super squishy stress ball that’s perfect for busy hands!
How to Make a Stress Ball
Homemade stress balls are SUPER SIMPLE to make at home. You can use flour, rice, water beads, play dough, and even oobleck as a filler inside the balloon.
In order to get the flour inside the balloon, you’ll also need a funnel. But no worries if you don’t have one! Simply cut the bottom off a plastic water bottle to make your own funnel. It’s easy, cheap and works like a charm!
This is such a great sensory activity and a really simple craft for kids, teens, adults and seniors!
DIY Stress Ball Video Tutorial:
*Note: Scroll down for the step-by-step photo tutorial.
Here’s What You’ll Need:
The full printable list of instructions are below, but here’s a list of affiliate links that will take you to products on Amazon that are similar to the supplies we used to make this craft:
Homemade Stress Ball Step By Step Tutorial:
You’ll need a 12 inch regular latex/rubber balloon. Any colour. Any pattern.
Check the dollar store, Amazon or Walmart for patterned balloons. We found these polka dot balloons at the dollar store and they’re so fun!
Print
from
votes
How to Make a Stress Ball
DIY stress balls are really soft and squishy and soooo satisfying! And they’re really easy to make!
Prep Time
5
mins
Total Time
5
mins
Yield:
1
stress ball
Equipment
-
Funnel
Materials
-
1
Balloon
(12 inch, rubber or latex)
-
1
cup
Flour
Instructions
-
Blow up the balloon and then deflate it before you start. This stretches the balloon which makes it easier to fill it with the flour.
-
Pull the end of the balloon up over the end of a funnel.
-
Carefully pour flour into the funnel. Shake the funnel back and forth and tap the side of it to get the flour to go down into the balloon.
-
If the flour doesn’t seem to go through the funnel, use a pencil or pen to push it through.
-
Keep adding more and more flour to the funnel and into the balloon until you’re happy with the size.
-
If the balloon is running out of space to add more flour, pinch the opening of the balloon closed, then use your fingers to press down the flour in the balloon right below the funnel. Press and shape the balloon down and outwards to make space for more flour. (You’d be surprised how much flour you can fit into the balloon just by pressing it down like this!)
-
Remove the funnel and tie a knot in the balloon. Try to get the knot as close to the base of the balloon as you can.
-
Your stress ball is done!
Notes
Helpful Tip: If you don’t have a funnel you can
cut off the bottom of a plastic water bottle and use the opening of the bottle as your funnel.
Optional:
If you want, you can cut the neck off of a second balloon and stretch it over the stress ball to hide the knot in the balloon. Adding a second balloon will give your stress ball an extra layer of strength, but it will also make your stress ball more firm when you squeeze it.
How long do homemade stress balls last?
Homemade stress balls made with balloons will last anywhere from 1 week to 4 months. Balloons will degrade over time. So these stress balls won’t last forever. It really depends on the strength of your balloons (some balloons are stronger than others) and how much you squeeze or play with it.
My 8 year old has been squeezing her stress ball A LOT and it only lasted 2 weeks. Luckily she noticed a small hole in it today so she played with it over the garbage can until it poofed open. So it didn’t make a mess.
If you don’t play with it a lot, it will probably last 3 or 4 months. When they get old, there’s a good chance the balloon will crack and you’ll end up with a pile of flour somewhere.
They have the COOLEST squishy feeling to them!
We used regular dollar store balloons – both solid colour and polka dot balloons. The polka dot balloons were thinner, and made really soft stress balls, but they didn’t last as long.
Our thicker balloons made slightly firmer stress balls, but they seem to be lasting much longer than the thin balloons.
Stress balls are perfect for busy hands and also help to calm your nerves. Squeeze them. Stretch them. Pinch them. Or knead them. Homemade stress balls are really soft and squishy and soooo satisfying!
Here’s more stress ball tutorials for you to try!
How to Make Stress Balls with Balloons and Rice
Playdough Stress Ball
How to Make an Apple Stress Ball
Orbeez Stress Ball
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
