How to make stress balls
Whether they’re for you or your kids, stress balls are super-easy to make. This calming activity for parents and toddlers is a double win - not only is it a quick and easy activity for both of you, but you also get to use the end result. What parent doesn’t need a stress ball, right?
Plus, if you’ve got pre-schoolers at home, stress balls are a really great way to help your kids strengthen their hands in preparation for writing at school. In an age of lots of devices, hand strengthening is becoming more and more important for us all.
Lisa Heitz suggest in her article Top Reasons Why Grip Strength is Important for Child Development:
“…with too much technology, children are growing up with weak hands and fingers. Tablets and other electronic devices are now becoming staple items in the classroom, and kids are now using these devices at younger ages as methods parents use to distract kids at restaurants and other public places. This increase in device time may be preventing children from developing necessary hand strength to hold pencils, cut with scissors and perform other tasks that children their age should be able to do.”
You will need:
a balloon
a filling - flour, oats, rice, or cornflour work really well
some scissors (for the grown ups, of course).
How to make stress balls in 6 easy steps:
Stretch out your balloon
Add a little tube or funnel into the neck to fill - an icing nozzle, wide straw or tube will do (it’s amazing what treasure you can find when you rummage in the kitchen drawers)
Pour in your filling - make sure you include a good few handfuls to get to palm size (warning, this is the messy part!)
Remove the funnel and tie the balloon nice and tight
Cut off the excess rubber
And squeeze!
We’d love to see your creations so don’t forget to tag us on Instagram @parentlistapp Have fun!
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