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Make Your Own Stress Balls - How To Guide
It's no secret the impact that lockdown has had on the mental health of children and young people. This step-by-step guide will show you how to make a Squishy Stress Toy - An effective self-regulatory tool for children to stay calm, focus more, be attentive, and listen.
How to make a Stress Ball with a Balloon
When the world is actively searching for a good 'DIY stress ball recipe' .. then you know the world needs Mother of Grom (AKA me) to throw together a 'simple stress ball guide' covering how to make it and what to put in a stress ball!
In a recent poll on my Instagram 87% of my followers noticed signs of stress and anxiety in their children which is so heartbreaking. As a mother of two little boys, there have certainly been times of concern for us too.
Stress balls have been used for years by all ages to bust stress and anxiety. This may seem like a lot of benefits to attain from clutching and squidging a ball, right? Well, besides attention, the following advantages are seen when children are introduced to using stress balls.
- Improved Motor Skills
- Strengthened grip
- Concentration in class
- Therapeutic management of Autism
- Management of ADHD
You can find lots of information on their benefits over on Natural Beach Livings website.
As well as all the aforementioned benefits (not to mention learning there is more than one 'Stress Ball Recipe'), making your own stress toys can be a lovely activity to make with your children, or just to do while you're having a quiet craft session by yourself.
What you need to make a stress ball with flour
Ingredients for stress balls:
- Flour
- Multicoloured balloons
- Sharpie pen
- Coloured Wool/Yarn
- A funnel (or a cut bottle like i've pictured)
- A empty, dry plastic bottle
- A spoon
- A scissors
Method - How to make a stress toy.
- Use your funnel and pop into your empty bottle. What to put in a stress ball? Well .. Flour! Use your spoon to spoon your flour into the funnel so it it passed down the neck and into the plastic bottle. You will need to fill the bottle half full
- Blow up your squishy balloon and fold the neck over. Your homemade stress ball is taking shape.
- Pop the lip of the balloon over the flour filled bottle and let your balloon neck unfold.
- Turn bottle upside down so your bottle is on top of the balloon and the flour starts to pour into the balloon. Stress ball filling! You may need to shake bottle slightly.
- Once flour has emptied into balloon, gently remove the lip off the bottle. You can now slowly let the balloon deflate (Be sure to do it slowly because otherwise it will be a flour cannon effect -Take it from a mother who learned the hard way and covered herself and eldest son in flour while he just happened to be on a live zoom call to his class and teacher!)
- Once deflated, carefully tie a knot in the balloon neck. Just look at your army of DIY stress balls !
- Use your sharpie pen to draw your funny faces.
- Take your yarn/wool and wrap around your hand about 20 times. Take a scissors and snip the wrapped wool once.
- Tie on your hair and hey presto! Your own homemade stress buster!
That wraps this 'How to make stress balls' blog post up. Simple. Fun. and enjoyable.
Depending what country you are based in I have seen these also referred to as 'Stress Toys' or 'Stress Balloons' or even 'Stretch Armstrong' Do you remember him? Hope you have lots of fun squeezing your new squashy pal. As always, please share your creations with me over on my Instagram or Facebook - I'd love to see them.
Share if you care ....
MoG x
Mother. Blogger. Maker. Baker.
Queen of the Sandals and Breaker of Paper Chains.
Father of Grom
Father. SEOnsai. Builder. Mugician.
Gen Xer Prancer and Breaker of Dancer.
MoG x
Mother. Blogger. Maker. Baker.
Queen of the Sandals and Breaker of Paper Chains.
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