Stress balls are a great tool for kids.
Sure, they can be used as a fidget at home or in the classroom, but they can also be great for self regulation, building hand strength, providing proprioceptive sensory input, and more.
While there are lots of different options of stress balls available on the market, they're actually really easy to make yourself. And the great part about making your own is that you get to customize them to fit your needs or tailor them to a specific theme. For instance, you can fill them with different textures and/or make them any color you want!
Since it's winter and all, though, I thought it would be fun to make some snowman stress balls for my boys to squish and squeeze. And they turned out really cute!
A version of this post originally appeared on the CBC Parents website.
DIY Snowman Stress Balls: What You'll Need
It's so easy to make your own stress balls at home. Here's what you'll need:
- White balloons - We're making snowman stress balls here so we need white balloons to represent snow.
- Permanent markers, in black and orange - To draw the little snowman details onto the balloons.
- Funnel - To make it easier to get the materials into the balloons. You'll need to make sure that whatever materials you are using to fill the balloons will fit through the hole in your funnel.
- Materials to fill the balloons - You can use rice, epsom salt, play dough, aloe vera gel, beans, water beads, lotion, corn starch, flour, or anything similar. Since I made three stress balls, I used three different fillers: rice, epsom salt, and aloe vera gel.
Once you have everything gathered, it's time to make the stress balls.
How to Make a Stress Ball that Looks Like a Snowman
First, we need to fill the balloons. To do so, simply slide the end of the balloon onto the funnel and start adding your fillings into the balloons via the funnel.
However, if you are using a liquid such as aloe vera gel and the bottle has a pump, you can skip the funnel. Instead, simply slide the end of the balloon onto the end of the pump. Then you can pump the liquid directly into the balloon!
Once you've filled the balloons with the fillers of your choice, tie the end of the balloon. Make sure it's securely knotted.
Next, draw a snowman's face on the stress ball using permanent markers. Be sure to let the marker dry fully before squeezing. Otherwise, the color may rub off onto your hands.
I ended up making three snowman themed stress balls for my kids. In one, I used rice. In another, I used epsom salt. And, in the third, I used aloe vera gel. Here's how the turned out:
Then that's it. They're now ready for squishing and squeezing.
Homemade Snowman Stress Balls for Kids
When it comes to deciding what to put inside, you might want to experiment with a variety of textures to see which ones you and your kids prefer.
Personally, I enjoyed the feel of the epsom salt one the best.
My kids, on the other hand, really liked the aloe vera gel one. It was definitely their favorite! Although, if you have younger kids, you might want to avoid using aloe vera because if they squeeze it too hard, it may explode and get everything.
My boys thought it was hilarious to squish and squeeze the snowmen's faces! They got a really good chuckle out of it.
Homemade stress balls likes these are great for strengthening hands and providing proprioceptive sensory input. They make a great fidget for kids and are useful to include in a calm down kit.
Do you think your kids would enjoy making their own snowman stress balls like these? Or would these DIY Pokemon stress balls be more their style?
