Ninja Stress Balls For When It All Gets Too Much

There’s surely never been a better time to make your own stress balls.

Not just any stress ball either – what could be more fun than trying to make a stress ball that looks like a ninja? This is a fun DIY craft activity that’s ideal for kids aged 5-10 years old.

The best thing about making your own ninja stress balls is that you don’t need to spend lots of money on costly materials.

All the items you need to make these squishy stress-relieving balls are inexpensive and easy to come by. You’re likely to have everything you need at home or be able to grab the items easily the next time you’re popping to the shop.

The instructions are easy to follow, too, so kids aren’t likely to wander off and lose interest – they can actually get really involved in making these fun playtime accessories.

What Are Stress Balls And Why Are They Fun?

Stress balls are small, soft balls or toys that fit in the palm of your hand and is designed to be squeezed to help relieve stress and tension. Squeezing a stress ball really can help you to relax.

For something that is so simple and affordable to make, these are ideal for having around the house to help soothe frayed tempers and bring a little calm when people get wound up.

Using a stress ball has even been shown to lower blood pressure, relieve anxiety and improve concentration. Try placing one within arm’s reach when you’re homeschooling and see whether it helps you – or your child – to stay calm and focused.

To use a stress ball, try holding it in your right hand and squeeze gently for 30 seconds. Then switch it to the other hand and squeeze for a further 30 seconds.

You can also have lots of fun with ninja stress balls besides using them to help you relax. They're great for playing catch with or hide them around the house and see how quickly your children can find them.

For teens and parents, you can even use a soft stress ball to massage aching muscles after a workout or try rolling one under the ball of your foot to see if it helps you unwind after a long day.

How Do You Make Ninja Stress Balls?

Easy! Kids who enjoy stem activities and learning play will love having a go at making their own stress balls.

If you’re looking for a rainy day activity that doesn’t involve baking yet more banana bread or making stuff that you’ll have to find more space for on the fridge or on your kitchen wall, this is just the thing. And, of course, this is an especially cool arts and crafts activity for boys and girls who love ninjas!

Here’s what you need to make a ninja stress ball with two balloons:

Party balloons in several different colours – fill yellow balloons with flour if you want them the stress ball to look like a LEGO Ninjago character

An empty water bottle, cleaned and dried

A funnel

Scissors

Flour

A permanent marker

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how you can make ninja stress balls using flour and party balloons:

Place your funnel inside the neck of the empty water bottle

Carefully scoop flour into the funnel to fill the bottle with flour

Remove the funnel from the bottle

Inflate your yellow balloon and stretch the opening of the balloon over the neck of the bottle

Turn the bottle, with the balloon attached, upside down and tap gently until the flour fills the inflated balloon

When the balloon is full, carefully remove it from the bottle

Manipulate the balloon carefully to let out any air without spilling flour everywhere

Cut off the end of the balloon (the part that you usually tie in a knot)

Take a second balloon in a different colour and cut a semi-circle shape out of one side of it, then stretch it over your flour-filled balloon. To seal the flour securely inside, make sure the open end of the flour-filled balloon is the first part to go inside the second balloon.

Draw a ninja face on the balloon with a permanent marker.

We told you it was easy. And now the fun begins!

How Do You Make A Stress Ball With Rice?

If you don't have any flour – and we all know just how hard it has been to get your hands on a bag of flour in the shops since lockdown began – you can always use uncooked rice instead to make your own home-made ninja stress ball.

Just replace the flour with uncooked rice inside the yellow party balloons, but other than that it's simply a case of following the rest of the instructions above to make them.

As well as being really easy to make, home-made ninja stress balls also make brilliant party favours or fun gifts for friends. It's a good idea to keep one in the car or in your handbag to use for entertainment or as a calming tool when you're out and about.

For such a simple and affordable item, it's amazing how effective these little items are at keeping children occupied.

What's also impressive is how robust these squishy balls are.

You could be forgiven for worrying that they might burst easily – we certainly thought twice about making them when we considered the possibility of one of them splitting open and raining mess all over the house.

But it hasn't yet happened, and these have been thrown all over the place and used almost non-stop in every room of the house since we first made ours.

If you are worried about it bursting, though, uncooked rice is certainly likely to be a bit easier to clean up than a room or car full of flour!

Main image credit: Lauren Elisabeth / Shutterstock.com