Take a Break: Make a Stress Ball

Squeezing a ball is a great way to decrease stress and tension and may help to improve feelings of well being and even sleep. It can also help with arthritis and building muscle tone. While you can always buy these balls, consider making your own.

The basic method is pretty straightforward.

• Fill a balloon with rice, flour, cornstarch, baking soda, millet or whatever else you have handy using a funnel. If you don’t have a funnel, make one out of paper.

• Tie off

• Start using.

Now that you have the basics, some variations:

• Use play dough in the balloon

• Fill the balloon. Tie off. Cut the narrow neck off of a second balloon and stretch the 2nd balloon over the tied off end of the filled balloon. That gives the stress ball more thickness and less chance of bursting. If you want, you can cover with a third balloon or even a fourth. It really depends on the quality of your balloon and how hard it’s going to be squeezed.

• If you have a gluten allergy, use millet, cornstarch or something other than flour

• Take your filled balloon and put inside a sock.

• Add a couple drops of essential oils to help reduce stress. This would be appropriate when using rice, millet to fill the stress ball.  Lemon and mandarin essential oils are good for reducing stress. Lavender, rose, chamomile and even vanilla also work.

 

Other ideas

• Make three stress balls and learn to juggle. 

• Try making slime-uses the same kneading process-and then clean all those hard to reach places in your house and car. 

Not interested in today’s activity? Check out the Take a Break Pinterest for lots of Take a Break ideas.