How to Make a Stress Ball

DIY stress balls are so easy to make! All you need is a balloon and a filler like flour or rice and you end up with a super fun, super squishy stress ball that’s perfect for busy hands! 

How to Make a Stress Ball

Homemade stress balls are SUPER SIMPLE to make at home. You can use flour, rice, water beads, play dough, and even oobleck as a filler inside the balloon.

In order to get the flour inside the balloon, you’ll also need a funnel. But no worries if you don’t have one! Simply cut the bottom off a plastic water bottle to make your own funnel. It’s easy, cheap and works like a charm!

This is such a great sensory activity and a really simple craft for kids, teens, adults and seniors!

DIY Stress Ball Video Tutorial:

*Note: Scroll down for the step-by-step photo tutorial.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

The full printable list of instructions are below, but here’s a list of affiliate links that will take you to products on Amazon that are similar to the supplies we used to make this craft:

• 12 inch balloon
• flour
• funnel (or water bottle with the bottom cut off)
• pen or pencil

Homemade Stress Ball Step By Step Tutorial:

You’ll need a 12 inch regular latex/rubber balloon. Any colour. Any pattern.

Check the dollar store, Amazon or Walmart for patterned balloons. We found these polka dot balloons at the dollar store and they’re so fun!

Print

5 from 2 votes

How to Make a Stress Ball

DIY stress balls are really soft and squishy and soooo satisfying! And they're really easy to make!

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Total Time5 minutes mins

Yield: 1 stress ball

Author: Debbie Chapman

Equipment

• Funnel

Materials

• 1 Balloon (12 inch, rubber or latex)
• 1 cup Flour

Instructions

• Blow up the balloon and then deflate it before you start. This stretches the balloon which makes it easier to fill it with the flour.
  
• Pull the end of the balloon up over the end of a funnel.
  
• Carefully pour flour into the funnel. Shake the funnel back and forth and tap the side of it to get the flour to go down into the balloon.
  
• If the flour doesn’t seem to go through the funnel, use a pencil or pen to push it through.
  
• Keep adding more and more flour to the funnel and into the balloon until you’re happy with the size.
  
• If the balloon is running out of space to add more flour, pinch the opening of the balloon closed, then use your fingers to press down the flour in the balloon right below the funnel. Press and shape the balloon down and outwards to make space for more flour. (You'd be surprised how much flour you can fit into the balloon just by pressing it down like this!)
  
• Remove the funnel and tie a knot in the balloon. Try to get the knot as close to the base of the balloon as you can.
  
• Your stress ball is done!
  

Notes

Helpful Tip: If you don’t have a funnel you can cut off the bottom of a plastic water bottle and use the opening of the bottle as your funnel.

Optional: If you want, you can cut the neck off of a second balloon and stretch it over the stress ball to hide the knot in the balloon. Adding a second balloon will give your stress ball an extra layer of strength, but it will also make your stress ball more firm when you squeeze it.

How long do homemade stress balls last?

Homemade stress balls made with balloons will last anywhere from 1 week to 4 months. Balloons will degrade over time. So these stress balls won’t last forever. It really depends on the strength of your balloons (some balloons are stronger than others) and how much you squeeze or play with it.

My 8 year old has been squeezing her stress ball A LOT and it only lasted 2 weeks. Luckily she noticed a small hole in it today so she played with it over the garbage can until it poofed open. So it didn’t make a mess.

If you don’t play with it a lot, it will probably last 3 or 4 months. When they get old, there’s a good chance the balloon will crack and you’ll end up with a pile of flour somewhere.

They have the COOLEST squishy feeling to them!

We used regular dollar store balloons – both solid colour and polka dot balloons. The polka dot balloons were thinner, and made really soft stress balls, but they didn’t last as long.

Our thicker balloons made slightly firmer stress balls, but they seem to be lasting much longer than the thin balloons.

Stress balls are perfect for busy hands and also help to calm your nerves. Squeeze them. Stretch them. Pinch them. Or knead them. Homemade stress balls are really soft and squishy and soooo satisfying!

Here’s more stress ball tutorials for you to try!

How to Make Stress Balls with Balloons and Rice

Playdough Stress Ball

How to Make an Apple Stress Ball

Orbeez Stress Ball

Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!