You can make an easy moon sand stress ball in less than 5 minutes! We had a blast playing with moon sand last year, and were curious how it would feel in a stress ball. The answer? Very cool!
Add flour and baby oil to a balloon to get that fun moon sand experience without the mess. These DIY stress balls have such a fun texture! They’re soft, squishy, and super satisfying to squeeze!
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How to Make a Moon Sand Stress Ball
Check Out The Video Tutorial:
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
- Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Prepare the balloon
- Blow up the balloon, and then let it deflate to stretch out the latex/rubber. This will make it easier to fill!
- Insert the funnel into the neck of the balloon.
Step 3: Add the flour and oil
- Pour the flour into the funnel, allowing it to fall into the balloon.
- Use the flat end of a pencil to help push the flour down into the balloon.
- If you have flour in the funnel that won't go in, pinch the neck of the balloon closed, just below the end of the funnel. Then push your fingers down to push the flour down and outwards to make room for more flour and the baby oil.
- Pour the baby oil into the funnel.
- Pinch the neck of the balloon closed and remove the funnel.
Step 4: Finish making the stress ball
- Carefully squeeze out as much air as you can. Then tie the neck of the balloon in a knot, as close to the stress ball as you can.
- Knead the balloon to mix the flour and oil into moon sand.
- Optional: Cut off the neck of the balloon, just above the knot.
- Run your stress ball under water to wash away any flour on the outside of it. Your moon sand stress ball is complete!
- Now release your stress by squeezing, squishing, poking, and kneading your DIY moon sand stress ball.
Helpful Tips:
- If you don’t have a funnel, cut off the top of a plastic water bottle and use the opening as a DIY funnel.
- You can also mix the flour and baby oil in a bowl first and then push the mixture through the funnel with the back of a pen or pencil.
- We prefer the smell and consistency of baby oil in our moon sand, but you can also use cooking oil.
What is moon sand?
Moon sand is a kinetic play sand that’s soft and moldable. You can make your own moon sand by combining flour and baby oil!
For a detailed recipe and more information on moon sand, check out our How to Make Moon Sand post!
How long do these moon sand stress balls last?
We made our moon sand stress balls two weeks ago and they feel exactly the same as when they were first made!
How long they last will all depend on how much you play with them. Balloons will degrade over time, so if you’re squeezing the stress ball a lot it may last only a week or even less. However, we’ve also had DIY stress balls last for months!
If you lose track of your DIY stress balls at the back of a closet for a year, you might be left with a moon sand mess if the balloon degrades and breaks! Remember to throw them out after a month or so if no one is playing with them anymore!
What size balloon do I need for a moon sand stress ball?
We used 12 inch balloons with a star pattern from the dollar store to make these stress balls — it should say on the package what size the balloons are.
Smaller balloons won’t hold as much moon sand and they’re a lot harder to squeeze because of their small size.
What else can you put in a DIY balloon stress ball?
There are so many different things you can add to a DIY stress ball! Flour stress balls are a classic, but you can also add rice for an interesting texture.
You can also make more unique stress balls by adding items like Orbeez water beads, playdough, or even Oobleck!
Make a DIY moon sand stress ball to keep little hands busy! Stress balls are known for relieving anxiety, but they’re also great at improving hand strength and dexterity in younger kids!
Here’s even more fun craft ideas:
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!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon |  Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound |  Amazon Canada
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