For a fun craft activity the kids will LOVE playing with, these Ninja Stress Balls are a winner. They will certainly compete with the pop it fidgets which have taken our kids by storm.
On the weekend, we celebrated my eldest daughter’s 11th Birthday. She wanted to have a Japanese culture theme with everyone making their own sushi, snacking on Hello Panda and Pocky Sticks.
The dining table was styled with wooden plates and chop sticks. Daiso had these cute little teddy bear boxes which were perfect for the party favours.
My daughter wanted to have close friends over to celebrate, and the numbers were limited due to restrictions.
Her original party date had to be cancelled due to lockdown.
With the main party activity learning how to make sushi (We followed Oh So Busy Mum recipe!), we also needed a craft activity which would suit the theme.
Ninja stress balls filled the time between making the sushi and sitting down to eat for lunch. They were a hit with the kids and required very little prep – apart from making the play dough. The idea was originally found on Pinterest via Frugal Fun For Boys and Girls.
Materials
- Play dough – recipe to make your own can be found here
- 2 balloons (different colours and same size)
- Small plastic bag
- Scissors
- Sharpie pen
Instructions
- Roll a piece of play dough into a ball and place this into a plastic bag. Cut the ends of the bag and fold over the ends to keep the ball shape of the play dough. The plastic bag is to protect the play dough from bursting out of the balloons.
2. Trim off the long end opening of the balloon.
3. Place the plastic wrapped play dough into the open balloon. Ensure the tied end of the plastic is not near the opening part of the balloon.
4. Grab your other balloon and cut of the opening off for this. Cut an opening for the face. This is trickier than it looks, hence why I have an uneven face opening on the green balloon. You can trim it to make the edges straighter.
5. Insert the pink balloon ball into the green balloon to create the ninja face mask. It looked more like a bird shape than a round ninja shape.
6. Shape it into a rounder shape and use a sharpie pen to add eyes and eyebrows.
7. Once you’ve made one, it’s fun to make more!
You can use various other fillings like slime or flour, but play dough is a mess-friendly option and it gives the stress ball a firmer yet squishier feel.