How to Make a Bouncy Ball with Household Items

We're getting close to the holidays and what better gift for a kid than their own bouncy ball! Ok, maybe in this day and age, the kid will probably be disappointed because there isn't a screen on it, but you could always use the phrase, "Back in my day..."

I saw this post by Come Together Kids and thought I'd give it a try. Here's what you need:

*Borax (something you should definitely have on hand - great for a lot of different projects!)

*Cornstarch (good for baking)

*Food coloring (I used a normal green and a neon green to show you the difference)

*Elmer's Glue

I followed the instructions step-by-step and here are a few tips I can offer.

#1 - Don't try to stir with toothpicks. Use a plastic knife or a tongue depressor... something you can stir with that won't break but that you can throw away.

#2 - I kept stirring, thinking that the mixture would completely solidify but it never did. When I eventually stopped, it was half liquid / half solid. I squeezed as much liquid out as I could, patted it dry with a paper towel, and kept rolling it into a ball. The original post says it'll be sticky but it was far from that. It did eventually dry out.

#3 - Speaking of drying out, the darker green ball ended up being too dry and started crumbling. The lighter green ball didn't crumble at all until I tried to make it bounce. So I guess if you do this project, try making multiple balls and see what results you end up getting!

The burning question is: did it bounce? Well, see what you think...

Did you notice the pieces of the ball flying off? I think the highest I could get it was 2" so you probably shouldn't try to play Jacks with it...

Survey says: don't waste your time. Go the store and buy your kid some actual bouncy balls.

TOTAL COSTS: Free
All ingredients I already had on hand

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 30 minutes
Time may vary depending on the number of balls you're trying to create

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 3 out of 5
It's not hard to make but it is difficult to get it to do what it's supposed to do... bounce.