How to Make a Hoola Hoop

This inexpensive project will take you less than an hour to complete and your children and teens will be thrilled with the hula hoops you create for them. Older kids can help and with your assistance, the younger ones can handle the decorations for the final hula hoops. The materials are available at department, home improvement and irrigation specialty stores. You will be able to make seven or eight of these hoops from a single 100-foot package of PVC irrigation tubing for $15 to $25.

Things You'll Need

• 1 package 100 psi 3/4-inch PVC irrigation tubing 3/4-inch connector Masking tape Hacksaw or PVC cutter File or rough-grain sandpaper 1 cup dry sand (optional) Dried peas or beans (optional) Pot of boiling water Duct tape Colored electrical tape Colored markers

Instructions

1. Determine the length of PVC tubing that you need by forming a circle with it at one end. Set one edge of the circle on the ground and have the person for whom it is being made stand next to the circle. Adjust the circle's size so that the highest point is about as tall as the midway point between the person's shoulder and belly button. Use a small piece of masking tape to mark the spot on the PVC where you will cut the tubing from the roll.

2. Cut the tubing with a hacksaw or with a PVC cutter. Smooth the cut ends with a file or sandpaper. Remove the masking tape marker.

3. Pour 1 cup of dry sand into the tube if you would like to add some weight to it. Add 25 dried peas or beans, if desired. These will create rattling sounds that kids just adore as they slide around inside the hoop with every move.

4. Heat both ends of the tubing by sticking them into a pot of boiling water for a minute or two. This will make the rigid tubing softer and more flexible temporarily so that you will be able to work them onto the connector.

5. Work each end of the tubing over the ends of the connector until the ends meet. You shouldn't see any of the connector when this is done correctly. If the tubing is still too difficult to get onto the connector, just heat the ends a little longer.

6. Duct tape the seam where the ends of the tubing meet.

7. Use colored tape to decorate the hoop. Show the child how to wrap the hoop to cover it entirely with the tape, or how to create a candy cane effect. The child might like the semi-shiny silver duct tape for the whole thing, too. Use colored markers to decorate the tape as well.