How to Make Juggling Balls From Balloons

This could be your ball collection!

Whether you're a professional clown, an inspired amateur or a complete newbie, juggling is impossible if you have nothing to juggle. Ordering juggling balls online is a pretty simple affair, but won't it be more rewarding to make your own juggling balls?

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Balloons
• Rice (uncooked)
• Juice bottle
• Funnel
• Scissors
• Measuring cup

Make your balls

1. Decide how many juggling balls you want to make. For each ball, you'll need 3/4 cup rice. If you want to make smaller balls, use less than 3/4 cup. and if you want to make big juggling balls, use more than 3/4 cup.

2. Place the funnel over the bottle and pour 3/4 cup rice into the bottle.

3. Blow up the balloon to slightly larger than juggling ball size. A diameter of 5 inches is ideal. Pinch the balloon opening to trap the air.

4. Stretch the balloon opening over the bottle, being careful not to release too much air.

5. Turn the bottle over so all the rice pours into the balloon.

6. Take the balloon off the bottle. Let the balloon deflate so that it clasps to the rice, forming a ball. Do this while the bottle is still upside down, so the rice doesn't get everywhere.

7. Cut off the balloon neck. Again, be careful. You don't want rice spilling out of the hole.

8. Cut holes in 2 more balloons. You'll want to cut right below the neck (so the entire neck plus the upper portion of the balloon body is severed). This will create a big-enough hole to stretch over the rice balloon.

9. Line up the hole on the rice balloon with the bigger hole you cut in the second balloon. Stretch the second balloon over the hole in the rice balloon, so it's tight.

10. Flip the ball, and stretch the third balloon over the first 2. Make sure your ball is no more than 2 balloons thick at any point. Think of the second and third balloons as a single cover for the initial rice balloon. They shouldn't overlap. That'll just make the juggling clunky.

11. Repeat until you have at least 3 juggling balls.

Tips & Warnings

• To spice up your balls, cut decorative holes in the third balloon. Make sure they don't rip when you pull the balloon over the rice ball, though. Consider using different-colored balloons. Multicolored balls are more exciting than a single color.

• Don't forget to place your funnel before you pour the rice. Without a funnel, rice can get everywhere, and it'll be annoying to clean and easy to slip and fall.

References

• Funny Frank the Juggler
• Science Tricks

Resources

• Instant juggling manual