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Ease Back to School Stress with This Easy Craft for Kids!

This easy craft for kids is the perfect way to ease back to school stress! These DIY stress balls are easy and fun for kids to make. I love how you can make each one unique.

let kids make their own stress balls - a great way to ease back to school stress

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My oldest and youngest daughter thoroughly enjoyed making stress balls at the end of the school year. They found the process very relaxing, and all four kids enjoyed playing with the resulting stress balls all summer long. All transitions are stressful, and going back to school can create a lot of stress and anxiety for kids. This simple craft is an excellent way to de-stress! You’ll find a few of our other favorite de-stressing activities at the end of this post.

DIY Stress Balls Tutorial – Make These to Ease Back to School Stress!

a simple craft that helps ease back to school stress

DIY Stress Ball Materials

  • Balloons. Depending what you put inside, you may want to double up on balloons.
  • Filling. My kids used rice, glitter, and cotton balls for theirs. The different materials create very different experiences! You can also fill stress balls with homemade gak.
  • Funnel. We used one from IKEA that is normally used as a bath toy in our house.

A Sensory Craft to Reduce Back to School Stress

make stress balls to ease back to schools tress

Stress balls provide excellent sensory feedback. Making stress balls is also a great sensory experience! My girls tested out different fillings, and watched the fillings fill up the balloons.

a sensory craft to ease back to school stress.

Rice was their favorite filling, but they all agreed that it they most enjoyed having sensory balls with different textures to move between.

DIY stress balls tutorial

I realized I never took photos of the completed balls; thankfully they made a cameo appearance in my post about the kids’ pretend stores. Emma wasn’t selling them, but she did include them in her shop for customers to play with while reading a story. Can you spot them in the lower left corner? Emma used an ultra fine Sharpie pen to add swirls to one of the completed stress balls.

Use a play shop setting to help kids develop and showcase talents

More Ways to Ease Back to School Stress

Change is stressful, and heading back to school is a big change! Here are some of our other favorite ways to help kids cope with back to schools stress:

How do you help your kids cope with back to school stress? I love to see photos, suggestions, and ideas in the comments below and on my Facebook page. You can also tag me on Instagram

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

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