Homemade Bouncy Balls

Bouncy balls are great and using science to make them at home is even better. This is a trickier experiment than usual, but well worth the effort!

Quick common sense warning: Don’t eat the materials used to make the ball or the ball itself. Wash your work area, utensils, and hands when you have completed this activity.

What you need:

• Borax (found in the laundry section of the store)
• Cornstarch
• White, blue, or red glue to make a solid color ball
• Clear school glue to make a see through ball
• Warm water
• Food coloring
• Tablespoon and teaspoon measure
• Spoon
• 2 small plastic cups
• Zip-lock plastic baggie

What you do:

1. Label one plastic cup “Borax” and one plastic cup “Ball”.
2. Into the Borax Cup:
   1. Pour 2 tablespoons of warm water into the “Borax ” cup.
   2. Add 1/2 teaspoon borax powder into the “Borax” cup.
   3. Stir the mixture to dissolve the borax.
   4. Add food coloring, if you want a colored ball.
3. Into the Ball Cup:
   1. Pour 1 tablespoon of glue into the cup.
   2. Add 1/2 teaspoon of the borax solution from the “Borax” cup.
   3. Add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch.
   4. Do not stir. Allow the ingredients to interact for 10-15 seconds.
   5. Now stir the ingredients thoroughly together.
   6. Once the mixture becomes to thick to stir, take it out of the cup and start molding the ball with your hands.
4. The ball will start out sticky and messy, but will firm up as you work with it.
5. Once the ball is less sticky – Bounce Away!

Want more? Experiment and discover…

Try changing the ratio between the amounts of glue, cornstarch, and borax. Adding more cornstarch will make a ball that stretches and bends. Using less borax will produce a ‘goopier’ type of ball. Add more glue for a slimier ball.

Make fancy bouncy balls – add glitter, change the glue from white glue to clear glue, make two ball cups of different colors and try to mold into one multi-color ball!