Bouncy Balls

Avery and Mary made bouncy balls at their class on Wednesday, and came very excited about it. Avery tried to replicate the process with a soda bottle and colored sand, but when all that he managed to make was wet sand I told him that probably what they used in class looked like sand but really contained some different chemicals.

As it turns out the teacher uses a kit to make the ball in class. They turned out very nice, I am hoping to pick up one of those kits sometime. In the meantime, I found this list of materials and these directions online to make our own bouncy balls at home. We had all the supplies (borax, glue, and cornstarch) on hand so we gave it a try.

I think it worked reasonably well, except that the balls stayed a bit sticky (more like silly putty) and didn't bounce very well.