Stress ball balloons

I came across stress ball balloons when I was reading Positive Parenting. The author suggested a few alternatives to spanking and stress ball is one of the tools at her calm down area (go ahead and read the article by clicking the link, it's refreshing to read about non-punitive discipline). The stress ball balloons help kids to identify their emotions. They are also good to let off some steam. Let them squeeze the balloons. Or they can tear up paper, roar like a lion, clap their hands loudly. Anger and frustration are normal human emotions, and it is no exception for children. They should know that it is ok to be frustrated, angry or etc but they should know what to do with those emotions. Hurting another person when they are angry is never ok for instance.

I made my stress ball balloons from here. These are balloons stuffed with play dough, with faces drawn with permanent marker pen.

 

I filled the balloons with the play dough I made with my son. It could be quite tricky to do it alone. The author rolled the dough into sausages and let it stand, then lower the balloon into the play dough sausages. The way I did was to stretch the opening as wide as possible with my thumb and pointing finger on my left hand, while I insert the play dough sausages into the balloons with my right. 

Squeeze away the dough at the balloon neck. Push out the air pocket and tie the balloons. Give the balloons a good rinse if they are covered with dough. There you have your gentle parenting tool!

(My son loves the stress ball balloons even though he was quite hesitant to touch them in the beginning. Balloons with faces? Creepy lol! We identify different emotions with the balloons and tell many silly stories with them. He squeezes them. He moulds them into different shapes. He even uses them as main casts in his imaginative play. Cheap and simple, but oh so versatile!)  

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