Plastic
Bag
Ball
This homemade soccer ball is popular with kids living in poverty. It doesn’t cost money to gather reusable materials to make it!
Here’s how to make a plastic bag ball to play soccer with your friends.
- Gather your materials: 20 to 30 plastic grocery bags, newspaper or tissue paper and string or twine.
- Wad up the paper into a ball shape. (Instead of paper, you could even use more plastic bags.) Open one grocery bag and stuff the paper inside it to make the core. Tie the handles of the outer bag and squeeze out any extra air.
- Stuff your ball into a new plastic bag. Twist, squeeze and shape it. Repeat this step until your ball is as big as you want it.
- Tie the handles of your final bag. Then wrap a long piece of twine or string around your ball and tie a knot so you end up with a ball hanging on a long string. Start to wrap the string tightly around your soccer ball horizontally, vertically and diagonally, making sure none of the plastic bags can fall out. The more times you wrap the string, the better!
- Tie and tuck in the end of your string, and you’re finished! You’re ready to play a game of soccer with your friends the way kids in different countries do!
Another Fun Idea: Make a Sock Ball
You can also make your ball out of old socks. This is the perfect toy to make if your family has a lot of mismatched socks in the laundry room! You can play soccer, basketball, baseball, throw and catch, bowling or even dodgeball, since the sock ball is nice and soft!
What you need:
- Old or mismatched socks
- Newspaper
- Thread and needle (optional)
Instructions:
- Make a newspaper ball and put it into the toe part of one sock.
- Twist the top of the sock tight.
- Open the top of the sock and pull it down tight.
- Insert the sock ball into another sock. Repeat steps 2-3.
- Adult help needed: If desired, sew the top of the sock closed.
