DIY “Bouncy Ball” Space Valentine Cards with Printable

Now that my kids are no longer in preschool, I figured they were too old for homemade play dough and slime.

Apparently I was wrong.

The other day my oldest, who is seven, was looking at me with his eyebrows furrowed.  So I asked him what was up.  He was wondering why I don’t like to make cool things with them anymore like slime or dough.

I don’t make dough too often because I feel as strongly about playdoh as some feel about glitter.  My daughter was given playdoh last year for her birthday as a revenge gift from my cousin who was still a little mad at me about the hair chalk I got her daughter.  Pea loved it but I recognized it for what it was!

But I did feel bad when he asked me about it.  When I worked outside of the home and they were little (long before I started blogging) we did a lot of cool craft projects on the weekends.  Part of it was because I wanted to make the most out of the little quality time we had together.  We have much more time together now so things like that don’t cross my mind.

As always, I responded by going a bit overboard.  I told him we’d make something really cool for his classmates for Valentine’s Day…all 18 of them.

And it is cool.  It is so cool that Pea decided to stop making these Melted Art Valentines for her class.

I came up with the bright idea of making bouncy ball planets and homemade silly putty (they are the exact same instructions.)

DIY Bouncy Ball “Space”  Valentines with Printable

Materials:

• printable
• Stapler
• Dollar Store 4×2 size cellophane “loot” bags
• cardstock or printer paper
• printer
• Borax
• Corn Starch
• warm water
• white glue, clear glue, or glitter glue
• glitter (optional)
• food coloring
• Plastic cups
• Plastic spoons

We made our bouncy balls one by one.  The kids wanted to experiment with the different glues so we did this with glitter glue, white glue, and the clear glue.  White glue results in creamier colors whereas the glitter glue and the clear glue resulted in brighter colors.

In a plastic cup mix 1/2 warm water with 1 Tbl borax and set aside.

In a separate plastic cup mix 1/2 Tbl of corn starch with one Tbl of glue.  Sit in glitter and dye if desired.

Pour the glue mixture into the water and borax mixture and let soak for approximately 20 seconds.  Scoop out the goopy blob and shape into a ball.  If sticky re-soak in the borax water. This doesn’t hold it’s shape like a store bought ball and  will settle into a putty.  My kids were okay with that and had fun reshaping them.

Drop the ball into the clear plastic bag. We also added some glow in the dark dollar store stars. Fold top of the bag shut.

Print out the Valentine’s Cards and cut out.  Fold in half and staple the card to the bag.

Have your child label the backs of the cards with the names of their friends! Try this easy and fun craft this weekend!