presents How to Make Juggling Balls with Adult Supervision

Cutting the ball. Cut a slit about ¼ inch (7mm) long. The cut will self seal when you withdraw the funnel. Make the cut under the trademark so you will be able to find the cut when you get ready to start filling them. Done this way you can cut a bunch of balls and then fill them.


Adding sand to the ball (2 rounded tablespoons). Cut the tip of a funnel at a 45° angle for easy insertion into the ball. Use two heaping tablespoons of clean, dry sand to give good weight and a very uniform (less than 1% variation) product. These balls have very little bounce and are not prone to roll.

A few balls can be made using a paper cone funnel and table salt fill (3 spoonfuls) instead of sand.

Tennis players regularly throw away old balls. The sand can be obtained from various sources. A 50 pound bag of Ottawa sand is available at building supply stores (lumber yards) for under $5. It is clean, dry, and uniformly sized (one of the uses is in an hourglass) allowing it to go easily through a funnel. Trust me, that is money well spent. If you are up for a challenge (or really frugal) try the following.

Concrete and asphalt producers have suitable (small enough to go through the funnel) sand in huge quantities and have never charged me for a bucket of sand. You can dry the sand on the stove. You will need to sieve/scalp off the largest particles. If you heat at about 200°F. (92° C) you hardly need to stir the sand during drying. Place a small piece of paper on top of the sand - when dry the paper will quit curling.

A drop of glue will seal the hole. (I use "Shoe Goo") Alternately, you can cover the ball with a 9" round balloon (cut the neck off the balloon).

Brought to you by Terry and Kaye Kimpling who are Still Having a Ball.