Summer Bucket List: Zoom Ball

June 15, 2011

Zoom Ball is a fun summer toy you can make out of recycled materials (and you might throw in a little science while you are at it!)

You will need:

Two plastic soda bottles (preferably 1-liter, but all we had on hand was 2-liter, so that is what we used)

Two 12-foot lengths of string (we used much less, more like 6 feet)

Two plastic-ring, six-pack holders

Scissors

Masking tape

Cut the bottom off of two soda bottles.

Tape the ends of two bottles together to form a football shape.

Pull two strings through the bottle so that they come through both necks.

Cut a six-pack holder rings apart to form four, two-loop handles. (We needed to vary how long our ropes were depending on how large an arm span the kids had, so we didn't really use these and they aren't really needed.)

Partners hold the two handles on each end of the string. When the "ball" gets to you, you open your arms wide and the "ball" zooms away from you. As soon as it goes, you put your hands back together again so that your partner can send it back to you.