Building your own juggling balls
I always wanted to learn how to juggle. Daniel, a friend of mine, is really good at it, and it’s one of those skills that stay with you and that give you something to do when you are bored (not that that ever happens).
I once went to Cirque du Soleil, and they sold juggling balls in three packs. I bought a set, leather balls filles with lightweight material. I juggled them for a while when in Hawaii, but never got good with them. I can juggle six throws easily, but eight is still elusive.
One day, I got home to find a hole in the tent and in the juggling balls. I immediately thought my contractor had done it and just didn’t want to fess us (he’s known for that). But then it turns out later that the balls are filled with buckwheat, and a mouse took care of eating it.
So now I had to build my own juggling balls… Here’s how I did it.
First, you’ll need nine balloons. You know, the cheap ones you inflate by the dozen. Not fancy, although you can get more than one color, which makes for interesting looks.
Second, you choose a filling material. You can use buckwheat, styrofoam, sand – whatever you like. The higher the density of the material, the heavier the juggling ball.
Third, you fill the balloon with material, until it’s full. Here you blow the balloon up, so that the material settles to the bottom and you can add more on top. Once you are happy with the size of your first ball, fill two more.
Now you need to cut off the top portion of the balloon – the one you’d usually use to inflate it. Keep the filled balloons on one side, and cover the hole in the filled balloon with another balloon. Cover the two balloons again with a thrid balloon, and repeat.
There you have it: three juggling balls.If you want, you can cut small holes in each balloon (except the bottom three, that you fill with material). The holes will make the lower ballon show, which is when different colors come in handy.
I chose red, white, and blue and now I have patriotic balloons, waiting for the 4th of July!