Lam Tran

THRC 2104

12/19/17

Third activity

Homemade Stress Balloons

Activity Title: Homemade stress balloons

Citation:

Osborn, S., (2017, October). The Spruce. How to make a stress ball, squeeze your tension away

with this diy craft. Retrieved from https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-make-a-stress-ball-

1244219

Mental Health America (2017). Mental Illness and the Family: Recognizing Warning Signs and

How to Cope. Retrieved from http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/recognizing-warning-signs

Bratskeir, K. (2013, April). Huffpost. Stress-relief tools: do these old-fashioned remedies really

work? Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/09/stress-relief-tools-old-

fashioned-remedies_n_3022241.html

Equipment needed:

Balloons

An empty bottle with cornstarch

A funnel
 Markers

Activity Description following guidelines for task analysis.

1. A group can sit at their table

2. Each will get one balloon

3. Everyone will blow up their balloon until it is about 4 to 5 inches, but do not tie it, then

let the air out

4. You can either wrap the balloon around the brim of the bottle that contains cornstarch, or

you can place the funnel inside the opening of the balloon

5. Slowly let the cornstarch slide into the balloon

6. Continue adding cornstarch inside the balloon until it fills up about 3 inches of the

balloon

7. Tie the balloon closed as near to the cornstarch as you can

8. Decorate the stress ball with permanent markers if desired

Primary interaction pattern(s) extraindividual

One researched adaptation specific to a disability group: Mental Illness Disorder

According to the Mental Health America, 54 million Americans suffer from some form of

mental disorder per year. A mental illness disorder is a disease that causes mild to severe

disturbances in thought and/or behavior, resulting in an inability to cope with lifes ordinary

demands and routines. Mental illness disorders also interfere with the abilities in learning, some

basic skills, and higher-level skills. Some of the common disorders are depression, bipolar,
schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders; these mental health problems may be related to excessive

stress due to serious life events, and they effect physical well-being as well as emotional, and

psychological. The idea of stress balls originated in China, and the traditional stress balls are

made out of metal or wood (aka Baoding Balls), which you cant squeeze and you roll them

around your hand; unlike the stress balls in the U.S., we can squeeze them. Your brain will

release a significant amount of cortisol, which is a stress hormone, when you get stressed;

sensory channel, and intellectual channel are trying to make sense of the feelings. Therefore,

when your sensory channel is occupied by squeezing the stress ball, you brain isnt focused on

what stressing you out. With homemade stress ball, it helps mental illness disorders

individuals to release stress by making it, then these individuals can keep it and use it for a long

time. The modification for this activity is that we can replace flour with rice, so it will be easier

for mental illness disorder individuals to transfer from the container to inside of the balloon.