Looking for an easy way to beat boredom or a project for a rainy day? Summer is the perfect time to gather some recyclable materials and create an Inertia Zoom Ball. One afternoon, we spent a few minutes together creating this fun toy and have played with it daily since!
You can even sneak a little science lesson in with the simple project! The property of inertia refers to an object's resistance to change in motion (inertia is what you feel when your car turns in a curve--your body wants to keep moving in a straight line, even though the car is changing directions). The Zoom Ball demonstrates the Law of Inertia, discovered by Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th century (an object in motion will remain in motion, unless some outside force starts or stops the object).
Items You Will Need:
- scissors
- tape
- two 12 feet lengths of string
- two empty 20 oz or 1 liter plastic bottles
- plastic rings from a 6-pack of cans, cut into individual rings
Assembling your Inertia Zoom Ball is simple! Just follow these steps:
- Cut the bottoms out of each of the two plastic bottles.
- Stick the two cut ends together and secure with tape to form a football shape.
- Feed the two lengths of string through one opening of the football and out the other end.
- Secure a plastic ring on each end of the string, feeding the string through a plastic loop and knotting until you have created four handles.
To play with the Inertia Zoom Ball, have each player stand facing one another with handles in each hand. Step apart until the two strings are taunt. Be sure to hold the handles tightly and leave about a fist width of space between the handles (so the ball does not hit the players' knuckles). While holding tightly, one player can pull their hands apart and send the bottle zooming to the other player. Once it arrives, the second player can pull his hands apart to send it zooming back!
Enjoy your inertia ball--great for fun indoors or out!
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