Plastic bag footballs

 World cup fever has come to an end but it doesn't have to stop in Brazil!

One of the activities we did at school in the last term was make plastic bag footballs, and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it, although you can imagine the state of the classroom with 27 nine year olds all making them at the same time.

It's not often I can get my son to do any sort of craft activities (he would much rather be in the garden kicking around a ball) but for some reason he was really keen to partake in this one.

If like me you have a cupboard full of plastic bags that just seems to keep growing because you always forget to bring them with you to reuse at the supermarket then this is a great way to make the most of them. All you need is:

• 1 old newspaper
• 10 plastic bags
• string

 First roll up a few pages of paper into a sphere and then continue to wrap more paper around it one sheet at a time so it is smooth and round.

 Once you have your desired size place into the corner of a plastic bag, twist around the top and then fold back over and tie the ends. Continue to add plastic bags, pulling tight to keep the ball solid.

Once you have covered the ball with all the bags then secure them in place by wrapping a piece of string tightly around it. If it is wrapped equally it makes it easier to weave the next piece of string through it.

Using a second piece of string, keep weaving it over and under the first piece to evenly cover the ball and make sure there are no bits of bag hanging loose. This is quite difficult for the kids but great fun for adults so is a good chance for you to join in.

Secure the string by knotting the ends and cut of any stray pieces of string off to avoid it coming loose. Your ball is then ready to start kicking around.

The idea of the plastic bag football actually came from children in poorer countries of the world that don't have access to expensive leather balls or even the cheaper plastic versions so they took the initiative to make their own. To see a proper tutorial then search YouTube to see how they do it.

So if your kids have the habit of leaving their ball at the park or keep kicking it over the neighbours garden then have no fear, they can just make themselves another one (or you can have fun making it for them)