Hana, from London, shows us how to create this great mini hoop game. Let’s take a look at it…

What did you do?

M I N I H O O P S

So this one was purely inspired by the interesting shaped box that we get Herb’s Oatly milk in. It made me think of the stand that supports a basketball hoop.

I improvised the design as I went (and that shows, it’s not brilliant) but that’s half the fun of a freestyle process right?

I only checked the size of our ball pit balls at the last minute and they just fit in the hoop.

You need:

  • Easiest with box that holds 6 cartons of milk (but your could just cut the shape from any box)
  • Pringles tube (or similar), cardboard off cuts
  • Lid of a Starbucks Frappuccino cup or you could cut from the bottle of any plastic bottle
  • Some net (satsuma bag?)
  • Scissors or craft knife
  • Glue or sticky tape

How to:

• Create the outer structure
• Cut a thin section from your Pringles tube for the hoop
• Stick your netting to the hoop
• Use a small rectangle of cardboard to connect the hoop to the frame
• Create an elevated base for the ball catcher to sit on (I used the bottom of the Pringles tube) and stick to the bottom of the box
• Cut a wide V in your Starbucks lid and stick upside down to your elevated base
• Create a slightly inclined ramp for the ball to roll down and stick to the bottom of the box – scoring the cardboard and turning up the edges will guide the ball

Happy balling!!

I was envisaging that we’d sit back and throw our balls but that ain’t happening anytime soon. Even I’ve only managed it once and, randomly, that was for taking this video .

We can obvs just use it like a ball drop but currently Herb’s still a bit heavy handed so he’s pushing the hoop down and the ball is popping out the back .

So it’s rather flawed but I love imperfect and I’ll def keep it for the future and possibly even make a new and improved version.

Do you have any other projects planned?

Oh my goodness, so many!!!! Since the start of lockdown I’ve been making a big parking garage out of cardboard. Need a couple more hours to get it finished.

Tell the Housebound With Kids community a bit about yourself…

Hi, Hana here , solo mum to Herbert (16 mo) and Rocky the dog, living in London.
@thetrashymummy

How are you finding being housebound so far?

I’ve mainly enjoyed it to be honest. I’m quite a homebody and love pottering about so I’ve been lucky. It’s also given me the time to really get into crafting and making toys for Herb which I’m loving.

Do you have any tips for other parents?

I think having a rough routine to follow is really important.

Has this website and community helped you?

I think it’s great, wish I’d found it sooner. Really simple navigation and love the categorization.