If you do a lot of work at the computer, you probably deal with issues like wrist pain. Having support for your wrist can help prevent issues like carpal tunnel that you may have to deal with regularly. A pool noodle can provide the perfect support for your wrist.
The best part is there’s nothing to glue or screw in so you can remove it or place it on your desk as needed. This will be attached to the side of your table or desk, so you, once again, want to cut lengthwise along the noodle so you can slip it over the side. An easy DIY that just takes a few minutes!
Once your kids feel comfortable swimming and stop using the pool noodle in the swimming pool, it doesn’t mean the fun has to stop there. You can transform the pool noodle into a whole other toy. Already your kids were probably bopping each other on the head like a lightsaber, to begin with, so why not make it official.
Pool noodles are already the perfect color for lightsabers, so add some duct tape around the bottom and decorate it with a sharpie to make it look like a lightsaber handle or have your kids do their own as a fun project. The pool noodle lightsaber for sure makes a safer alternative to the hard plastic ones they sell.
One problem you always have to worry about when driving your kids around is how rambunctious they can be. Particularly when you’ve been driving around for a while, kids can be anxious about getting out of the car and will swing that door open just as soon as you turn the car off.
And when they do that, that means they can hit something, like a wall, or even worse, someone else’s car! Eliminate the risk of that by cutting off a small piece of pool noodle and placing it on the end of your car door – obviously, the part that sticks out the furthest. It will be almost impossible for them to scratch your car, or another, and will reduce the risk of dents too.
You can use almost anything as a door stopper but making one from a pool noodle offers its own advantages. For one, during breezy days when you have the windows open, the cushioning prevents the door from slamming shut. It also sticks onto the door so you don’t have to keep kicking your door stopper out of the way.
Because the pool noodle is easy to cut, you can create just about any shape you like with it too. The pool noodle will stay on easy so as you bring groceries in or carry laundry in and out of your room, you can just push the door open when your hands are full.
If there’s one thing that’s bad about having a lot of electronics, it’s having a lot of cables everywhere. It’s easy to make your home look messy and disorganized with all those loose cables but by grouping them together you can make your space look neater. Pool noodles can make the perfect cable sleeves to help you get organized.
Pool noodles cut lengthwise and wrapped around cords can help you keep your cables straight and prevent tangling. And, basically, you can consolidate all your wires into one larger one. You’ll want to cut the noodle according to the size of your cables and you can secure the noodle with zip ties.
Fractions and measurements in math or science can be difficult for some kids to learn. It’s difficult to grasp the concept of a fraction unless you can really see it with your own eyes. That’s why kids usually have to draw graphs and pie charts and all that to get it.
But you can produce something even more tangible for children by cutting up that old pool noodle nobody is using anymore. Cut it into fourths, cut it into eights or transform it into a ruler. How big is a meter compared to a foot? Show them by cutting them into the appropriate lengths.
A trampoline can be a great way for kids to expel all that excess energy they have but they aren’t also without a downside. They can be dangerous if your kid isn’t careful and part of what makes them a little dangerous are those springs that go around the trampoline. That’s the only part that’s not safe.
However, you can make your trampoline safer by covering up those springs with some DIY trampoline liners made from pool noodles. Cut your pool noodles up at the appropriate length, and make a slit down the length of it, and place them around your trampoline. So now if your kid ever falls on the springs, they won’t get hurt.
Love fishing? It’s a great activity for the whole family, provided they have patience for it. Have your poles at the ready and get ready for your next camping trip by creating a fishing pole holder with pool noodles and a plank of wood. This one might seem a little more complicated, but we promise it’s not!
To make your holder, you’ll need to measure out a pool noodle based on how many poles you need it to carry and cut it to that length. Cut some slits space evenly apart because these are what will hold the poles in place. Then take your plank of wood and use that as a base. You can drill a hole large enough to keep the handle secure and you can screw the pool noodle into the wall so that’s secure as well.
Lincoln logs were always one of my favorite toys as a child because you could build your dream cabin with them and go as crazy as you wanted with it and then you get to destroy it at the end. When you turn your pool noodles into Lincoln Logs, you can take the fun up a notch.
If you have enough pool noodles, cutting them into life-size Lincoln logs and building a house with them is even more fun because kids can go in that house. Whoever thought of this is truly genius, but this would definitely work better with the jumbo-size pool noodles than the thinner ones.
Cut your pool noodles in half, lengthwise, and turn them into a race track. The larger pool noodles would work best for Hot Wheels while the thinner ones would work best for something like marbles. Either way, this is a more cost-effective solution for your kids than those expensive race track sets.
And it’s a lot easier to cut a pool noodle than it is to assemble one of those tracks with a million different pieces, and even worse – the decals. Yikes! The best part about pool noodle race tracks, your kids can’t really break them either. It’s a win-win for everyone because kids never enjoy a toy for that long anyway.
The most difficult part about giving your baby a bath in one of those baby tubs is that it is so difficult to keep them sitting up straight in the tub as you bath them. They just seem to keep slipping into the tub and you gotta do your best to keep them from getting dunked underwater.
However, there may be a solution if you have a pool noodle lying around. You can cut off a piece of it and create a seat for your baby in their tub. They can rest their little bottom on that and do all the splashing in the tub they want, without you getting a headache worrying about keeping them up straight.
Moving your toddler out of the crib and into a bed? They may have trouble staying on the bed as they travel around the bed at night, tossing and turning. Heck, my child still does and he’s six years old. But I digress. By creating a safe barrier around the perimeter of their bed, you can prevent them from falling off.
Place the bed guards around the perimeter of the bed and underneath the sheets and they should have a nice safeguard to prevent them from slipping off the bed and getting injured. And since it’s soft, it’s not going to affect their ability to sleep. You can also place them around the rails of a bunk bed for protection as well!
If you have glass tables in your home or even just glass you are currently working with and you don’t want anything to happen to it or to someone who comes in contact with it, you can use pool noodles to form glass guards to place around the edges and corners.
Just cut the noodle to the right size and make a slit along the length to fit it on. This will be particularly useful if you have child guests over that maybe like to run around and are likely to get hurt. Kids are really good at finding interesting ways to get hurt by being reckless so bumping into a glass table would be no problem for them.
If you have kids or pets, you probably have this problem all the time: retrieving stuff from underneath your couch or sofa. Cats and kids alike just seem to love playing around the sofa and losing stuff under there and they sometimes send you off looking for that stuff, only for you, yet again to discover that their toys are under there again.
To save you time from having to look for stuff under the couch and move your furniture around, you can just block your kids and pets from getting stuff under there in the first place. Create a barrier under the couch with pool noodles that are malleable and can easily fit under there.
Pool noodles aren’t just for nifty practical applications and toys; they can be used to make decorations too! The flexibility of the pool noodle and light weight makes it ideal for something like a wreathe that should be light weight so that you can hang it on your door or the front of your car.
Bend your pool noodle it the shape of a circle and attach the ends and you have the perfect base for a wreathe for Christmas - or really any holiday – since we are thinking outside the box here. Cover it up enough with materials and nobody will ever know that it was made from a pool noodle in the first place.
Trying to keep your shoes looking neat and organized in your closet? That can be really difficult with boots that have soft tops. Plus, you don’t want them to form creases over time just sitting there in your closet. But you can use a pool noodle to help keep the shape of your boots.
Just cut off a couple parts of the pool noodle – enough length for your boots – and then insert them into your shoes. Pool noodles are pretty easy to cut so there’s little risk involved. You might also know this as a boot tree but this one is completely free, provided you already have a pool noodle on hand.
Once you wash your paintbrushes or makeup brushes, it’s important to let them dry completely before using them again. But that can be difficult if you have them just sitting on your counter or shoved in a drawer somewhere. But where should you do that where you won’t make a mess?
Create a drip-dry rack for your paintbrushes or makeup brushes using a pool noodle. Cut your pool noodle to your desired length for all your brushes and create slits for your brushes without cutting all the way to the center. And be sure to give them plenty of space apart! Then cut lengthwise on the other side and you can attach your dry rack to a table or countertop.
Pool noodles aren’t just for the summer when you think outside the box! One of the most annoying parts about the winter months is worrying about all that snow getting into your home. If that gets in there, you’ve got a real mess on your hands. But there is a solution!
You can make a snow barrier for your home that you can place in your garage. Use pool noodles and duct tape to form a rectangle as a frame for your tarp. Make sure the area for the tarp exceeds the size of your car so that you have plenty of room to park.
Have trouble with critters in your backyard eating your flowers, veggies and fruits? You may want to consider protecting your garden. But you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg buying some fancy garden tent when you can just make one for yourself and place it over a garden box or bed.
To create your own garden tent, you’ll just need a few pool noodles, some sticks and some barbed chicken wire. The pool noodle will provide you with the perfect frame for your garden tent. Use some sticks or garden steaks and rest the noodles through the holes at each end. Then drape the chicken wire over the whole thing and you are good to go!
The roof rack on your car can easily harm the materials and items you place on top if you aren’t careful. You can help risk damage to these items by using some padding on your roof racks. But what makes the perfect padding for your roof rails? I bet you know where I’m going with this…
Yes, pool noodles. You can cut them up and place them on your roof rails before you secure the items. That way, if they shift as you are driving, the items won’t get scratch or dinged up. Pool noodles make the perfect padding because they are so thick and the perfect shape for your rails.
If you have an SUV especially, you probably have an issue with groceries and other items shifting in your truck as you drive around. And if stuff falls out of the bags, you have to load the bags up all over again. And if it’s something like a potted plant you got in the back, then you have a mess on your hands.
But you can make a barrier for your trunk and keep your items more secure in the back. Because the pool noodle is so malleable, it can really fit into any size trunk. There’s also no cutting required because you can just prop it into place. Put one of these in your SUV trunk and you won’t have to worry about wine bottles or your milk falling onto driveway as soon as you open it.
No animal, dog nor cat, enjoys the cone of shame. But if you don’t want your cats biting or scratching because of fleas or a recent surgery they had, you can make their experience a little more comfortable for them by making your own cone of shame with pool noodles. However, nothing can erase the psychological damage of it.
This one is really creative, but you can do it too! First you’ll need to measure your pet’s neck. Then, cut some twine with a little extra to spare. Use a knife to cut some small sections into the noodle to increase flexibility and range of motion. String the twine through the noodle and tie it together like a collar.
Out of packing material and need to ship something? Pool noodles can help you there. Cut up as much as you need and use them to secure the items you ship. They can be especially useful for fragile, flat items, because you can protect the edges and corners of the item.
Placing the pool noodles in a shipping box can help prevent any item from shifting during the shipping process much better than that popcorn stuff can, because it is soft but firm. Its also lightweight so it won’t add to the shipping cost. Just be sure to use bubble wrap still to protect the rest of the item.
For all those out there that love quilting, we have the perfect quilting storage hack for you. Use a pool noodle as a dowel and you can easily store your quilt in your closet, under the bed or wherever you want. Just wrap your quilt around it and unravel it when you are ready to work on it.
Using the noodle as a dowel will help you stay more organized since you can keep easier track of last thing you were working on. It also helps you save space as we mentioned above in terms of storage. But on top of this, it also lets you minimize your working space because you don’t have to lay the whole thing out.
The one issue everyone with an outdoor canopy has to deal with is water accumulation. When it rains, water is just going to pool at the top, and if you have to figure out a way to drain it or just wait for it to accumulate bacteria until it eventually evaporates.
But you can prevent that by draining the water instantly. Prop up a portion of your canopy in the middle and the water should drain from the top rather than you having a hidden bacteria swimming pool that you never asked for. The pool noodle is long and flexible enough to fit the length of the canopy and you shouldn’t need to do any cutting because you just wedge it under the poles.
Having a pool means you are probably going to go through a lot of towels. You can dry your towels a lot faster by letting them dry outside. The problem is not many people have a towel drying rack in their backyard. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make one!
Use a PVC pipe to create your own towel rack and place a pool noodle over it to add some interesting color to it. Adding the pool noodle over the pipe doesn’t just make it look better, it will also help the towel air out better and give it more support so that it doesn’t slip off the pipe.
Laying out in the sun to get a tan is one of the most popular pastimes for the summer but it certainly has its downsides when it's super hot outside. As nice as it can be to just bask in the sun on a lounge chair, sometimes that can be incredibly uncomfortable when the chair gets too hot.
Outdoor lounge chair arms can get especially hot because they are usually made of harder materials that keep the heat it. You can help prevent them from burning your skin just as soon as your touch them by making a slit in a pool noodle and wrapping them around the arms of the chair. Genius!
Create a DIY sprinkler for your plants or your kids to play in using a pool noodle. It’s a great way for your kids to beat the heat for a bit or as a means to water your garden bed when you are feeling really lazy. This sprinkler system is so easy, we’re mad we didn’t even think of it.
All you need to do is poke some holes through your pool noodle, along a straight line, in order for water to escape. Then you want to block the end of the noodle to create pressure and prevent water escape from the other side of the noodle. Then insert your hose, turn it on – and there you go!
Transform your one pool noodle into dozens of toy sail boats. You already know the stuff floats, so it makes it the perfect hull for your boat. This is an excellent craft for kids to get involved in. And best of all, you probably already have all the other materials that you need in order to make it.
Cut small sections of the pool noodle to use as hulls for your boats. You can use a straw for your mast and paper for your sail. Foam paper would work best but you could probably use any thick construction paper. Cut the paper into a rectangle shape and slip the straw through and then slip the bottom of your “mast” partly through your hull.
Love lounging out in the pool but got no way to serve your drinks? This pool serving tray is an amazing idea. You will need a few more materials to make this tray, however, in addition to a pool noodle. But it should prove perfectly stable for whatever you are serving on it, making it totally worth it.
First up, you’ll need some kind of plastic tray, rounded, to use as your base. Cut the noodle lengthwise all the way to the hollow center. Then use hot glue to secure the border of your tray and bond the pool noodle around the tray. If you want to add a fun design to the pool noodle, you can do that as well with some paint.
Not everything has to have practical use. Like the wreaths, you can use your pool noodle to create some interesting décor for a kid’s room. Take these colored pencil decorations for instance. These can be done yourself or with your kids if they need something to do. It’s fun for the whole family!
Cut your pencils down to the desired size. Then, take some tan construction paper and roll it into a cone shape, using tape or glue to hold the shape together. Then just paint the tip of your colored pencil the same color as the corresponding pool noodle and you got yourself a pretty cool art-themed decoration.
