Rubber Band

Hello. I am a rubber band. I am a small, stretchy circle, and I love to play. I can stretch, stretch, stretch so long, and then, boing. I snap right back to my cozy circle shape. My favorite job is to hug things and hold them together nice and tight. A long, long time ago, before I was around, things could get a little messy. Papers on a desk might get blown by a puff of wind and fly all around the room. Whoosh. It was hard to keep things tidy, but I was on my way to help everyone out.

I was born because of a very clever man named Stephen Perry. He lived in a busy city called London. Mr. Perry was working with a special material that came from trees. It was bouncy and strong and so very stretchy. He knew it could be useful. Then, on a very special day, March 17th, 1845, he had a wonderful idea. He took the stretchy rubber and cut it into a little ring, just like me. He used me to wrap around his letters and papers to keep them all in one neat pile. I was so excited. I finally had a job. I gave his papers a big, snug hug, and none of them could fly away.

Even today, so many years later, I am still a super helper. You can find my rubber band friends all over your house. We might be holding a bunch of yummy carrots together for a snack. Sometimes, I get to help hold your hair in a beautiful ponytail to keep it out of your eyes while you play. We are also great for fun games. It feels so good to be helpful. Even a small, stretchy circle like me can be a big helper and bring lots of things together. It is the best job in the world.