Ways to Entertain a Cat (that don't require $$)  

Our cat loves rubber bands. The cat we had before this one loved the plastic rings that go around the caps of milk jugs. We've given up on buying toys since he prefers rubber bands or my kids toys (legos, polly pockets, dominos, etc).

Do you or anyone you know smoke? The cellophane wrappers on cig. packages are awesome entertainment for a cat. Do you have any old clothes you don't like? Cut out colorful squares and thread a long peice of thread through a corner and tie the other end to a seldom used door way, you can do this with beads and dried beans too though it takes a handful of them to make a really nice, noisy toy that they will like. I tried macaroni but that is easily broken and makes a mess. Good luck!

Our cats love the ties from baggies and take a piece of paper and roll it up like your aluminum ball.

Do you have an old cardboard box or paper bag? Cats absolutely love to play in those, especially if you throw a ball or something into one from far away.

well string of any sort, peekaboo with old clothes that you don't wear, my kitten likes paper bags and paper boxes, also straws if you have them, pencils, tops of bottles or even a empty bottle rolling across the floor and strange as it sounds strands of long hair, pieces of paper cut up paper in long strips or maybe old electric cords that you do not use perhaps wrapped around the aluminum ball.

A stick with a string ,with a feather at the end.
Endless entertainment.

My cats can keep themselves entertained with a couple strips of paper. You can use a sales receipt, a ripped-off piece of notebook paper, or a tissue paper. My cats also seem to like socks...