All of my boys will be celebrating their birthdays very soon. N and M have grand party plans, involving cake (the chocolate kind of course), games and balloons. We had a balloon wall at their last birthday party. This year, their grand party plans involve lots and lots of balloons. Mr E is also mad about balloons. He has the most gorgeous sad puppy dog face when a balloon deflates or pops.

 
With all the balloon talk happening at our home, it seems fitting to share some fun ways to play with balloons, because play matters, and from what I have seen (and heard), kids simply love balloons. I’ve also put together a list of 12 fun balloon activities for children. Of course, please be cautious about balloons being a choking hazard and use parental supervision accordingly.

 
Happy playing!

Activities for Children: Balloon Games

	← Squishy Balloon Painting by Lessons Learnt Journal → Alphabet Letter Sounds: n is for nose by Lessons Learnt Journal
	← Bird in a Cage by Lessons Learnt Journal → Balloon Play (eye tracking) by Lessons Learnt Journal
	← Back Yard Water Park by Learning 4 Kids  → Floating Fish by At Home with Ali
	← Secret Water Balloon Fight Delivery by Pennies of Time → Squeezy Ball by Laughing Kids Learn
	← Bouncy Balloon Painting by Picklebums → Static Electricity Experiment by Kids Activities Blog
	← Story Skittles by My Little Bookcase → Water Bottle Fountain by Learn with Play at Home

 
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Most of these ideas are from our Kids’ Co-Op. If you have a child focused post to share, be sure to come back and visit the Kids’ Co-Op link up here at Lessons Learnt Journal, (published and live here every Wednesday at 10PM CST or Thursday 2PM AEST).

More Activities for Preschoolers

Three to Five: Playful Preschool is stuffed to the brim with tried, tested and loved playful learning ideas for preschoolers. There are 25+ ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources and additional links to over 50 more activities. A great resource for parents. Download your copy here.

The post Activities for Children: Balloon Games by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

 Materials
Balloons of various shapes, colours and patterns
Masking Tape
A wall

Notes from the Trenches

Tie a piece of string/ribbon to the end of the balloon and stick the string/ribbon to the wall using masking tape. This is harder than it sounds, especially when you have to place the balloons close to each other.

I purchased a hand balloon pump thinking it would make light work of inflating all the latex balloons we had ordered. I am glad we did have the pump, as I can’t imagine blowing up all these balloons; but even with the pump, it took us about 2 hours to finish our balloon wall. So, plan for ample time to inflate the balloons and stick them onto the wall.

It’s also worth purchasing good quality masking tape. We used a pretty ordinary one and the balloons kept falling off the wall. Most frustrating to us who set up the wall, but the kids enjoyed it. They looted whatever fell off the wall, (which made packing up easier for us).

 The kids gasped when they first saw the balloon wall. They knew something special was happening. It’s a fun visual way to mark the celebration of a special occassion. It’s also a beautiful backdrop for those special celebration photos. We’ll be creating more balloon walls for future celebrations; and hopefully next time we start constructing the wall at 8pm rather than 1am.

May 2012

The post Parties: Balloon Wall by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

Gross motor skills are not only essential for moving around and playing; they are also crucial for fine motor development. Our control over our whole body impacts the way our hands function. We need a stable base from which our arms and hands can operate. Our trunks need to be strong and stable to hold us up. We need to be able to turn and rotate our bodies to reach for objects in all directions and to cross the midline . We need shoulder, elbow and wrist stability. All these gross motor skills help us hold and maintain our grasp on objects, to be able to move objects and to get our hands in exactly the right position to manipulate and move efficiently.

Here’s a KISS (Keep It Short & Simple) activity that focuses on the gross motor skill of eye tracking.

All you need are balloons.

Have children pat the balloons and try to keep them off the floor.

Extend this activity by having the children pat the balloons to each other.

N & M: 3 years, 9 months
E: 1 year, 8 months

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Eager to provide a slimy opportunity, we kicked off the week making string birdcages. It sounded simple enough to make: blow up a balloon; wet string with glue mixture; wrap it around the balloon until it resembles a cage.

 
As with all our slimy activities, a tub of water was nearby for N & M to rinse their hands.

 
The tub of water makes the activity more bearable for them, but before I knew it, they were more interested in playing with the tub of water…

 
… and blowing bubbles.

 
I then started wrapping string around the balloon, hoping that they would follow my lead and continue with the craft. It worked for a few more minutes, but they soon returned to the tub of water and blowing bubbles. Oh well, at least they gave the slimy craft a good try and without complaints.

 
I consider the rest of the craft as mummy therapy. It’s so easy to forget craft is also fun and relaxing for adults. (I can get so absorbed in the world of kiddy crafts). I continued wrapping string around the balloons. It’s been awhile since I’ve done craft myself. I think I had too much fun with it because I wrapped too much string around the balloons!

 
I let the balloons dry for a day. Then cautiously, I deflated the balloons and took them out, leaving balls of string which were now my birdcages.

 
Then, using some black felt, I cut out silhouettes of nightingales. I sewed some thread to the silhouettes and attached it to the birdcages. I wished that I had not gone overboard with the amount of string I wrapped on the balloons, because the birds are hard to spot through the masses of yarn, but hey I was enjoying the moment.

 
Lesson learnt: mummies need craft time too.

N & M: 3 years and 4 months

Mummy: who’s counting?

This post was shared in the following linky parties:

No Time for Flash Cards Link & Learn

After School

Living Life Intentionally

It’s Playtime

The Nurture Store Play Academy

Kids Art Explorers: Yarn

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