The balloon room: a bag of balloons, 20 minutes of chaos
Not one balloon over a net: a whole bag of them, filling a room. Three quick games, then the cleanup becomes the last race.
- Time
- 45 min
- Cost
- About $10
- Ages
- 4 to 8
- Where
- One small room
What you need
- A bag of 30 to 50 latex balloons in a few colors
- A hand balloon pump
- One laundry basket or box per color
- A phone timer
- A trash bag for popped pieces
Before you start
- You blow up every balloon. Kids under 8 can choke on balloons, sometimes by sucking one in while trying to blow it up. Keep the empty ones up high.
- Stop for every pop. Freeze the game and put every piece in the trash bag before play goes on. No stomping or sitting on balloons to pop them.
- Clear the room. Lamps, glasses and anything breakable go out, the door shuts, and nobody jumps off furniture into the pile.
- Latex allergy? Balloons are a common latex product. If anyone in the house is allergic, use latex-free balloons.
Steps
- Blow them up ahead. Pump up 30 to 50 balloons ahead of time. Put the empty leftovers up high.
- The big reveal. Count down at the door, open it, and give them two free minutes in the balloons.
- Balloon swim. Belly-swim across the room. Then you call a color and they swim to fetch one.
- Keep them all up. One-minute timer: keep as many balloons up as you can. Count the ones on the floor. Beat it.
- Color-sort race. Two-minute race: every balloon into the basket of its color. Count each basket and name the winner.
- Sweep and put away. Sweep the room for pieces. You deflate the balloons or bag them up high for next time.
If it stalls
- If it turns into whacking each other, call a freeze and go straight to the color-sort race.
- If one kid hogs the pile, give each kid a corner and their own colors.
Fewest on the floor · winning color
Signed off: can do this.Signed by Date