INVITATIONS
- Create big balloon invitations with party details that grow right before your eyes.
Write party details on the surface of an inflated balloon using a permanent felt-tip
pen in a contrasting color. Deflate the balloon and watch the words shrink. Place
the balloon in an envelope and mail it with instructions to blow up the balloon to
read the message.
- Blow up balloons with air or helium and tie off the ends. Write party details on
the surface, place balloons in individual boxes, and hand deliver to guests.
- Write party details on a small piece of paper, roll the paper into a tube, and
insert it into a balloon. Blow up and tie off the balloon. Hand deliver to guests.
The kids will have to pop the balloon to read the party invitation!
COSTUMES
- Have the kids use balloons to create a unique balloon costume to wear to the
party. They might make hats or decorate their shoes with balloons, stuff their clothes
with balloons, or wear the balloons around their ankles and wrists. The kids can
even use deflated balloons, and glue them to an old vest, apron, or tie. Award a
prize - a bouquet of balloons - for best costume.
DECORATIONS
- Decorate with balloons everywhere - the more the merrier. Tie balloons around
the mail box, on the front yard trees, along the roof line, down the driveway, or
around the front door to greet your guests as they arrive.
- Fill the party room with balloons - attached to the door handles and along the
walls, floating or suspended from the ceiling, for a balloon canopy.
- Cut out balloon shapes from colored construction paper and use them as place
mats, wall hangings, and other decorations.
GAMES
- Play Pop-a-Balloon. Tie a balloon around the ankle of each child and let the
kids try to pop one another's balloons by stepping on them. The trick is to keep
their own balloon from being popped by the other players.
- Write challenges on small pieces of paper for each of the kids, such as "Do a
dance," "Kiss a friend," "Sing a song," or "Do a somersault." Stuff one note in
each balloon, blow up balloons, and toss them onto the party floor. Have the kids
try to pop a balloon. When a balloon pops, everyone must stop moving. The guest
who popped the balloon must read the instructions on the note and perform the challenge.
- Play "Who can keep the balloon up in the air the longest" or "Who can pop the most balloons."
ACTIVITIES
- Inflate some long, thin balloons, and teach the kids how to make their own balloon
animals. Instructions are available at a library or at party stores.
- Give the kids felt-tip pens, stickers, and other decorations so they can detail
their balloon animals. Then add paper cutouts for arms and hands, legs and feet, ears and hair.
FOOD
- Make lots of round snacks that look like balloons. Serve round crackers filled
with cheese spread or peanut butter, carrots or zucchini cut into wheels, Spaghetti-Os
served in bowls, or balloon-shaped sandwiches cut with a cookie cutter or a drinking glass.
- Attach "strings" to the balloon treats using thin licorice, string cheese, or other edible "ribbon."
FAVORS
- Give the kids a balloon bouquet to take home. Attach regular balloons onto
straws, or tie helium balloons onto long ribbons.
- Send the kids home with a package of variously sized, uninflated balloons.
- Give the kids a pack of uninflated water balloons to enjoy in their own yard.
- Hand out long, thin balloons so the kids can make their own balloon animals at
home. Enclose printed instructions for creating a simple balloon animal.
VARIATIONS
- Have a clown come to your party and ask him or her to make balloon creatures for all the kids.
- Have a clown come to the party to teach the kids how to make their own balloon animals.
- Plan a water balloon party, get parents' permission, and have the kids bring a set of extra clothes to the party.
HELPFUL HINTS
- Be sure to supervise young children around balloons. Uninflated and popped
balloons pose a choking hazard.
- Have lots of extra balloons on hand, so when they pop, the fun doesn't stop!
- Rent a helium tank from a party store to inflate the bazillion balloons easier.
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