A Fun Skill For Teachers!

My largest creation to date with balloons.  This added a LOT of excitement to a thematic unit on bugs!

If you made a list of the top 10 skills every teacher should have, making things out of balloons would probably not make the cut.  However, I think it is a fun skill for teachers to have and can bring a lot of fun into a classroom.  

I learned how to make things out of balloons over Christmas break one year.  I started with this book which includes all the basics and shows you how to make 46 things.

  The Ultimate Balloon Book

You also need 260 balloons which are the basic balloons used for most projects.  I have used several different kinds but find the ones by Qualatex to be the best.  Other brands always seem to pop when they graze a fingernail.  

I love using balloons in the classroom to engage kids and get them excited about our unit of study.  There is nothing like making something out of a balloon to get kids excited about a new theme!  This works especially well in grades K-2.

This flower made from balloons is a fun way to kick off our spring theme of frogs and flowers

I have taught kids in grades 3 and up how to make a basic dog or other basic animal out of balloons.  I find this is a great way to work on following directions, measurement and estimation.  It is also a lot of fun to use for procedure writing with older kids.

A basic one balloon dog is a fun way to get older students involved in measurement and estimation.  

They are also a great thing to use with mentor texts

I made a fish on a pole as part of a unit on  The Rainbow Fish  this past school year.

Another way I use balloons in the classroom is for celebrating good behavior as part of our school's PBIS.

A balloon hat is a fun way to celebrate good behavior or a special student accomplishment.

Once you know the basic twists and shapes, it is easy to learn how to make really cool projects.  There are several You Tube channels devoted to making things out of balloons and they are so neat!

Here is a video about making the basic dog

I am going to be doing a dinosaur unit next year and will be working on making this T-Rex this summer!

Have you tried using balloons to engage your students?