Homeschooling Just Next Door: Learning and Creating with Balloons

It started with my mom's gift of twistable balloons.

There were directions on how to make numerous animals and flowers.

Unfortunately, the balloons must have been old or seconds.

They wouldn't twist and turn as they were suppose to.

More times than not, the balloon burst.

While the older children kept attempting the different animals,

our youngest opted to make a coiled snake.

Then, they all decided to pull out the various balloons we have in the house,

which included water balloons and regular balloons.

Water balloons filled with air became an instant fascination.

They created flowers and learned about static,

which got me thinking:

What else could we learn and create with balloons?

I was reminded me of last month's solar system display where we used various balloon sizes to represent the different planets {an idea from Exploring Creation with Astronomy}.

Then, I remembered last year's scented balloon activity.

I thought about books we have read in the past.

Fun Books we have read about Balloons

Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade, by Melissa Sweet
The Big Balloon Race, by Eleanor Coerr

All of this spurred me onward to find more lessons, demonstrations, and activities which used balloons, and can potentially be incorporated into future lessons.

Some of these ideas are listed below.