10 Surprisingly Fun Balloon Activities and Crafts for Kids

In this post you will learn different balloon activities and crafts for kids, so you can have some cheap fun!

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Balloons

Who doesn’t love balloons!? I mean, kids LOVE them, but I think adults do too! It makes me think of the scene at the end of the new Mary Poppins movie where everyone picks a balloon and it makes them fly. What a good feel-good moment!

Balloons are cheap and easy to get. You can buy them at the dollar store, and they have decent balloons. I think that’s where we usually get our balloons, and they have several color options and designs.

Did you know that there are several activities and crafts you can do with balloons besides blowing them all up and then wishing they were all dead by the end of the week? And they are easy, simple, and kids love them! (there’s only one messy one)

Let’s start with the activities.

Balloon Activities

Balloon in the Air

I think kids naturally think of this game on their own. You just try to keep the balloon in the air as long as possible. However, you can mediate it a little. Challenge them to do 2 balloons at a time, or they can only use their feet. You could have them count how many times they can keep it in the air and have them reach a certain number, or see if they can do it for the whole alphabet. Make them work as a team, or compete against each other.

Balloon Toss

This is a lot like balloon in the air, but you toss it. You can do hot potato, which actually becomes challenging because it’s so slow. If it’s summer, you can do water balloon toss, which is just perfect on a hot summer day. Have them move further and further away from each other.

Balloon Volleyball

Raise the stakes a little and create a net (or just use a rope) to set up a volleyball court, just use your balloon as the ball. Make it competitive by doing a tournament. You could also use paper plates as rackets if you don’t want to use your hands. (I guess that would make it more like tennis).

Balloon Relays

Put the balloon between your legs and walk around like a penguin. You can do waddle races around the house. It’s funny, and the kids love seeing their parents participate.

Race Balloons

Race your balloons by lining them up on the floor and having a finish line on the other side of the room. With a paper plate, waft the balloon to the finish line. The first one to cross wins. You could also just blow if you don’t want to use the paper plate.

Balloon Rockets

Make a balloon rocket by placing a balloon on a straw and having it zip across the room on a string. It’s fun, and your kids can learn a little science. To learn how to make Balloon Rockets click here.

Now onto making crafts with balloons.

Crafts with Balloons

Freeze Balloons

I don’t know if you would consider this a craft or an activity, but just add some water to some balloons and put them in the freezer. They don’t have to be water balloons. If it’s cold enough where you live, this would be a good winter activity. You can just put them outside. Kids are very fascinated with this. It’s the little things.

I didn’t think it would be that fun or that big of a deal, but my kids LOVED it. They thought it was so cool. Then they wanted to play with them, lick them, brake them. My son was laughing the whole time. So many things are new to kids. Things you don’t think they will be fascinated with, turn out to be really cool to them. Don’t disregard the simplicity of a craft or activity.

It’s cool to inspect them after they freeze. They look really cool. Maybe next time we will sculpt something. haha.

Coloring balloons

It sounds simple because it is. Kids are simple. Blow up a couple of balloons and have the kids color on them with markers. You could prompt them with making different faces or designs, or just let them go to town.

Paper Mache Balloons

This is a fun messy project! Have the kids make their own paper mache balls by paper maching balloons. Then they can paint them to make a ball, paint a planet, or make their own design.

It’s simple to do. Make a glue solution with some water and Mod Podge, dip some strips of paper into the solution and place it on the balloon. Repeat until you have a smooth ball with multiple layers of paper, let dry, and paint. Here are the step by step instructions.

Balloon Painting

Surprisingly, there are several different ways to paint with balloons. This can also be a messy project, but it’s fun. I was pleasantly surprised by how simple and fun it was. You can read more about how we did it, here. And some other ideas too!

Who knew balloons could be way more fun than just blowing them up? Haha. If you’ve done some fun balloon activities, let me know in the comments below!

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