Here are 20 Fantastic Things to do with Balloons for your next Kids Birthday Party
Do your kids love balloons? Do they have to get a balloon in every restaurant or beg for balloons at the Dollar or Party Store? Shower your child with these ideas for balloons for a birthday party they'll never forget. We've got some great ideas from our own blog, and we've found several ways to decorate for a balloon birthday party from Pinterest. Enjoy!
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What is a Balloon Glow Festival? Giant Hot Air Balloons with Fun Shapes at the Indianapolis 500 Track!
Benefits truly abound when living near a capital city. We live about 15 minutes from downtown Indy and a few minutes from the Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway. When I saw a tweet inviting everyone to the Centennial Celebration at the track, I immediately 'Googled' it. Just in the nick of time!
The Indianapolis 500 Race Track Start/Finish Line.
In celebration of the Track Centennial and the first hot air balloon race held there, a special balloon glow was held in Indy in May. The balloons were on display and began 'glowing' at dusk, and the evening ended with fireworks! This was well worth the money :-) Totally Free! My kids woke up anxious to check the early morning sky for the balloon race. Memories were made. Way to go IMS, you made our day!
Energizer Bunny Balloon goes up slowly. He is over 60' tall and cannot participate in the race due to size. Here, he looks like he is doing push-ups! Bunny and Balloon Coloring Sheet
A crowd pleaser, staff handed out Energizer bunny balloon ears to all attendees.
Hot Air Balloon Glow at dusk in Indianapolis.
Hot Air Balloon Festival.
United Truck Hot Air Balloon.
Mayhem disliked the fire. At first, Jake did too. He wanted to stay on the pavement and admire the balloons from a distance until he saw the truck.
Daddy took him to touch the bumper and everything changed...
That's one happy face! He got to make the fire.
Balloon #21 is the Breast Cancer Awareness Balloon. Special thanks to the crew! They were so nice and patient! Jake even got to light the balloon. His little body shook all over as he pulled on the mechanism to start the flame, but you can see from his face- it was worth it. He begged to take a ride!
In the morning, he awoke bright and early because he wanted to race his balloon. Unfortunately, he was only allowed to peek up into the sky in hopes of catching a glimpse of the balloons in flight.
First, I'll share my process in making the balloon birthday cupcake decoration. You know, the giant balloon that's all over YouTube and Facebook? You'll need to pack a party load of patience to make that balloon cupcake decoration. If you're a mom who drinks wine, maybe step one should be a few sips of a nice Riesling. If you want to make a giant balloon birthday cupcake for baby's first birthday party, even with my simplified method, you're going to need a few hours and at least one faithful friend. Ready? Read on for my Balloon Birthday Cupcake Tutorial!
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How to Make Balloon Cupcake for Birthday Party YouTube
This was my process, it's real. If you want to cut to the chase, scroll down for detailed instructions on how to make a giant balloon cupcake.
Step One
Refuse to take money from your friend. She offered $75 and dinner. Plan in your head how they must've created the giant balloon cupcake. Draw it out on paper. Watch the videos below. Realize you got it all wrong. Decide you can't do it. Give up.
Balloon Birthday Cupcake Seen on Pinterest YouTube Tutorial
Step Two
Think about it some more. Try it your way. Realize it is going to be tedious. Give up, but remember your blog's motto is, "You can do it!" He's a professional, he must know the easiest way to do it, right?
Maybe this one is easier? (It's not,)
Step Three
Watch videos again. Decide to really pay attention. Have a glass of wine Use the easiest steps from each video. Realize this is completely ridiculous and only a professional balloon designer can make these. This is why the florist said they'd make one for you for $300.
Think about it some more. You're no quitter! You can do it! After all, that's what this blog is all about. Try it your way again. This time with more confidence. Start with a tiny prototype. Watch one more YouTube tutorial on how to make a giant balloon cupcake like the ones on Pinterest. Decide you deserve a nap.
Wow, she seems fun and nice. This isn't a cupcake, bur realize the concept is the same. The skill level is still difficult. It doesn't look easy when they do it. Think about that. They are trying to make it look easy! It's not...
Step Five
Share your tiny prototype with friend who hopes to have the best one year old's first birthday party ever! She's so patient. She trusts you. She has complete faith in you. You find this rattling. But, you're determined. Go back to STEP ONE. Create the balloon cupcake, the way you imagined it was constructed. Listen to friend cheering you on, "See, I knew you could do it." Think friend is nuts. This looks nothing like those giant balloon cupcakes. She's tired, she's over it, she just wants something after all of this effort. You know she's thinking, $300 would've been a lot easier.
Realize it's not perfect, but it will do. Just show it's good side. Reconsider making these for a living. Realize $75 is a great price, understand why the florist wanted to charge $300. THEY ARE SMARTER THAN YOU ARE, THEY DON'T WANT TO DO IT!
Refuse to ever make another one, even though you know full well, that the next one will be better. You learned from your mistakes. You know how to make it straight. You know the ins and the outs. Baby, there isn't enough wine in the world...
What you say? Where are the tiny balloon sprinkles? Well, I ought a.... We bought tiny balloons, we taped them on with duct tape. They looked dumb. I'm sure you need the tiny, long balloons used for balloon animals. I didn't feel like another trip to the store! Sharpies, worked just fine. Pink and purple Sharpies would've been nice though.
Step Six
Take it to the giant balloon cupcake to the party. (That seems like a simple step doesn't it? Well, it's not!) Disassemble the giant balloon cupcake in as few pieces as possible. Place it in the trunk of your hatchback, crossover SUV. Ha, ha. ha. Jokes on you. Panic. You're going to be late to the party. Read text from very patient friend, "Where are you?" Panic some more, don't answer text. Notice your Dad's Trailblazer in the driveway (he left it there so you could get some giant rolls of carpet for the house.) Open the hatch, say a little prayer. It fits! Thank goodness the party is less than five minutes away.
It's three pieces!
Step Seven
Pull up at the church. Rush to get the balloon inside the door. The door, yet another obstacle. See everyone ooh and ahh as you enter. If you've ever been on stage, you know how applause feels. This feels like that. Think, maybe you could make these for a living. After all, this was the first attempt. Surely, it would get easier each time? And, you certainly know what NOT to do.
Don't worry, I had to blur baby's face, she's a beautiful baby in the process of adoption.
So, now you've seen the videos, you've read my process leading up to it, here's the UNCONVENTIONAL giant balloon birthday cupcake tutorial. May the force be with you!
Sit down with the laundry basket in your lap. Starting with the second column of holes, tie a PINK balloon to the vertical weave in the basket (between the holes.) Skip every other hole. Do this all the way around the basket. Our basket had vertical line holes, some have circular holes.
Balloons will move, don't worry about this now. Depending on the spacing of your basket's holes, you may need to skip the next row. If you see the basket between the balloons, use every row. If not, use every other row. Got it? You will after a few rows.
Note there are only two rows of holes, I tied two balloons to each vertical strip to get a line of four balloons tall.
The balloons want to escape, the don't stay orderly. Don't worry about this until you've got them all tied down.
Once all pink balloons are tied down, you can then gently push them to arrange them in a straight (ish) line. For the balloon's white cupcake frosting top, I used the process in the ice cream cone video from above. I connected six white balloons together to create somewhat of a circle. I made a separate grouping of four white balloons for the topper and then tied the red balloon in the center with fishing line.
Balloons are willy-nilly, but can be arranged at the final stage.
Here you can see, that the cupcake is 3 separate pieces.
So, how do you attach the balloon sections together? I was going to tie them with fishing line as demonstrated in the first Balloon Cupcake YouTube Tutorial, but that proved too complicated for me. Also, I kept popping the balloons. I tried duct tape, but you could see it. In the end, I didn't connect the pieces at all and was thankful for this when it was time to load the balloon for delivery.
Get the Cupcake lanterns and Pinata from Oriental Trading. Baby's face is blurred to protect identity.
The cupcake's purpose was for a photo shoot for a very special baby's first birthday party. The cupcake wasn't perfect, it had a bad side, but we just turned it to the good side! Photo shoot was amazing! Baby is beautiful, but we aren't permitted to share her face here. Just know, she was tickled to death with her giant cupcake!
Arvind Gupta makes toys from trash on his fabulous website offering many recycle crafts for kid, arvindguptatoys.com He offers a great how to make a balloon car tutorial printable pdf.
Visit Arvind Gupta Toys for the tutorial.
Michael Floyd of BalloonHQ offers a balloon car tutorial for making a car out of balloons for a kid's birthday party. Not sure Id' have the patience for this one!
Balloon Car from Michael Floyd looks like Barbie might like to take a ride in this one.
My favorite site for balloon art has to be The Balloon Pastor he has balloon pictures of full-size car costumes for kidsincluding a Tow Mater. You'll have to hop over to check them all out. Here's an example of his work, Lightning McQueen balloon car. Finally, PBS Design Squad has some great balloon science projects which are fun for a kid's party or perfect for a homeschool project. Show your magic trick skills with this unpoppable balloon trick or 2-wheel balloon car tutorial.
Unpoppable Balloon Party Trick from PBS Design Squad.
How to make a 2 Wheel Balloon Car from PBS Design Squad.
Happy Easter! Here are two versions of our cute, bunny free printable coloring sheets. He's holding a balloon- just like in "The B Book." Remember the little bird at the end of the story by the Berenstains? "And that's what burst baby bird's beautiful, blue balloon." Bummer. Hop around. Search the browse bar for these popular keywords: Easter, Bunny, Balloon, Coloring Sheet, Coloring Page, Clipart, and Free Printables. Right click on the images below to save to your computer and print, or click the link to download a free PDF printable Bunny Coloring Sheet.Enjoy!
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The days of simple parties where balloons, music, and a cake with candles were enough are long gone. In 2019, fun birthday ideas are at a whole new level. You need these 10 great outdoor games for kids to get moving and enjoy their special day.
Kim and Kanye set the bar high with a "kidchella" themed party, featuring bouncy houses, a Ferris wheel, and several music stages. While you won't have the same budget as the Kardashians, take inspiration from their intuitive ideas and create a party with good outdoor games to play.
If you're arranging a summer party for your kid's birthday bash, what outdoor games can you play? Read on for the 411 on which outside games your kids will actually love!
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Outdoor Games Kids Will Love
We all know the math. Kids + Birthday parties = Chaos!
Instead of expecting kids to sit around, drink tea, and chat like adults, prepare some cool games that will burn all their pent-up party energy. We've chosen 10 outdoor games that will have your guests giggling from beginning to end. Are you ready? Let's get this party started!
1. Hop Your Way to Victory
Try a traditional sack-race to get the kids moving. Give each child a good quality burlap bag or king-size pillowcase. Line them up in a grassy area and have them hop their way to victory down a marked path.
To mix it up a little, decorate the plain sacks. Make it more challenging and make the marked path curvy. Even if you just do it the old-fashioned way, it'll get a lot of laughs on the way, Scout's honor!
2. Make Your Birthday Party Pop
Balloon stomping is one of the best group games for parties. What's a party without balloons popping?
Before the party starts, prepare by blowing up at least one balloon per guest and a few extras just in case. Tie a long string or ribbon around the end of the balloon so that it is long enough to tie around the children's ankles.
When the party gets started, tie a balloon around the ankle of each child. The aim of the game is to pop everyone else's balloon while protecting your own. The last kid with an intact balloon wins.
3. Jump to It
Let the kids blow off a little steam before you sit down to open presents. One of the best outdoor games for kids, is an outdoor bouncy house. Hiring a bouncy house is an exciting treat for the kids! It really is fun for all ages (even big kids!)
From bouncy houses and inflatable water slides to blow-up climbing walls and bouncy bungee runs, knowing which one to choose boggles the mind. Do your research to find out more about the options and you'll find the perfect match for your big outdoor birthday bash.
4. Treasure Hunt
Treasure hunts have been around a long time, but they're still one of the most interesting outside games for kids to play. Adapt the hunt depending on the ages of the guests and the style of the party. Be sure to offer prizes and other birthday party favors for the winning team.
For instance, create a list of items in nature they have to find in a certain time limit. Give each guest some magnifying glasses, binoculars, and a treasure bag for their adventure. They can search for various bugs, pinecones, daisies, leaves, and more on a nature scavenger hunt or you can hide items throughout the yard and give them a list of riddles to solve to find the next treasure. As an alternative, hide pieces of treasure and candy for the kids to find. Give them a bucket and send them on their scavenger hunt,
5. Cool Pool Party
Fun birthday ideas for the summer usually involve water. Wet and wild games give kids the chance to get soaked and cool off. A pool prize search is one of the most fun outside games for a kid's party.
Use an inflatable pool filled with water. Hide weighted treasures at the bottom of the pool. Then, fill the rest of the pool with floating toys and balls, so that it's hard to see what's at the bottom. Give the kids a time limit and tell them to find the treasures at the bottom of the pool.
If kids are a bit older and it seems too easy, try blindfolding them. Their teammates can shout out directions to help them find the treasure.
6. Use Your Noodle
One of the cheapest outside games for kids is Pool Noodle Croquet. It's budget-friendly but takes a little bit of time to set up.
Create several pool noodle arches in your back yard and stake them into the ground. Give each child a pool noodle and an inflated beach ball. The idea is to be the first to get the ball through the course of arches.
7. Make a Splash
Another variation of a classic game is water balloon baseball. It's one of the easiest outdoor games for kids and parents because it's so easy to set up.
All you need is a baseball bat and some pre-filled water balloons. Make sure the guests are ready to get soaked!
8. A Tasty Mess
Fun birthday ideas have got to include cakes and treats, right? So why not turn your dessert into a game? When played outside, this donut game is lots of fun.
Tie dangling donuts from a high place, such as a tree or doorway. Then have a donut eating race, without using hands. Chocolate donuts make the most mess, so be ready with a cleanup team when the game is over.
9. Water Shoot
Here's another outdoor water game for you. Divide the party into two teams. For each team, string a plastic sand pails onto one end of a clothesline.
The concept of this game is for each team to work together to move their bucket along the clothesline, using only the spray water guns. Of course, if you don't have enough squirt guns for the party, you could fill up plastic bottles instead. Be sure the squirt guns are powerful enough to make the pails move!
10. An In-Tents Party
Another awesome outside party activity is camping. If camping somewhere remote is too much of a task, just set up a camp ground in your backyard.
Set up tents and a supervised fire-pit. Play some camping-themed games during the day. And when it gets dark, roast some s'mores on the campfire and tell scary stories.
Keep Calm and Party On!
We hoe you like this list of outdoor games with a twist for parties. Pick one, two, or as many outside games as you want, to make your birthday bash super fun!
What if it turns out to be a rainy day and you can't have fun in the sun? For some more games inspiration, both inside and out, check out the "Games" section of our blog.
1. Balloon Charades. Grabs some stationary and write down ideas for Charades. What are charades? How do you play charades? You know, when you act something out, pull on your ear for "sounds like", put two fingers in the air to signify two words, but you never speak. Yeah, that game. So, fold the paper up into skinny rectangles, slide it inside a balloon, blow it up, and use it as a party decoration. When you are ready to play charades give each guest a balloon. Have her pop it - sitting on it is the most fun, read it, and act it out for the other guests to guess. Super Fun! Yeah, you can do this with "Truth or Dare" too, but oh how I loathe Truth or Dare. Shouldn't it be called "Humiliation or Bullying?"
Bonus Activity: Giant Cupcake Balloon for Party
Want a cool photo op for your social media? Make this Balloon Cupcake with your friends and then use it as a backdrop for your photos! Click here: How to Make Giant Cupcake from Balloons!
2. Sleeping Bag Switch. For this game, each girl brings a sleeping bag or sleeping pad to the party. To start the game, the girls unroll their bags and lay them out on the floor. Then, one girl goes out of the room and the remaining girls pick someone else's bag to hide in. The girl then returns and tries to guess who is who or who is where. You can also have only two girls switch, and see if she can tell who switched. Fun times!
3. Crazy Makeovers. Time to pull out the make up, and let the girls give each other makeovers. No peeking until it is done. The beautician can choose to make a crazy makeover or a beautiful, glamorous one. The girl getting the makeup has to guess which type of makeover she got before the big reveal.
4. Spin the Nail Polish Bottle. Each girl takes a turn picking out a color and spinning the bottle. This works best on a table. Who ever the bottle points to when it finishes spinning paints a nail with that color. Then, she chooses the next color to spin. When everyone has 10 nails painted, take a picture and share them with your friends on Instagram. Make sure you have lots of color choices!
Choose a variety of colors for Nail Polish Spin the Bottle game.
5. Make your Own Glitter Body Scrub. Find small jars that seal tightly, fine glitter, (white is nice) coconut oil, (a wonderful moisturizer for the scrub) scented extract, and sugar or coarse salt. Sugar is best. Salt is great for exfoliating, but bad if it gets in your eyes. Choose an extract: Peppermint, Almond (my favorite) Coconut, or Vanilla. Add a few drops of extract to the sugar and glitter to make a paste. Now you have your own moisturizer and exfoliator. When purchasing coconut oil you want this kind, extra virgin coconut oil.
Coconut Oil for Glitter Scrub.
6. Dress Up Divas. Go to a thrift shop and find evening gowns or formal wear and fancy heels the girls can use to dress up. Place the gowns in a large bag. Before you let the girls see the gowns, have them make blindfolds that double as beauty masks. Once everyone is blindfolded, have them choose a dress by touch alone. After they model the dresses, they can trade and have a fashion show or make up a reality show. Don't forget a full-length mirror.
For a blindfold or sleeping mask tutorial visit Henry Happened blog.
7. Pillowcase Decorating Activity.Purchase pillowcases to decorate. Grab fabric makers, tacky glue, and ribbon. You can also find fun, iron on transfers to embellish. If you plan in advance, you can decorate a large gift bag for each guest. Load it up with all that Birthday Party Swag!
8. Pillow Fight.A classic game. As part of the swag bag items, create mini-pillows. You can often find little pillows at the dollar store or use travel pillows. Decorate them as mentioned above. When it is time for bed, be a cool party host. Tell the girls to grab their mini-pillows. On your mark, set, pillow fight! Just watch out for the lamps! You're going to need a big full-body pillow for this pillow fight! Bonus Activity: Easy Colorful Cupcake Frosting
Make this easy, colorful cupcake icing and decorate cakes or cookies with your friends! Share on Instagram or other social media with #cupcaketime Get the recipe here: Easy Cupcake Frosting.
9. Flip Flop Decorating Activity. Find out the Flip Flop shoe sizes of each guest before the party. Get some yarn, baubles, Sharpie Markers, and cloth scraps. Decorate to your heart's desire. Toss them in that swag bag to take home.
10. Cup Stacking. When you are buying party supplies, get some extra cups for the party guests to stack. Take turns to see who can get the most cups stacked in a minute or who has the most creative tower. Even better, everyone can start at the same time. This makes it more nerve wracking and chaotic! Hey, don't knock my tower down!
Minute to Win it Games for a Birthday Party.
11. Minute to Win it Games. Imagine the possibilities! Just like cup stacking, come up with several activities that can be completed in one minute. Everyone grab one of those cups. Set it in the middle of a table, grab a Ping Pong ball, and with only one bounce allowed, bounce the ball into the cup. Hurry! The clock is ticking. Tick Tock. You can also use the a cup to fill a bucket with water (use a colorful sand pail).
Bonus Activity:Toothpaste Slime
Trick your friends with this toothpaste slime. You'll need 1 C. Blue Hair Gel, 1/2 C. Cornstarch, Water, Super Fine White Glitter. Slowly add water to 1/3 C. Cornstarch by the spoonful, stir until all is mixed well and becomes pour-able. Then, slowly stir cornstarch mixture into the hair gel. When it all has a thick toothpaste consistency, sprinkle in the super fine glitter. Voila! You have fake toothpaste. See if you can trick your parents with it. Of course, this toothpaste slime isn’t edible!!
Did you know real toothpaste isn’t edible either? You should always spit it out after brushing. Don’t forget to brush your teeth with real toothpaste every morning (even at a slumber party!)
Parents, if you’ve got one of those kids, who doesn’t like to go to the dentist, ABC Children’s Dentistry offers more valuable tips to help you and your child when it comes to oral hygiene. Dental hygiene is something that should be taught at an early age. Why not make it fun? Here’s a neat sensory toothpaste activity for preschoolers by Still Playing School.
12. Dance Off. Time for the girls to get their dance moves on and have fun. This is great to play after the Dress up Diva game. She who dances the longest wins. Ha! You thought it was a game of skill. Nope. It is a game of "get them tired so they don't put your panties in the freezer!" Sweet Dreams. What's that? You're dreaming of popsicles?
13. Board Games. Don't think "bored" games. These board games are fun because each girl makes her own game to play or collaborate on one super, cool game. Cereal boxes, paper plates, and the white side of the wrapping paper are great ways to make a board. Paper plates make game spinners. Old, recycled business cards make excellent playing cards or game cards. Stickers are fun too. Fold paper and cut it into a cube pattern to make your own dice. Still boring? Take those balloons and fill them with game topics. For example, "Make a game about Rock Stars" or "Make a Mall Shopping Card Game" or "Make a game of questions." Let your imaginations run wild. This can be especially fun for preteens and tweens.
14. Classic Board Games. Find out who your moguls are when you pull out the Monopoly game or start up the giggles with Trouble. But that's boring, right? Pass around a basket of accessories. Think grandma glasses, nerd spectacles, giant clip-on earrings, men's ties, satin gloves, and cowboy hats. Now, play those games in character with silly accents. 15. Slurpin' for Worms. Gummy Worm Game Grab a bag of gummi worms or gummi bears and a can of whipped cream. Place the worms on a paper plate and cover them with the cream. It should look like a fake pie, you know, the kind you get in the face? Yeah, you might want to wear a raincoat for this one, and Mom might want to lay down a painting drop cloth. Players must keep their hands behind their backs at all times. Dive in. This is a great game for "Minute to Win It" too. Who can slurp up the most worms? Who can eat the most?
Cardboard Toilet Tubes turned Holiday Hats How many rolls of toilet paper do you go though each month? We've got to recycle that ca...
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to embellish. If you plan in advance, you can decorate a large gift bag for each guest. Load it up with all that Birthday Party Swag! 
