Sunday, September 26, 2010

Moon Balloons

Our third activity for our 'party night' was these moon balloons (at least that is what Bubble called them). I made some party showbags for a friend's little boy this week and had a heap of glow sticks left over, so we put them to very good use. They cost $6 for a tube of 50, so this activity cost us next to nothing but was a blast!
Bubble activated each of the glowsticks by flexing and shaking them, while I blew up balloons and put a glow stick inside each one. I think this activity would be much easier with mini glowsticks rather than the big ones we had, but it was still doable. I had to blow the balloon up first and then slide the glowstick in without letting too much air escape, whereas with mini ones you could pop them into the balloon before blowing them up. The lighter coloured balloons definitely worked the best.
We made ten of the glowstick 'moon balloons' and when the lights went off the effect was incredible! The photos don't do them justice at all, they were beautiful and the girls were absolutely beside themselves with excitement :-) Bubble went nuts, racing around throwing, kicking and shaking the balloons while Squeak stood in the middle of the room just squealing with happiness for a good ten minutes before joining in.
I have been told that you can reuse glowsticks a few times by putting them into the freezer after they lose their glow and thawing them about an hour before using again. I have no idea if this is true but will give it a go and report back.

Games we played with our glowsticks and moon balloons:

* Playing catch and soccer in the dark with the balloons was very cool :-)
* I taped glowsticks around the outside of a hula hoop and held it up for the girls to throw moon balloons through - our own version of glow in the dark basketball.
* We used the spare glowsticks to make letters in the dark by laying them in different formations on the floor.
* We put glowsticks under our clothes to see the effects under different fabrics (and to run around like loonies with glowing clothes :-D).
* I put a few glowsticks inside an empty plastic bottle and Squeak loved rolling this around on the floor.
* We made our glowsticks into bracelets using the included connectors and watched the effects when we danced different actions. We put on some music and tried to make as many different patterns in the air as we could think of - the girls loved the effect made when we rolled our arms.
* With the glowsicks inside them the balloons made a great noise when banged together or on the floor.
* We took our balloons outside for some nightime fun in the cubby.
* Once all the excitement was over and it was bedtime the girls were happy to drift off surrounded by the glow of the moon balloons - the effect was really magical.

Please note: I didnt allow Squeak to have a glowstick when the lights were out in case she bit into it. Putting the glowsticks into the empty plastic bottle was a good way for her to be included safely :-)


Bubble activates the glowsticks.

The balloons were nothing special with the lights on, but with the lights off ...

It was party time :-)


The colourful blurs are the girls running around with their glow sticks and glow bottle :-D




Making letters and words with our glow sticks.


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15 comments:

  1. Very cool! What a creative idea! My littlest loves balloons and this would definitely take it up a notch!

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  2. It was loads of fun Tricia, we will definitely be doing this again too :-) Hope your littlie has a ball!

    *UPDATE* on the glowsticks in the freezer thing - it worked! I put the sticks in our freezer once they had gone flat the following day, and last night I took one out and put it on the bench to thaw out. About ten minutes later it was glowing! Not sure how long they last second or third (etc...) time around, but very happy to see they can be reused.

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  3. Oh, I really like this. It looks like so much fun! Thanks for the inspiration!

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  4. My little one goes to bed each night with a glow bracelet as we found it helps with her anxiety in the dark. Mixing glowsticks with balloons will make me Queen of Mumma's in this house, so I am going to have to give that a go :)

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  5. This is such a great idea. With it getting dark earlier I bet my son would love to play with these outside.

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  6. What a fantastic idea. It looks like so much fun.

    Thanks for linking up to We Play :)

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  7. What a cool idea - I bet my kids would love this too!

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  8. Love this!!! My little guy is currently into flashlights, so this will blow his mind!!

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  9. I was going to say the same thing as Shana - this would be a great idea for Tornado, who like me, loves fairylights and flashlights.. :)

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  10. Really can't tell you how excited I am. Winter is approaching with all its fun-stifling darkness. My son will turn 5 in December, and I think Moon Balloons are going to have to make an appearance at his party. And the freezer thing! I never knew that and am definitely going to try it now!

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  11. Hi Caz,
    Thanks for stopping by my blog.
    Am going to add a link up to your awesome post to my post about where we made glow balloons. Not sure if your post was the one I had seen the idea from, but I know I got the idea from somewhere that mentioned having leftover gliw sticks from her husband's party at work, but i can't for the life of me, find that blog. I want to give folks who came up with it credit, so wanna do a link to you, but if that person happens to pop by your blog, maybe if you can tell them about my post so I can list you both.
    Love how you did the letter idea. We will have to try that soon and will link back to you for that. Love reading your blog. You are very creative. Have a happy weekend,
    Colleen from Sunrise Learning Lab

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  12. Hi Colleen, no worries! Thanks for the link up :-) I haven't seen the glow balloon idea anywhere else but if I do I will be sure to let you know and link up with them also.

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  13. OOOH! How cool! Just found your site and this blows me away! I'm going to try it with our girl this weekend, but I'm going to do it with Helium filled balloons! Thanks for the great idea!

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  14. We have games night tonight, we'll be playing this game, thanks for an awesome idea!

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