VOLLEY BALLOON
Stretch a piece of string across a room and secure it to the wall with tape at about four feet (1.2 meters) high. Or you can stretch a string between two poles stuck into the lawn or sandy beach. Use the string as a net over which to play volleyball—with a balloon. Make it even more fun by adding two, three, or more balloons.

CATCH OR SPLASH
Play this game outdoors with water balloons. Divide your group into pairs. Each pair gets a water balloon and stands facing each other 12 inches (30 centimeters) apart. At "go," players toss the balloons to their partners to catch. Those whose balloons don't burst take one step back and toss again. Repeat until only one pair remains with an unbroken balloon.

SEATED SOCCER
Here's a twist on a traditional soccer game. Arrange chairs in the same way a soccer team might line up. Put goalies at each end. Kids sit in the chairs and kick a balloon toward the goal using only their feet. Goalies may pick up the balloon and pop it. The team with the most popped balloons after ten minutes wins.

HOOPS
Put a large, round, empty wastebasket in the center of a room and take turns shooting baskets using balloons. Or try it outdoors, bopping balloons into a high basketball hoop.

CLING-ONS
Blow up a pile of balloons and put it in the middle of a room. Divide kids into two teams, each assigned to work a different side of the room. At the word "go," players grab balloons from the pile and rub them on their hair to create static electricity. Then each player tries to make the "electric" balloons stick to the wall. The team with the most balloons on the wall after three minutes wins.

CRAZY CONCERT
Have everyone select and blow up a balloon and hold it closed, but not tied. Players take turns letting the air out very slowly to make funny sounds and even play tunes if they can. After everyone has a turn, vote on whose performance was best.

BALLOON MAGIC
Ask a friend if he or she can figure out how to pick up a plastic cup with a balloon, without touching the cup. Here's how: Hold the deflated balloon deep inside the cup. Lean over the cup and blow up the balloon. Then stand up. The inflated balloon will carry the cup.

Adult supervision is recommended when blowing up balloons. Indoors or out, dispose of popped balloons properly—in the trash.

Text by Julie Vosburgh Agnone
Art by M.E. Cohen

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