Basketball with balloons

Supplies: balloons, an air pump, scissors and clear sticky tape.

Buy balloons on Amazon (paid link): 

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 Buy an air pump on Amazon (paid link): 

https://amzn.to/3mW1DyJ

In this instruction I want to show how you can make easy set up for indoor basketball with balloons. Let's make the basket. Inflate two balloons leaving about up to 1 cm flat tails (Pic 1).

Twist the first soft about 3 cm bubble (Pic 2).

Lock both ends of the first bubble in one lock twist (Pic 3).

Take the second balloon. Twist the first soft about 3 cm bubble. Lock both ends of the first bubble in one lock twist (Pic 4).

Lock ends of the first bubbles of both balloons in one lock twist. Hold both balloons together next to each other. We are going to twist the second bubbles of both balloons and lock them in one move. Measure the size of the second bubbles. You should leave about 20 - 30 cm long bubbles at the ends of balloons (Pic 5).

Twist and lock the second bubbles (Pic 6).

Use one of the balloons to make the third soft about 3 cm bubble (Pic 7).

Lock both ends of the third bubble in one lock twist. Fix all bubbles in proper positions. You have to force the third bubble inside of the loop (inside of the basket) between the second bubbles. The rest of the balloons will represent the vertical pole (Pic 8 and 9). You can bend the second bubbles to shape them in a circle. 

We can attach the basket using clear sticky tape to any vertical surface: walls, doors, furniture, windows and etc. For small children (age up to 6 years) place the basket about 4 - 5 feet above the floor. For older kids (age 7 and up) you can place the basket at higher level, about 5 - 7 feet above the floor. Apply about 15 - 20 cm long stripe of clear sticky tape across the last bubbles of both balloons (Pic 10). It should hold the basket good enough.

Also, you may apply sticky tape across the second bubbles (Pic 11). Make sure there is sufficient free of any obstacles space in front of the basket. How much free space you may need in front of the basket depends on the amount of players and what kind of game you will play. The more players the more space you will need. 

We can use any size and any shape balloons for games. In this example I use 5 inch round balloon (Pic 12).

In this example I use one balloon 6 petals flower instead of a ball (Pic 13).

It takes time to make balls from balloons, however woven balloon balls looks good and more importantly they are very durable. This is an example of three balloons woven ball (Pic 14).

Children like to play games with balloons. And you can use it at birthday parties and any other similar events with any number of children or adults. While kids playing the games you can quietly and without any distraction make balloon animals for them. Or do something else. I often play  balloon basketball with my little son or let him play alone! You will find description of many games with balloons on my blog or on my website. Games are one of the easiest way to have fun and control children at the same time. To play the basketball with balloons I ask kids not to hold the balloon ball - bounce it in air trying to score it in a basket. This is one of the simplest games for any number of players (1 and up) of any age (toddlers and up). You can make one basket or more. You can place baskets across the room or next to each other. You can split kids on teams or let each kid play for himself. Kids will have more fun if you give them more than one balloon to play with. I suggest to make at least 2 -3 balls to play with. If there are too many children then you can make one balloon ball for each 3 - 4 kids. 

Have fun and happy twisting :)