We made a balloon racquet game yesterday that was a big hit for indoor active play!  I saw the idea in Family Fun magazine – this month’s issue had several good ideas, and I’ll be posting how another one turned out later this week.

Family Fun’s version of this game was very cute and crafty.  Ours was not.

See Family Fun:

They used paint stirrers for the handles and craft foam for the racquet part and made it look cute with colored electrical tape.  Well, we didn’t have any paint stirrers.  Or craft foam.  So we made do with rulers and cardboard from cereal boxes and purple duct tape and a few staples to keep the ruler from moving around:

We used two layers of cereal box cardboard for extra stability.  Aidan traced a plate to get the circle shape.

All three boys enjoyed trying to keep their balloon in the air with their racquet (and I thought that it was a beneficial activity for building coordination!).  Aidan wanted to volley it back and forth with his brothers, but neither of them are coordinated enough to do that yet.  He’s hoping to play that game with Dad today!

This activity would be fun outside, but it works just as well inside.  I’m going to have to remember this activity when winter bad weather season is here…

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  1. Vicky @ Mess For Less Sep 3, 2012

    My daughters love batting balloons around with their hands but this adds a whole other element of fun, not to mention hand/eye coordination. We will be making this! Just pinned this to my Kids Fun board.

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  2. Krista Yoder Sep 4, 2012

    In which Family Fun issue is this idea featured? I could not find it in our Sept 2012 issue. I love your blog!

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    1. Sarah Sep 4, 2012

      It was in Sept. 2012 p. 56. Side note - my son had fun looking through this issue for activities, but he said, "Hey, this magazine is mostly ads!" Thanks for your comment!

      Reply

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