Welcome to our first annual Balloon Olympics where every sport is played with a balloon!
Today’s games include balloon volleyball, balloon tennis, balloon hockey, balloon basketball, balloon baseball, balloon golf, and a balloon relay race.
Our first and only contestant this year is a two-year-old named Elena!
She loves making toy sandwiches, watching Mickey and the Roadster Racers, and following Mommy around all day!
I get that you need to keep your kids busy because you feel stressed about all the stuff you need to get done today. That’s why my mission is to…
1. Find fun, quality kids’ activities and show you step by step how to do them.
2. Save you time and energy by using supplies from around the house or show you where to easily get them.
3. Inspire you to be creative and play with your kids in new and exciting ways.
Doing gross motor activities is the quickest way to wear this toddler out.
Halfway through the Balloon Olympics, our athlete needed a snack break, potty break, and a play-with-my-tea-set break.
Toddler stamina just isn’t what it used to be, folks.
If you want to wear out your toddler, try these Balloon Olympics games with us!
Looking for an organized guide of fun, easy activities to do with your toddler that also encourages their growth and development?
I’ve created a 3-month activity planner just for busy parents like you! The plan includes 65 detailed, simple, and stress-free activities including: arts and crafts, sensory play, motor skills, and STEM–all using easy-to-find supplies.
Let me help make planning activities for your toddler easy, so you can skip the stress and get straight to the fun!
How We Did It: Indoor Games with Balloons
At first, I only had one balloon out, but then I realized: Everything is more fun with 10 times the balloons!
(That’s a fact. Write it down.)
We spent some time tossing, hitting, and kicking the poor balloons.
Some of us also tried to sit on the balloons.
Once the balloons had faced enough abuse and were threatening to unionize, I set up our first game.
Balloon Volleyball
I used painter’s tape to secure a long piece of ribbon across the room for a net.
My toddler immediately tried to climb on it.
I love her, but she’s no Isaac Newton.
Once we established that ribbons taped across furniture can’t support thirty pounds, we were ready for balloon volleyball.
I showed her how to serve underhand.
She had some trouble balancing the balloon in her palm, but she got the hang of it pretty quickly.
Bump, set, spike!
Balloon Tennis
Since we had a net up already, we transitioned to balloon tennis.
We used a brand-new, clean flyswatter as a tennis racket and a balloon as the tennis ball.
Elena whacked the ballon over the net to me, and I hit it back to her.
She wasn’t able to hit it back again to me, and we didn’t have a ball boy to go get the balloon.
Luckily, I had nine more balloons lined up behind me.
This was when I patted myself on the back for blowing up ten balloons.
So if you were thinking in your head, psh, I’m only blowing up one balloon, you should rethink that. Don’t be a hero.
Balloon Hockey
Next up, balloon hockey.
Elena used the flyswatter as her hockey stick, and I turned a hamper on its side for the goal.
We pretended we were skating on ice and slid our feet on the carpet to move around.
I thought about trying this on the wood floor with socks, but I didn’t want any tears from the inevitable fall-flat-on-your-face.
There’s no crying in balloon hockey!
Balloon Basketball
For balloon basketball, I hung a large bag on the doorknob to use as the basket.
That’s it? This mom is SUCH a slacker.
I know. And thank you.
Playing basketball by yourself is no fun, so I joined in.
Mostly I chased Elena around the room until she got a balloon in the basket.
Balloon Baseball
I had a sturdy wrapping paper roll I’d been saving for this activity. If your wrapping paper roll is flimsy, poor you; that sucks.
I’m just playing. Wrap it in duct tape to make it strong enough to hold up for a round of balloon baseball.
I tried to teach her to hold the wrapping paper roll with both hands like a real bat, but she ignored me, as per usual.
I did manage to get her to hit the balloon and run around the bases.
Balloon baseball eventually turned into “run around the kitchen island while Mommy tries to catch you”!
Balloon Golf
I hope your balloon baseball bat survived the last game because it magically turns into a golf club!
Balloon golf is simple.
Hit the balloon as hard as you can and see how close you can get to the hole (in this case, the “hole” was a hula hoop on the floor (not pictured)).
Balloon Relay Race
You’ll need lots of balloons for this game.
Another great reason to blow up ten balloons at a time.
I filled a basket with the balloons. Another basket was waiting at the other end of the house.
On the count of three, Elena ran to the basket of balloons, grabbed a balloon, and brought it back to the empty basket.
It was tough fitting all the balloons in the basket!
This was definitely Elena’s favorite. She loved running through the house with a balloon!
To make it competitive, time the race and see if you can beat your personal best.
We were pretty exhausted after a long day of Balloon Olympics, so after one balloon relay race, I declared Elena the uncontested gold medalist, and we made PB&Js for lunch.
At this point, you may be wondering why we didn’t play balloon soccer, balloon gymnastics, or balloon curling.
Well, seeing as this is now an annual activity, feel free to petition to add a new sport.
Comment below: which sport do you think we should add to our Balloon Olympics?
Looking for an organized guide of fun, easy activities to do with your toddler that also encourages their growth and development?
I’ve created a 3-month activity planner just for busy parents like you! The plan includes 65 detailed, simple, and stress-free activities including: arts and crafts, sensory play, motor skills, and STEM–all using easy-to-find supplies.
Let me help make planning activities for your toddler easy, so you can skip the stress and get straight to the fun!
More Indoor Activities for Kids
Balloon polo! She could ride a little horse (could make out of wrapping paper cardboard with a balloon head lol) while trying to hit the balloons with the fly swatter into the laundry basket.
Love that idea! I’ve always said polo is the most underrated sport in the Olympics.
Horses can easily be made out of pool noodles too!