Pass the balloon game.

I played this game with my first and third year elementary school kids. It's ideal with 6 to 10 players. Divide the class into two teams. Arrange the chairs in a circle. Have the students sit team 1 player/team 2 player/team 1 player/team 2 player..... It just so happened I had an equal number of boys and girls. I drew pictures and acted out the questions from the review chapters. Or I did fill in the blank type questions. (Eg: I drew two cakes and asked them to complete the sentences- “How many ________ does she have? She has ______ ______.” Or I’ll hold up stuff and ask “What color is it?, What is this? How many pens are there?”) But you can ask any type of questions. This game is adaptable for all ability levels.

If the team gets the answer right they get a point and try to throw the balloon or shoot it (by pulling on the tied end and catapulting it forward) to their own team. The kids may not stand up out of the seat to catch the balloon. If the balloon lands out of reach the teacher can drop it from the middle. One time, two kids grabbed the balloon and I also dropped it from the middle. The opposite team sometimes ends up intercepting the balloon! This makes it interesting!

If the team answers the question wrong (they don’t get a point) then they hand it to the opposite team sitting on either side of them to answer then next question.

The balloon was unpredictable and the kids loved it! I told them if anyone got hurt the game would end right away. So they behaved themselves for me.