It always amazes me how some of the easiest crafts/activities are the biggest hits. This was one of those cases. Balloon tennis was a super simple activity that my nieces loved!
Required Materials
- Paper plates
- Popsicle sticks (the link is the kind that I bought, and I thought they were good quality)
- Balloons
Honestly, this will work fine with just balloons and your hands. We went back and forth between using the rackets (which I preferred) and only using our hands.
Making the racket
The setup is super simple.
Blow up the balloon (or multiple balloons if a lot of people are playing or you want a backup in case the balloon pops).
Have each person (the adults had fun playing too) tape a popsicle stick on the back of a paper plate. Make sure to use heavy-duty tape (we used packing tape). Be generous with how much tape you use; you don’t want the racket breaking while you are playing.
If you want to decorate your racket, you can. We didn’t because the girls were antsy to start playing.
It’s that simple. Let the games begin!
Playing balloon tennis
Aside from the “racket”, the game didn’t have much in common with tennis. It should be called “don’t let the balloon touch the ground”, but that’s not as catchy a name. That was what we decided was the point of the game. It was a lot harder than it looks!
Ideally, play this outside. However, if need be, then this could be an indoor activity. Be careful where you play it (people may be enthusiastic about swinging their racket).
We played it outside to have plenty of room to chase after the balloon. It was windy, so we went everywhere. I was feeling pretty good, so I played too! I definitely got my workout in (my favorite way to exercise).
It was a blast!
This kept the girls occupied for a long time. The only reason we stopped playing was because it got dark. Otherwise, I think they would have kept going for hours. It was a big hit!
I was nice and didn’t try to take any pictures of the adults playing this (we looked ridiculous), but we loved it too!
It was easy to set up and fun for the whole family! Win, win!
Please share with your friends to give them an idea for an easy activity they can do too!
For more easy activities to do with kids, check out Sink or Float: Easy Orange Experiment or Paper Plate Snail Craft.