Bat Balloon!

Remember being a kid on a rainy day and stuck in your room for one reason or another?

No tv/dvds, No mobile phone, No internet - heck - no computers!! We played 'den' or 'snakes and ladders' or something simple like that didn't we?

Oh my, how things change! But some things never will - or at least in my home, that's for sure.

Introducing our choice of 'Indoor Family Time' ... without getting glittery or sticky or ruining the pyramid of empty toilet roll tubes that have collected themselves in the bathroom**

BAT BALLOON!

We played it as kids and we'll play it with our grand-kids in years to come. The rules are simple and any number of people can play:

1. Blow up a balloon
2. Take up position in a 'corner' of a room
3. Bat the balloon in the general direction of another player
4. Ensure you 'keepy uppy' the balloon using only your hand *Allow 'one bounce' for younger children
5. Each successful bat from one player to the next is counted aloud and together "1, 2... etc."
6. When it drops or a player misses, start again.
7. The objective is to beat the previous score!


Benefits:
1. It encourages physical activity (if played properly you really will get a bit of a sweat on!)
2. Balloons do not cause damage to furniture etc.
3. Encourages hand-eye coordination
4. Helps with counting
5. Independently competitive - you will always want to beat yourself - encourages determination.
6. No fear of the kids arguing, it's a positively charged game which encourages team playing and praise
7. As you become more of a pro - you'll notice your flexibility increasing to reach for a 'near drop' (and it's much more fun than yoga, let me tell you!)

This is guaranteed to absorb your time like nothing else, ever! Before you know it you'll have been playing for an hour and you notice that all you've done is laugh. There's lots of high fives and praise over great 'bats'. 


It was hard to take pics whilst playing - but you can see by the look on Carson's face just how much fun he's having! Our record was 108 today. 



Balloons are pretty much free. they literally give them away in shopping centres or you can buy a bag of 100 for £1 - so 1p is the maximum cost of our Indoor Family Time choice.

I'd take Bat Balloon over a games console any day of the week :-) Give it a shot and see for yourself xx

This is my entry to the Center Parcs and Tots 100 February challenge. If I’m chosen, I would like to visit Sherwood Forest.

**If you're still thinking about that pyramid of empty toilet roll tubes collated in the bathroom (because, somehow, I am now that I've mentioned it!) You can take a leaf out of Lisa Brown's book at Center Parcs. As Games Guru she suggests screwing some old newspaper into a ball, taping it in to place and decorating it, then using those tubes as pins. Wallah! Ten pin bowling!

4 comments:

  1. I agree I think it's important for kids to spend time away from tv's and games consoles and my little boy loves making dens from the sofa cushions and a few blankets! So going to give this game a go I'm pretty sure it will be a bit hit!!

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  2. Oh yes, this is an awesome game... we like a good balloon challenge too :-)

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  3. Ohhh I'm really liking this game!

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  4. I love good wholesome like this. Too much of today's technology is taking over our kids lives and is producing couch potatoes. I love it when kids play and have actual fun by interacting with one another face to face.

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