November is packed with many great learning opportunities, including great alouds for the classroom, like Balloons Over Broadway. This book tells the story of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It’s a highly engaging book with great comprehension and social studies lessons, and is now my favorite November read aloud!
Balloons Over Broadway Activities: Reading Comprehension
Balloons Over Broadway offers excellent opportunities for reading comprehension and making connections! It’s also a great way to build some home school bridges. After we finish out Balloons Over Broadway week, we encourage the families to watch the parade on Thanksgiving. I even ask them to send me pictures of the kids watching the parade! For comprehension we focus on predictions and story maps!
We also use the book for a social studies lesson on Tony himself. The kids are amazed (as was I the first time I read this book) that Tony was real, and they love seeing how he created puppets, then the balloons! We even watch a video about him to bring this person to life! There are several videos on YouTube.
Balloons Over Broadway Activities: Design Your Own Balloon STEM Projects
The highlight of our Balloons Over Broadway week is our STEM project to design our own balloons! The students choose what they want their balloon to be, the color of the balloon, and what paper or supplies they use. When they share their ideas, we briefly discuss the details that they might include on their balloon. This helps them visualize what their finished project will be!
For this project, we have tried several different methods and like them all. But we also get time constraints and how busy classrooms are so we have a couple of options to make life easier for you!
Latex Balloons
We have used REGULAR latex balloons. We use the 12″ size balloons from Amazon. No special balloons are required.
If you have latex allergies or sensitivities, you can EASILY modify this activity. You can use foil/mylar balloons or you can provide students a balloon-shaped cutout to decorate!
The balloons are just filled with air from my lungs. True story. I just blow up the balloons. Nothing special. The trick is to make them big enough for the kids to decorate but not TOO big or they can pop.
Students use construction paper, copy paper, ribbon, streamers, etc, and glue to create their balloons. They use their regular glue sponges to glue their pieces onto the balloons. We have no issues with the paper sticking or the balloons popping. Glue sponges are pretty amazing!
As the students are working I am walking around talking to them about their designs and helping them think of ways to make their designs come to life. But they do the work on their own.
Students are free to design whatever balloon they like. Animals, superheroes, food, etc. When they finish their balloons, we tape them onto a straw using masking tape! This allows the kids to hold the balloons just like the people in the Macy’s parade!
Poppy from Trolls and Mr. Greg (who was wearing a green shirt that day!)
Pizza, tiger, and clown!
Aluminum Foil
Then we started using aluminum foil and Sharpies. This method is easier for sure. It is messy because of the markers, but the kids love getting to color their balloons! I cut out circles of foil and the kids color one circle, then I laminate the pieces together, cut a small hole, insert a straw to inflate the balloon, and add a stick!
Simple Balloon STEM Challenge
And finally, let’s make it even easier and faster! In our Balloons Over Broadway resource, we include 35 premade balloons. Just print, color, and you’re ready to go! These can be put on a straw or popsicle stick, even glued on paper and made into a bulletin board or even a hat! This is such an easy, time-saving way to bring the story to life and not go bonkers with balloons!
Balloons Over Broadway Kindergarten Ideas: Green Screen Pictures
We love our green screen, and the kids love seeing what pictures we create with the green screen. One of our favorite Balloons Over Broadway kindergarten ideas is to put our kids in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!
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