Elementary School Teachers Notes:
I have been an elementary school teacher since 1980, along with twisting and entertaining with balloons. Every spring, I teach my classroom how to twist balloons. I have taught 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders some basic twists and some of the corny lines that go along with them. The lessons last approximately an hour, and by the time it ends, the students learn the basic animal progression. It would be best if you made this as easy as possible for the students. Otherwise, they lose interest fast.
What follows is the actual lesson plan that I was a teacher used in my classroom. Feel free to use this in any manner to plan your lessons or to teach kids how to twist.
Student Learning Objective:
The students will twist basic balloon animals using the twist, twist, bend, twist progression.
Teacher Learning Objective:
The teacher will pause 5 seconds after posing a question to allow adequate time for students to formulate and process answers to questions.
Materials Needed:
100 inflated 260-animal twisting balloons,
Before Lesson:
Inflate a minimum of 100 260s. More is better, but most people are pinched on time.
You can use your mouth or a pump. It doesn’t matter because it is rare for a kid to inflate a balloon, let alone the proper length for twisting. I try to have at least 4-5 inflated balloons per student. If any of them break, you can always inflate another.
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You should see the looks on the faces of the students when they complete their first animal. I have heard so many stories from parents who tell me their child just gushed and bragged about the animal they made. Many times, they give it to their parents, who put it on top of a counter or bookcase. It is a real confidence booster too. For those who need to tie it to an art learning standard, it ties into exploring different mediums as an expression of art. To show the students that, I show up on the screen of a computer pictures from different websites worldwide, like this one or BalloonHQ.
Happy twisting and lemme know how it works out for you!
Keep on Twistin!