Balloons!!!

This is a fun activity for little kids, about 4 and 5 yrs. You will need a large sheet or
tablecloth (not heavy) and many coloured balloons. I usually blow up a number of
balloons before the class, but save some to blow up in front of the students to tell them
what I'm doing. "Blow up the balloon". Most little kids don't have enough power to blow
them up so they watch me a blow up a few, and laugh at that. Depending on whether
mothers or fathers are present, I might tell the students to give the balloon to
mommy/daddy to help with blowing the balloons up. When the balloons are all blown up
we identify the colours, count them and record the numbers on the board. We then place
all the balloons on a sheet and each student grabs an edge of it. We start off tossing them
in the air slowing and gradually get faster, but always trying to keep them on the sheet.
Not everyone gets that concept at first, but there are some who will work hard to pick
them up and put them back on the sheet. When we stop we count the balloons again and
check the colours to see if they are all accounted for. If one is missing everyone
scrambles to find it. I let the students choose one colour to take home.