Hi gang! I am honored and privileged to be writing columns for this online balloon magazine. As always, BHQ is on the cutting edge, being the first to have an online balloon magazine to offer the twisting community.
I have been twisting balloons since 1982. I was in a video arcade with a VJ and the VJ was twisting balloons. I was fascinated by them and asked him to show me how. He showed me the basic balloons and then gave be five balloons to inflate myself. I about blew my brains out that night, being my first experience with them. The next day, I purchased Jimmy Davis' One Balloon Zoo and Dewey's Bubble Buddies along with a gross of balloons. I practiced for the next few days and within the week, I was out at the local swap meet, trying to sell balloons. I cut my teeth twisting at the swap meets, festivals and such.
Since then, I have written several balloon books on how to twist with balloons. I am a former columnist for Laugh Makers Magazine, since 1990. I was saddened to see that fine publication discontinue. Larry approached me about writing for this online venture. I agreed to it and am honored to be considered.
Along with twisting balloons, I am also a fourth grade school teacher. Last year when I taught third grade, I taught them how to twist basic balloon animals. Also, my third graders performed a school show, in front of the entire school. The students did magic tricks (self working) and I did the balloon bits in between their bits. I was the MC. The show was a huge hit!
This first article deals with just that, teaching balloons to kids. To me, the first thing is you build their confidence in themselves by starting with these basic instructions.
The first thing I did was to inflate over 100 balloons (for a class of 19). It is a rare third grader that can inflate these 260's by mouth. When you inflate them, I would recommend a pump. It would be easier on you and leave you with more energy to teach the kids.
When the class begins, you need their complete and undivided attention. Say something like, "May I have your attention please?" and wait for it. Lay out your ground rules for this instruction. Tell them that they may twist only when you give them the si gnal and they must stop when you give them the signal to do that.
Once you have their attention, you demonstrate. You tell them what you are going to teach them and then you show them. The pattern that I use to teach my students, as I twist a basic animal is: " Twist, twist, bend, twist" From the nozzle end, you tw ist a bubble, twist another bubble, bend it and twist the basic animal head. I then repeat this pattern two more times. The kids see that I have just created an animal. The kids can remember the pattern. I tell them what I just showed them. I do it ag ain, but this time, I make a wiener dog but use the same "twist, twist, bend, twist" pattern. I don't tell them to use their finger tips to twist, I ask them why it would be better to twist with their finger tips, rather than the whole hand_ You know what? They come up with it. I ask them why they need to make their twists at least 3-4 turns, and they come up with it. See where this is going? You lead the kids to discovering on their own, the patterns of success. I use this in other areas of my curriculum too.
So, after you have demonstrated the variations of this pattern, you have the kids twist along with you BUT they say the "twist, twist, bend, twist" out loud. The looks on their faces when they complete their own balloon animal is priceless! Do you think they talked about it at their school? You bet! One of my students even went to the store, bought a bag of balloons and a little hand pump so he could make animals for his family! Allow them to experiment with different proportions in the size of their bubbles, but with that same patterns. Before allowing them to do this, I show them that with this pattern, they have just learned how to twist a dog, rabbit, mouse, anteater, giraffe, wiener dog and even show them how they can make em sit up! It really builds their self esteem up!
I allow them to twist on their own, and circulate through the room. Last year every single third grade3r produced a balloon to take home to mom and dad. They loved it! Afterwards, the kids just gathered up their creations and took them home. This lesson took about 30-40 min. Don't try to cram it all in. If you are going on to other things, like the sword, or swan, leave those for the next balloon lesson. If you are teaching a series of classes, have this be your first lesson and build from them. Mo st importantly, have fun. If you don't have fun, the kids won't.
Like the twister in 1982 that first showed me how to twist, you never know who you are going to influence. Hope you have enjoyed this article and keep on twistin!