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Balloon balance battle

Work as a team to get the balloons to the finish line as quickly as possible in this race.

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You’ll need

  • String
  • Balloons
  • Pens or pencils
  • A4 paper
  • Plastic ring toss or embroidery hoop
  • Timer
  • something to mark lines (optional)

Before you begin 

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples can be found here. Don’t forget to make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely. 
  • Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help if you’re short on helpers  

Setting up the game 

The aim of this game is for teams, made up of 4 people, to work together to get a balloon from one side of the meeting space to the other, without dropping it. The balloon is balanced on a ring/loop, which has four pieces of string attached.  

You should prepare at least one set of equipment, which teams can take turns using and be timed. Or, if you’ve got enough space and equipment, you could prepare more than one set, so that teams can play at the same time.    

  1. Cut four pieces of string, each about one metre in length.   
  2. Attach the four pieces of string to the ring or hoop. People will be holding onto these pieces of string during the game.  
  3. If you’d like to, mark two lines on the floor of your meeting place - one for the start and one for the finish.  
  4. Place the prepared hoop at one side of the meeting space.  
  5. Blow a balloon up ready for the game. It’s a good idea to have some spare balloons too, just in case one bursts.   

Play the game / Run the activity 

  1. Introduce the game and tell people they’ll be trying to get their balloon to the finish line as quickly as possible.
  2. Get everyone into teams of four. 
  3. Give the first team a balloon to balance on the ring. 
  4. Each team will have to work together, each holding one of the pieces of string at the end.  Make sure no one holds the string in the middle or close to the hoop, as this makes it easier.
  5. The aim is to get the balloon from one side of the meeting space to the other, as quickly as possible, without it falling. 
  6. Get the first team, or all the teams ready on the start line.
  7. Shout ‘ready, steady, go!’ and start the timer.  
  8. If the balloon drops at any point, the team should stop, pick it up and put the balloon back on the hoop, before carrying on.   
  9. To make it harder, if people drop the balloon, they could go back to the start and have to begin again.
  10. When the first team has finished, make a note of their time, unless you’re all racing together then watch who crosses the finish line first. 
  11. If you’re playing one at a time, now it’s the next team’s turn. Can they beat the time? 
  12. At the end, see who has the fastest time. You could award the team that worked well together or communicated well too.  
  13. You could play again and see if teams can get faster with practise or using different techniques.  

Reflection

This activity gave everyone the opportunity to have fun while working as a team. How did you find the game? What was easy about it? What was difficult?  

You had to be resilient if the balloon kept falling off. Did you ever want to give up? How did you motivate yourself? How did you encourage your team? Did anyone in your team motivate or really help inspire and support you? Who remained really positive throughout? 

Problem-solving and communication helped to make sure the balloon remained balanced. How did you think on your feet and react to any problems? How did you communicate well as a team? What would you do differently next time?  

 Someone may have helped lead the team or give instructions. Did anyone in your team lead the others and was this helpful? What did they do well as leader? Did everyone get to have a say and voice their ideas? 

 Reflection is a big part of teamwork. What would you differently next time? 

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Scissors

Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.

Active games

The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.

  • The game doesn’t have to be timed. Teams could just focus on balancing the balloon, and not letting it drop.  
  • The distance between the start line and finish line can be made shorter or longer, depending on the needs of your group.    
  • To make the game easier, let people hold the string closer to the hoop, as this gives the ring more balance.
  • To make the game a little more challenging, you could give each team five balloons (with each team getting a different colour of balloon to tell them apart) and they’ve to work together to get all their balloons across the finish line first.
  • To make this game harder, you could add in some obstacles for people to go round, such as a cone slalom, while carrying their balloon.
  • You could also add in additional rules, such as everyone using their non-dominant hands, someone in the team walking backwards or being blindfolded, or adding a time penalty if team’s drop their balloon.   
  • If needed, let people be in bigger groups to make sure everyone’s supported in taking part in the activity. A young leader could join a group to help people to take part, too.  
  • If anyone may have difficulty holding the string or playing the game, they could take on another role, such as timekeeping, or help to start the game.  
  • Make sure that all the materials are at a level that can be easily worked on by wheelchair users.  
  • If this game won’t be accessible for everyone in your group, you could play a game with other objects representing the story. You could play a parachute game, with the parachute representing the cloth and a ball representing the Black Stone. Can everyone work together to move the ball in a certain direction? 
  • People can move at their own pace, so you don’t need to make it competitive unless it works for everyone. 
  • Some people might not like how it feels to touch some items of equipment. If you’ve got someone in your group who won’t be comfortable using balloons or has an allergy to them, you could use a light plastic ball or a foam football instead.  People could also wear gloves, or someone else could move or touch the item for them. They could also use another object or utensil to be able to use, touch, put something on or move the item. No-one should be forced to touch something they feel uncomfortable with doing, as it may be distressing for them. 
  • Picking up or holding materials could be a challenge for some people, so ask people to work in pairs or with a young leader or adult volunteer to assist with collecting. 
  • If it’s too noisy and anyone doesn’t like the noise, the person leading the activity can remind everyone to be quieter. You could have a noise level warning system to help everyone be reminded of the noise levels. The person could wear ear defenders, or you could run the activity outside or over a larger space to reduce the noise. Shutting doors and windows can help to reduce external sounds, too.  

  

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.