Balloon Pop Countdown {FREEBIE}

How did the last week of April get here so fast?! For many of you (some with less than five weeks left of school), you are beginning to think about how to wind down the year with some fun activities. But if the majority of you are like I was… you want to plan fun things, but your to-do list is sooo long and you are just so worn out! There were lots of things I would have done if only it had already been pretty much created for me. And that doesn’t mean you are a bad teacher… it means you are a busy, tired teacher.

You’ve probably seen the fun balloon pop countdowns before- perfect for ANY grade! But as mentioned above, sitting down to think of all the activities that could go in the balloons and typing them out might be one of those things that keeps getting moved to the bottom of the list… and then suddenly it’s the last day of school… so I’m here to help you cross that one off!! But sorry, I can’t come to your room and blow the balloons up for you.

Ideas By Jivey helps you organize a balloon pop countdown for the end of the school year with free pre-made slips of activities for the inside of the balloons as well as several ideas on how to manage the countdown in your classroom.

In this free download, I have provided MORE ideas than you could use to give you plenty to choose from. Most of what I’ve listed are “free” things to do. Some require students to wear or bring something from home. Don’t want to do any kind of food? Skip that page! Do as many as you want- you can make it a twenty-day-countdown or even a five-day-countdown! Make it work for you!

Cut apart the slips you want to use and roll them up, then stick each rolled up slip into a balloon before blowing it up.

One of the struggles you might have is actually managing the balloons. Here are a few suggestions of ways to have your countdown:

1. Print off two copies of the activity slips. One will be used inside the balloons, but the other will be for your records- number this page with the “days” you are doing each one, and number the balloons to match. NO SURPRISES with this method – well, not for you anyway. 🙂 This one is especially important if you want to use the food slips, for example. You’ll want to know when you need the supplies for them, and can ask parents ahead of time to send in goodies, too. (No one wants a note home the afternoon before an ice cream party that they need to send in two quarts of chocolate syrup.)

2. Maybe you DO like surprises! I suggest choosing activity slips that don’t require a lot of planning ahead, then stuff those balloons! You could let a student choose which one to pop in this case.

3. Use it as a behavior incentive. At the end of the day, if everyone has had a “good day,” pop a balloon to see what special activity will be the next day.

4. Hang the balloons from the board, a piece of string, or even from ribbons attached to the ceiling! Here are some ideas:

http://firstwithfranklin.blogspot.com/2012/05/10-day-countdown-baby.html

http://classroomcompulsion.blogspot.com/2012/05/making-end-of-year-pop.html

http://kinderfriendly.blogspot.com/2013/05/catching-up.html

5. The actual popping can be done with a pin or thumbtack, or by sitting on the balloon, or in the upper grades- (if you’re super daring) letting a student throw a dart! This could also be a great behavior incentive- let a student who had an AWESOME behavior day pop the balloon.

This idea is just one of many from the bloggers of The Primary Peach!

Balloon Pop Countdown {FREEBIE}

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