Hot Air Balloon Activity

1. Approaches to Childhood learning – Class activity Record Sheet
After every class Activity write into the record sheet. Add photos throughout the record. 15 records min required for portfolio. Add lots of images to illustrate your understanding.
Name: K K
Date:
11.11.14
Week number:
9
Attended:
Yes
Name and image of the Activity:
Hot Air Balloon
Materials used:
Paper Plates
Paper Bowls
Thread
Hole Puncture
Paint
Scissors
Glitter
Glue
Clothes Pegs
Cotton Wool
Crepe Paper
Time plan:
5 minutes – Preparation Time

2. 30 minutes – Activity
5 minutes – Cleaning up
Room and/or equipment requirements:
Paintbrushes
Flat surfaces
General Aim of activity – What will the final outcome be? Ie. ‘To make an aeroplane with cardboard’ box.
Every child will have their own uniquely decorated Hot Air Balloon.
Specific Learning outcomes of the activity – What will be learned by doing the activity? Ie. ‘To use fine motor skills using the scissors’
 To use fine motor skills using the clothes pegs holding the cotton wool and putting the thread through the holes on the paper plate and bowl.
 How to tie a knot.
 Recycling.
 Sharing with their peers.
 Communicating with their peers.
 Expressing their imagination and feelings through Art.
Steps for making or doing activity:
Use images with short captions
1. Two holes are to be punctured at the bottom of the paper plate, around 10cm apart. Four holes are to be punctured on the bowl, two on one side of the bowl rim, again 10cm apart, and the same on the direct opposite side of the bowl rim.
2. Set out the various materials to the centre of the table.
3. Hand out one bowl and plate to the children to decorate and paint themselves. The clothes pegs will ‘clamp’ onto a single cotton wool ball, dipped into paint, then ‘dabbed’ onto their paper plates/bowl that will create this circular shape.
4. Cut two pieces of strings for each child that would be the length from the tip of the fingers to the elbow of an adult.
5. The child will then pull the string through one hole on the paper plate down to two holes on one side of the bowl rim. Then tie a knot.
6. Repeat this step on the other side with the other piece of string.
7. The hot air balloon is complete.
Pictures from the day;

3. How will the child/ren benefit from the activity?
 They will learn about the three primary colours (red, yellow and blue) and what colours to mix to create different colours. Example; Mixing red and yellow make orange.
 They will learn how to tie a knot which would assist in their learning of how to tie their shoelaces.
 They will learn about recycling, as I used leftover materials from previous art activities to add extra colour and decoration to the hot air balloon.
 It will expand their imagination and creativity, as there is no specific design for their hot air balloon.
 They can communicate with their peers at the table and learn about their creativity/imagination.
 They will learn about the different shapes.
Age group/s: (development level)
For this specific method of making the hot air balloon, 2 + years. But the activity can easily be varied to suit children under this age.
How would you make the activity more inclusive? Principles of universal design
In my opinion, this activity is already inclusive as it is extremely easy to carry out, regardless of a child’s experience, knowledge, language skills and concentration skills .
In the sections ‘Simplify this activity’ and ‘Variations for the activity’, small changes can be made to suit each child.

4. For children who find it difficult to understand, do not have English as their first language, or cannot hear/hearing impairment, a picture sequence could be made up so that they can easily follow.
How would you adapt the activity to suit outside/inside?
Adding string to the top of the hot air balloon, the children could hang their hot air balloons on trees or a clothes line.
The children could create this sky background on a large sheet of paper outside and stick all their hot air balloons onto it.
The children could be asked to ‘go on an adventure and find treasures’ using their hot air balloons as a guide. Any rocks or leaves unique to them, could be placed inside the bowl (the basket of the hot air balloon).
Simplify this activity:
 For the younger age group, it may be easier to just glue the thread/string between the plate and bowl instead of creating a knot. Another alternative to the bowl is to just have a square piece of paper cut out to attach to the paper plate.
 Instead of using the clothes peg and cotton wool, the children could finger-paint or use a paintbrush to add colour to their hot air balloon.
 Use smaller paper plates and bowls.
Variations for the activity: How could you vary the activity? ‘Marbling using foam or egg whites instead’
 You could use an actual balloon instead of the paper plate. Using a helium balloon will make the hot air balloon float.
 If they use a balloon, they could use Plaster of Paris or the newspaper and PVA glue method on them to make a sturdy structure on top.
 Instead of the paper plate, the children could make a sun-catcher type hot air balloon, using a clear base (like the lid of a Pringles tube), glue and food colouring.
 It could be made into a wall hanging or a mobile attached to the ceiling.
 Linking in to another art activity, the children could make lanterns.
 There is a variety of different methods you could use when painting, like blowing at paint on paper through a straw.
The Learning outcomes linked to Aistear
Exploring and thinking Identity and Belonging Well-being Communicating
Aim 1-2
Aim 1-5
Aim 1-6
Aim 1-6
Aim 2-1
Aim 2-1
Aim 2-1
Aim 2-1
Aim 2-5
Aim 3-3
Aim 2-3
Aim 3-1
Aim 2-6
Aim 3-6
Aim 3-1
Aim 4-2
Aim 3-4
Aim 4-1
Aim 3-3
Aim 4-4
Aim 4-1
Aim 4-6
Aim 4-2
Aim 4-6
Other curriculums: Montessori, HiScope . . .
Silota – The National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education in Ireland.
Safety concerns? If any . . .
 I used non-toxic paint.
 Some of the leftover materials may be a choking hazard to younger children carrying out this activity as they are quite small.
 I have found while carrying out the art activity that the clothes can be quite fragile and break

5. easily which is a hazard.
 The hole puncture should only be used by an adult.
Could the activity link to an external activity/group/outing? ‘Visit to a farm/forest to see/do….’
As I’ve mentioned in the ‘Variations of the activity’ section, the children could be asked to
different materials or things if they went to a forest, to the park, to a beach, and to put them in the
bowl of their hot air balloon.
Extensions for the activity: Could science, geography, history, culture, literacy, maths etc, be incorporated into to the activity? How? What changes would you make?
 The activity could link in with geography, talking about the different places around the world you could explore in your hot air balloon.
 The activity could link in with history, talking about the first ever hot air balloon.
 The activity could link in with Science, talking about how a hot air balloon works, how it stays in the air, how it leaves the ground and lands.
Interactions with children: talk about…. Talk with your child about what they are doing. This will help them understand the physical and mental processes they are going through as well as giving them the vocabulary to describe it. "Look at how the paint splatters like that"
 How to you make the colour purple, green and orange?
 What else can fly in the sky?
 Have you ever been in a hot air balloon/on a plane/helicopter/Ferris wheel, etc etc?
 What will you find in the sky during the day/at night?
 What will you find in space?
Problem solving element? Make your child aware of the problem solving involved and ask them questions as needed to help them work out problems themselves, eg. "Why isn't the paint coming out now?", "Is the straw reaching the paint when the bottle is tipped like that?", "How could you fix that?"
 What colour do you need to mix to make purple, green and orange?
 Is the knot strong enough to hold the bowl from the paper plate?
Evaluation of activity: What did think of the activity?
I am pleased with how the activity went. Although I did find it stressful at times having 7 people at my table, everyone really enjoyed creating the hot air balloon and were impressed with their end product. They all agreed that it was a very ‘easy’ activity to carry out.
Additional information: (images, books, articles, video links, websites etc.)
 Pinterest
 Tumblr
 Google Images
 Friends of mine who are Childcare Workers
 Aistear Book
 Siolta Book
 My portfolio from my FETAC Level 5 Childcare course for the module ‘Arts and Crafts’
Summary of your personal learning in points (at least 4) from doing the activity;
 I learnt from carrying out this activity that everyone has their very own creative style as the hot air balloons made all had a different design, so I’m glad I didn’t set out a specific design for them to copy.
 I learn the importance of having back-up/extra resources as the children may want to change their design or an accident may happen that would damage their hot air balloons,

6. such as paint spilling. Luckily I had extra resources on the day as I ended up with seven people at my table.
 Because I had more people than expected at my table, I found it a little difficult at times to attend to everyone. I found myself ‘rushing around’ to everyone and this was very stressful. But as time went on, I found that I was more productive doing things at my own pace and being more patient.
 I learnt a lot about the various and simple little ways you can vary an art activity to suit different age groups and children with additional needs through research for this activity.
 I learn the importance of everyone having their own personal space when doing art, as everyone’s hot air balloons were on top of each other, messing up other designs which annoyed some of the people a little, but again, I wasn’t prepared for seven people at my table.