Frozen Water Balloons

I've found a  lot of fun activities for my kids on Pinterest. Some things I have repinned and can direct you to the spot I found the idea, others I just saw and knew I could remember. This is one that regretfully I didn't repin so I can't give proper credit for the idea. However, the original was for Winter time decorations. So I don't feel quite as bad!

When I saw frozen balloons I knew I had to try it. I wasn't sure what we'd do with them, but the kids figured it out quickly. We started by dropping a few drops of food coloring in the empty balloons. I tried having a color lesson, but since the balloons were colored it was near impossible. Next time I would just stick to red, yellow, blue and green. We then filled the balloons like normal and tied them off. On a few of the balloons the food coloring escaped and got on my hands so just beware of that.

The next step made me feel like an idiot. I just started putting them in our deep freezer in the garage. Most of them were fine, but about three popped leaving a mess of colored water. I then thought to put them in a plastic wash bin I bought for something else from the dollar store. That way any others that popped were at least contained.

I checked the balloons after about twelve hours and they were not solid yet. In fact I popped another one checking! After twenty four hours they were solid. The most surprising thing to me was how easily the balloons peeled off.

The kids looked at me like, "OK mom, now what?". I suggested rolling them on the grass, this was too lame and the dog chased the frozen balls leaving a path of slobber in her path. They wanted to throw them, but I was worried about harming people or objects. When I thought about it I knew we could be safe. I told the kids to see who could break the ice into the most pieces. Let the fun begin! They threw the balloons onto the driveway and cheered when there was "A Good One". They were patient with each other and only went to check when everyone had a turn to through the ice. There were no injuries or home owners insurance claims filed. My driveway was spotted with color, but it only lasted until the end of day.

This was very fun. My kids enjoyed it so much. I'm glad they were able to take this idea and make it better.