Indoor/Outdoor Activity for All Ages

Whether the sun is out or you’re stuck indoors all day, we can all benefit from adding a little more active movement and friendly competition into our lives. Introducing the “Keep Up The Balloon Challenge”! Although the name speaks for itself, we have added a fun twist to this classic game by introducing some extra challenges. Can you complete them all?

We’re challenging our campers to see who can keep their balloon up and floating for the longest amount of time. You can do your keep-ups however you choose, but once your balloon touches the floor, wall or even the ceiling, your time is up! We recommend having a designated timekeeper on hand (such as a parent or sibling) who can watch the time and record everything for you. Don’t forget to check out the “Extra Challenges” section below for our full list of more challenging tweaks to the game.

What You’ll Need:

• Balloons

• A “keep-up device” – we recommend using a fly swatter or tennis racket, but anything will do, including your hands!

• A timer

• An empty space/area in your home or yard

Getting Started:

1. Blow up a couple of balloons and have them ready on stand-by.

2. If you’ll be doing the challenge indoors, position yourself in a room with a minimal amount of furniture or objects around you. If you’ll be outdoors, make sure you have ample space around you.

3. Prepare yourself for the challenge by holding your balloon in hand. Have a sibling or parent ready with a timer on hand.

4. As soon as they say “go” and start the timer, start your keep-ups! Hit the balloon in any direction you want, as long as it stays afloat.

5. Once your balloon touches anything else (ex. the floor/wall/ceiling/furniture/grass), have your sibling or parent stop the timer immediately and record your time.

6. Let us know what time you got and send us any pictures or videos from your experience!

Extra Challenges

Looking for a different spin on this game or wanting to up the stakes? Try out our additional challenges and check them off once you’ve completed them successfully:

• After every minute passes, throw in a new balloon.

• Try a “no hands” challenge and only do your keep-ups with another body part, such as your foot, head, knee, etc.

• Do 100 keep-ups while singing your favourite campfire song or reciting your favourite Bible verse.

• Make it interactive by passing your keep-ups to different family members. To make it even more interesting, set a designated order in which the balloon must be hit (ex. first to me, then to dad, and then to mom).

• Re-enact your favourite camp sport while hitting the balloon (ex. if your favourite sport is volleyball, pretend to volley the balloon with every keep-up).

The beauty of this game is that anything goes as long as the balloon stays afloat! The more creativity you put into keeping your balloon up, the more fun it will be for you and your family.

Will you be trying this out at home? Share your pictures and videos with us by tagging us on Facebook at @OntarioPioneerCamp and Instagram at @ontariopioneercamp or sending us a direct message!

For more at-home camp activities, visit: https://www.pioneercampontario.ca/camp-at-home/