Published on Sep 05, 2023
The objective: When you were a kid, do you remember having birthday parties with clowns and magic? There were balloon animals and the clowns were experts in making them and the kids were enthralled. It was a magical moment, getting to see a hotdog shaped balloon turning into an animal.
Making a balloon dog takes practice. Like any craft, it should be practiced and mastered to be a success. To make one, one should have a long skinny balloon. It is called the 260Q-type of balloon. Blow it. You can use a hand pump or football pump to blow the balloon. Leave at least 1 1/2 inch of deflated balloon. Tie this end.
Make a twist at the end of this balloon, two inches from the knotted end. Then make two more twists, one inch apart from each other. Hold the balloon well, do not let go. This will ensure that the balloon will not untwist itself. The technique when twisting a balloon is to twist the balloon in the same direction, with two or three turns.
Twist the smaller balloon bubbles together, as these will be the ears of the dog balloon you are making. Adjust the balloon a bit. You can now see that you are making a head.
Make three more twists with two inches apart. It can also be three inches or four inches, it depends on your taste. For reference, three fingers wide is usually two inches. Twist these new sections as they will form the head and the neck of the dog. Then make three more twists, for these will form the dog’s body and the dog’s hind legs.
Lastly, fold and twist the new smaller sections together. Twist the legs now and you should see that you made a balloon dog! If the tail is too long for your taste, pinch it to any length you want to let the air out. Then retie it to hold the shape.
You can actually make a giraffe out of a balloon dog. Just make the neck longer and it would be a giraffe.
If you want to draw on the balloon animal, sharpie pens work best.
And remember to keep it out of small children’s reach as it can pop anytime and may pose danger. The little children can choke on balloon pieces too.
Mastering the art of making balloon animals takes time. But with effort and constant practice, maybe you can enthrall other people with balloon animals too
