15 Balloon Games for Kids

Balloons are a fun and inexpensive toy for keeping children entertained – at a birthday party, holiday party, for inside active play time – or really, any time you are looking for fun things to do with balloons! Here are fifteen of the best balloon games to play with kids.

15 Balloon Games for Kids

1. Balloon Race Game #1
Line party guests up along a starting line. Place an inflated balloon between the knees of each player.

On ‘Go’ competitors must race to the finish line keeping the balloon between their knees, and not touching it with their hands. If you have a large group, make this a balloon team race by playing it as a relay. 

Hot tip: Jumping works best!

2. Kids Balloon Race #2
Divide competitors into pairs. Each pair places a balloon between their chests or backs and on ‘Go’ they must race to the finish line without losing their balloon on the way – no hands allowed! Should the balloon fall, that pair must return to their starting position to repeat their run.

3. Glow Balloon Races
Fun for sleepovers, nighttime parties or as a camping game, glow races simply require you to crack a series of glow sticks, placing one inside each balloon before inflating it. You then use the inflated glow balloons for either of the balloon race games above.

4. Balloon Face Race
For this race team members must work in pairs to transport a balloon placed between their foreheads. Should the balloon fall, that pair must return to their starting position to repeat their run.

RELATED: For more race and relay ideas for birthday parties, youth groups or school classes, check out our collections of 10 Tag Games for Kids and 25 Kids Relay Race Ideas.

5. Keepy Uppy
This much loved balloon game for preschoolers is best played indoors and is super simple.

Simply give a small group of children one or more balloons (keep it to a maximum of three or four balloons to avoid chaos!) to keep up in the air. The only rules are to keep the balloon from touching the ground; kids need to work together to keep it up!

Hot tip: Give your preschooler a balloon for a solo, indoor game of keepy uppy any day that inclement weather is making it hard to get outdoors for active play.

6. Balloon Volleyball
Divide players into two teams with one team standing on each side of a ribbon strung across the room to represent a volleyball net.

To play, teams hit the balloon across the net to each other. The balloon may be hit up to three times by members of a team before it must go over the net to the other team’s side.

Should a team fail to hit the balloon over the net in three hits, a point is scored for the other team. Should the balloon hit the floor at any time a point is scored for the other team. First team to an agreed number of points wins.

Hot tip: Make the winning number a small amount, like 5, and mix up the teams between each round to keep things moving.

7. Seated Balloon Volleyball
This version of balloon volleyball is played the same as the game above except players are all seated on the floor and the ‘net’ is lowered to compensate for the ‘shorter’ players.

8. Hands Off! Balloon Game
Looking for indoor games with balloons? Try this version of Keep it Up with tweens and teens – it makes a great school, camp or youth group game.

Divide players into teams of five or six. Team members stand in a circle, holding hands. Each team is given a balloon.

On ‘Go’ the team must keep their balloon off the ground for as long as possible – no hands allowed. Players will need to get creative with heads, shoulders, knees, feet, even their backs!

The team to keep their balloon up off the ground for the longest time is the winner.

9. The Floor is Lava!
Divide party guests into pairs and give each pair an inflated balloon.

The children must hit the balloon to each other, trying not to let it touch the ground. If their balloon does hit the ground, the pair is out and must sit down. Last group standing wins.

10. Musical Balloon Up
Prepare for this game by blowing up a series of balloons, each with a single dance challenge written onto a small piece of paper inserted before inflating.  Challenges might include actions, like performing a specific dance move, and trivia questions related to music.

To play, put on some music and have the children bop one balloon to keep it up in the air until the music stops. The last person to touch the balloon before the music stop must pop it and perform the challenge that was hidden inside.

Replace the balloon with a fresh one and start the music again to continue play.

11. Water Balloon Pinata
This is a great balloon party game for a pool party.

Fill balloons with water (at least one for each player) and hang them from a tree or clothesline. Blindfold one player at a time, give them a plastic bat to hold and spinning them around within reach of the balloons. Encourage the player to take a big swing in an attempt to connect with a balloon.

This game has no winner. It’s just good for a laugh and a cool down!

12. Blow It Up Balloon Race
A simple balloon game that is full of hot air! Give each guest a balloon that has not yet been inflated. On ‘Go,’ guests race to blow up and tie off their balloon. Fastest and largest balloons win a prize!

13. Balloon Stomp
This classic balloon popping game is a fun one for older children. Use a short length of string to tie one balloon to an ankle of each player.

When the music starts or ‘Go’ is called, all players must attempt to stomp on the balloons of the other competitors to pop them. Last player with an un-popped balloon is the winner.

14. Swoosh!
This is a great balloon party game for teens.

To play, give each party guest a balloon that has not yet been inflated. Line the players up behind a marked line. Place a prize box of candy or a small gift about 9 feet (3 metres) away from the line of guests. Invite each player to inflate their balloon WITHOUT tying the knot, holding the neck of the balloon tight until it is their turn. As each player steps up to the starting line they release their inflated balloon.

The guest whose balloon lands closest to prize box wins the prize.

15. Balloon Dare
This balloon game twist on Truth or Dare makes a fun sleepover game for tweens and teens. To play, pre-prepare a collection of inflated balloons, each with a small piece of paper with a dare written on it.

Some dare suggestions: Sing “I’m a Little Teapot” with all of the actions, bite into a lemon slice, peel a banana with your feet, do a crab walk across the room, cartwheel 3 times, try not to laugh for one whole minute (while everyone else tries to make you laugh), sing the “Humpty Dumpty” nursery rhyme with a mouth full of marshmallows, act out a scene from your favorite movie.

Players take turns to choose a balloon, pop it and complete the dare.

For more like this be sure to check out our collection of 21 Sleepover Games for Kids.

Balloon Game Tips for Parents

• Choose good quality balloons if you want them to last. Also look at the size and shape to determine if your balloons are suitable for your choice of balloon games.
• A balloon pump is a handy, inexpensive way to blow up lots of balloons for balloon party games.
• Balloons may pose a suffocation risk to babies and toddlers who still mouth objects. Please supervise young children carefully.
• Younger children are often scared of balloons bursting – this is why we suggest some of these games are more suited to older tweens and teens.
• Please dispose of balloons and balloon fragments thoughtfully as they can pose a threat to small children and pets.
• When playing balloon games outdoors be sure to collect all balloons and balloon fragments to avoid posing a threat to wildlife.