Who can resist a bit of balloon play? These 10 Fun Gross Motor Balloon Tennis games are sure to be a hit with the whole family and because they can be played indoors they’re great for all year round fun.
With 10 exciting variations of Balloon Tennis Games to try, kids can have hours of fun letting off steam and burning up some of their never ending energy supply!
All ten of these balloon tennis games are a great way to build kids gross motor skills too.
If you’re anything like us then you’ve been enjoying the highlights of the lawn tennis season this Summer. Our whole family loves to watch the action while munching our easy to make fruit packed Strawberries and Cream Popsicles, yum! Tennis and strawberries just shouts Summer doesn’t it!
Much as I love to get outside with the kids to play games, get some exercise and let off steam, sometimes the weather just doesn’t play ball, especially here in the UK! We have had such a wet Summer so far! Bleurgh!
You don’t need to worry about the weather with these 10 Fun Gross Motor Balloon Tennis Games to play indoors! They’re all really quick to set up and great games to turn to to stop everyone going stir crazy when outside play just isn’t an option. Kids and grown ups can enjoy a game of indoor tennis without the worry of damage to ornaments and windows that a real tennis ball would cause!
Balloon tennis gives kids all sorts of opportunities to exercise their gross motor skills as they jump, leap, stretch, balance and lunge in the style of their favourite tennis heroes.
If your kids are anything like mine then they’ll love to exercise their vocal chords too, adding in grunts and groans to match Federer’s and Murray’s!
Of course all of these 10 fun gross motor balloon tennis games can be played outside too if it’s not windy!
Supplies To Make A Balloon Tennis Set
- Yellow/Green Balloon US / UK
- Sharpies US / UK
- Jumbo Popsicle Sticks US / UK
- Paper Plates US / UK
- Sticky Tape
Balloon Tennis Instructions
To make your own ballon tennis set simply tape the jumbo popsicle sticks onto the back of the paper plates to make your racquets, and blow up the balloon to make your tennis ball! Simple.
To make ours a more authentic looking tennis game we used sharpies to draw a tennis ball design onto the balloon and racquet strings onto the paper plate.
Balloon Tennis Rules 10 Fun Ways To Play!
You can make up all sorts of balloon tennis rules to suit the number and age of your players.
Here are 10 fun gross motor balloon tennis games we enjoy playing:
1 Down On One Knee (When you miss a shot you have to balance on one leg, then kneel on one knee, then kneel on both knees, then sit on your bottom, then you are out.)
2 Smash Down (Players start with a set number of lives, 3 or 5 work well. A life is lost every time an opponent manages to get the balloon to the floor on your side of the court.
3 Keepy Uppy (Players bat the balloon to and fro between them and lose a point every time they fail to keep the balloon off the floor. The first to 5 is the loser.)
4 Keepy Uppy Solo (Each player has their own balloon tennis ball and repeatedly hits it up into the air. The first person to let their balloon touch the floor loses.)
5 Circle Tennis (This balloon tennis game is great if you have a number of players. Players stand in a circle and pass the balloon tennis ball around the circle playing any of the games above.
6 Name Race Balloon Tennis (Players stand in a circle and hit the balloon into the centre of the ring while calling out a players name. The player called plus the person standing on the right of the server must try to catch or hit the balloon. The winner serves the next ball.)
7 Cog Wheel Tennis Game (Players stand in a circle. The server sends the balloon ball to the player opposite. The player opposite returns it to the person on the servers left. The player on the original servers left then send it to the person on the left of the player that served it to them and so on and so on around the circle. A life is lost every time a player misses the return. This can also be combined with Down On One Knee.)
8 Piggy In The Middle (For three of more players. One person is the ‘piggy’ in the middle of two or more players. They must try to catch the balloon when the other players bat it to and fro between them. When the piggy catches the ball they swap places with the person they captured the tennis ball from.)
9 Dodge Ball Tennis ( One player stands in the middle with a racquet. All other players stand around them with a racquet each and any number of balloon tennis balls you like. The more balls you have the harder it is for the person inside. The outer players must try to hit their balls at the inner player. The inner player must avoid being hit by dodging the balloons and hitting them away with their racquet.)
10 Target Balloon Tennis ( Players set each other challenges to hit certain targets in a certain number of shots. For example, hit the right hand table leg in three shot or hit the back of the door in 4 shots etc.)
Kids and grown ups can enjoy these 10 Fun Gross Motor Balloon Tennis Games all year round. They’re a great way to get active, let off steam and have fun together!
(Warning: Balloons can still knock ornaments etc over, please make sure fragile items are safe.)
More Fun Ideas For Play:
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- Snail Racing
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