Celebrating Chinese New Year with Balloon Time

Next week Thursday 19^th February is the first day of Chinese New Year and also happens to be half term so we won’t have a Chinese club lesson next week. Therefore, we had our CNY party a week early to celebrate with all the children and parents.

Thanks to Balloon Time for giving me this opportunity to work with them. I decided to ask all the children to decorate their balloon with permanent marker pen using the Chinese words that they had learnt. Like the Chinese characters for each different animal zodiac, Happy New Year in Chinese and many more.

A week before the party, I went to our local Tesco supermarket to buy the Balloon Time Helium Kit which cost £24.99. The retail price starts from £22 and can be found at major retailers and party supply stores all over the country.

Inside this kit, it comes with 30 assorted colourful latex balloons, a spool of white ribbon, instructions and a portable pink helium tank. When using it for the first time, it is best to use a spanner to turn the green valve to release the tightness of the valve. This will help make it easier to turn the valve.

Just before we start our crafts session, I quickly inflated 20 balloons with two other mums help! As I inflated the balloon, another mum tied a knot while the other cut the ribbons! The job was done within minutes!

The helium tank is very lightweight and easy to use. Simply hold the balloon tightly onto the black nozzle and push down to release helium into the balloon. Remove the balloon, tie a knot and tie the ribbon on it. Then turn the green valve tightly by turning clockwise and store in a cool, dry place.

All the children were so excited to get the balloons and start decorating in no time! Some of them even drew sheep on the balloon for the year of the sheep and some drew their own zodiac animals on it.

Balloons are a great way to turn moments into memories which is perfect for birthdays, graduations, weddings, baby showers, school events, fund-raisers and many more. I love the convenience of being able to fill the balloons at any time, anywhere to instantly transform the room into a celebration. What a great way to display all the decorative Chinese New Year balloons!

So far I have filled just over 20 balloons and it seems to have plenty of helium in there. The latex balloons will float approximately 5 – 7 hours depending how tight you tie it! A few of the balloons have reduced in size after 2 hours. If you use mylar/foil balloons, it will float approximately 4 days. If you want your balloons to float longer, you can purchase a product called ULTRA HI-FLOAT to add an additional 1-4 weeks of float time depending on balloon size/type. The helium tanks are recyclable so visit their website for instructions.

We really enjoyed using the balloon time kit. It provided so much fun for the children and also transformed a plain room to a very exciting celebration room! No need to wrestle with pre-inflated balloons in your car or walking down the street with helium balloons in plastic bags any more – just inflate them when you need them! I would definitely recommend them!

Disclosure: I’m working with BritMums and Balloon Time as part of the “Celebration Club”, highlighting inventive and fun ways of using balloons. I was provided with a Balloon Time helium kit and have been compensated for my time. All editorial and opinions are my own. Visit http://www.balloontime.com for more information and party inspiration.