Monday, October 8

Hot Air Balloon Festival Coming Up & Experiments too!


Coming up this month is the annual Carolina BalloonFest. I am super excited about catching it this year! Last year, by the time I remembered it, the festival had already passed. So I wrote it down on my calendar way ahead of time and I’ve been highly anticipating that weekend!
What is the Carolina BalloonFest?

The website says: “Join us for a fun-filled weekend of family entertainment with outstanding attractions. Bring lawn chairs and blankets (pets & coolers are not permitted) to bask in the beautiful Carolina autumn weather as the backdrop to all the sights & sounds of colorful hot air balloons.” The BalloonFest even made the Weather Channel’s Top 10 FantasticFall Festivals list!

Over the course of the weekend, they will have: 50 Hot Air Balloons, Mass Ascensions, a stage with live entertainment, a Balloon Glow, a competition, Hot Air Balloon Rides, Tethered Balloon Rides, All-Day Festivities, a Kids Zone, a history about hot air balloons, Tastes of NC Wines & Brews, Artisan Village & MarketPlace, Fine Arts & Crafts, an Eat Street, and a Beer Tent.



Sounds like a lot of fun right? I really think the girls would love seeing all of the hot air balloons and that’s why I’m doing my best to make sure we don’t miss it this year!

But I can’t have something this awesome come up without doing a craft or activity to accompany it. I’ve been scouring the Google and Pinterest looking for age-appropriate activities and crafts to go along with the weekend. My Internet has been acting up (as always) and it’s taking me a little while to gather everything.

With all that said, I know that for Friday I want to check out some books from the library about hot air balloons. Thing 1 has an early release that day so I know I would actually be able to introduce them to hot air balloons before heading out early Saturday morning. (It’s a little bit of a drive for us, but I’m thinking it will be well worth the effort to get there!) I searched the online catalogue for the library and could only come up with fiction books with hot air balloons in them. I think some of these will work, but I’m also hoping to find a non-fiction book or two. (As part of the curriculum for first grade, Thing 1 has had to start reading non-fiction books for her reading log.)

Also on Friday, I’d like to do a craft or two. Or maybe do an edible craft. J I have found a couple sites that I was able to pin to one of my boards onPinterest so that I can go back when the Internet is working better and print some of the worksheets off. Some of the pages have a hot air balloon maze while others have coloring pages and another has a great cut and paste activity for my little preschooler to do. I’m sure my first grader will have fun with it too. J

We will have to leave early Saturday morning (my husband isn’t going to be too happy about thatL) and we will probably be gone all day and return later in the evening. But on Sunday I know the hubby will be kicking back, watching some football, and enjoying some well needed – and well earned – relaxation. While he is doing that, I have a fun idea for the kids. I want to do an experiment with them. I found one that I may be able to do with my girls even though it was designed for grades four to six. The ideas of it would still be the same; there just wouldn’t be as complex a discussion about what we did. And I’m thinking that aside from the hair dryer (which is the heat source behind the whole thing and something I have already) I can buy the needed supplies from the dollar store. You can check the page out here:  Make a Hot Air Balloon.
Here are some more cool ideas I have found....now my problem will be choosing which ONE to do with the girls. :) 

What happens to air as it heats up?Warm Air Needs More Room 
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Hot Air Balloon
from PBS Kids
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Hot Air Balloon Science Fair Project thumbnail

Hot Air Balloon Science Fair Project

from EHow.com
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HOVERING HOT-AIR BALLOON

Learn how a hot-air balloon works by making one


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2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the info. After going through the blog I realize that I must do a hot air balloon festival. Thanks for all the useful ideas. I enjoyed reading the blog.

    Hot Air Balloon Ride

    ReplyDelete
  2. On the nineteenth Sept 1783 Pilatre First State Rozier, a mortal, launched the primary hot air balloon known as 'Aerostat Reveillon'. The passengers were a sheep, a duck and a chicken and also the balloon stayed within the air for a grand total of quarter-hour before bloody back to the bottom.!

    ReplyDelete

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