How to Create a Sword Balloon

Give a couple of boys some swords, and you can expect a clash between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, or a swashbuckling battle between pirates. To make things a little safer so that fewer things break in the house, try making a balloon sword. The details are easy and the result will give the kids hours of fun.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Long balloons
• Balloon pump

1. Buy the super-long, skinny balloons for your balloon sword. Take one and inflate it, leaving about 3 inches uninflated at the end. Tie a knot to prevent air from escaping.

2. Go down from the knot about 5 inches and twist about three times. The 5 inches will give you a good length for the hand grip.

3. Measure about 8 inches down, grip the balloon at the 8-inch mark, and bend the balloon back toward the first twist you made. Where the 8-inch mark meets the twist, twist the two sections together to lock them in place. You've created a loop that is one-half of the hand guard for the sword.

4. Create the other half of the hand guard by going another 8 inches down. Grip the balloon there and bend the balloon toward the meeting of grip and hand guard. Twist this new section into place.

5. Twist the grip, blade and hand guards into position to have a proper looking sword.

6. Repeat Steps 3 and 4, if you have an extremely long balloon, and you can create a four-piece hand guard.

Tips & Warnings

• While the professionals use an air canister to inflate balloons, you can buy a small hand-held balloon pump. It takes a lot of wind to blow up these long skinny balloons.