There were once in a warehouse ten beautiful shiny, full of colour balloons, all of the same round shape! They were inflated and tied up with cords fastened to a base. They were so beautiful! They even admired themselves in the mirror of the warehouse!
- How pretty we are! Look at all these colours!!
- I heard we are going to be decorating the party of a boy.
- We’ll surely dazzle the children that will be there!
One of the balloons looked down and saw something that attracted everyone’s attention.
- Hey, who are you? shouted the balloon to what it could see but could not make out.
- I’m a balloon too! it said from where it was, lying on the floor.
It was really different from the rest of them; long in shape and very thin, with a colour unlike the others, that of almost gold. It was inflated and abandoned on the floor.
- Ha, ha! Listen guys, it’s a balloon! answered one of the tied balloons and the rest of them burst into laughter.
- And what kind of balloon are you, all long and thin like this? How will the kids hold you and play with you?
- But I…
- Surely, the clown that inflated us moments ago made a mistake and that’s why he abandoned you. You must be the only one in the world with such a shape. Tough luck kid…
The balloon became very sad. It coyly looked one more time at the balloons hanging directly above it and felt discontent. Why should it have been created so different from the others? It started thinking that it was really ugly as well. It is unfair it thought, being a balloon that didn’t have a nice colour and could not be used in anything… There must have been a mistake at the manufacturing plant.
- And what kind of colour is this? It’s the first time that we have seen such a colour, went on mocking the round balloons.
Suddenly the door opened and the clown entered the warehouse once again!
- Here we go, he said loudly as if he was talking to the balloons. He took the tied balloons in one hand and with the other he took the long one from the floor. Shortly before closing the door he turned back, got a pouch with something colourful in it and went on. He put the tied balloons in one corner, to decorate the party and he left the long balloon and the pouch on the table alongside other stuff he had brought.
The kids had arrived early. There was loud music, a mouth-watering buffet and presents scattered everywhere for the boy who had his birthday.
The clown took hold of two drums and in a funny way he hit them in order to attract the children’s attention!
- So, my dear kids! Since I know how much you like games with pirates, I have a surprise for you. We’ll make swords and pirate hat balloons for everyone!
- But, how? wondered the round balloons and looked at one another.
The oblong balloon was watching as well, puzzled. The clown took the pouch and started taking out uninflated balloons; blue, red, yellow, green and a whole bunch of other colours. With a special machine he slowly began giving them shape. The important thing is though, that they were exactly like the balloon lying on the warehouse’s floor some time ago.
- I’m not alone! There are others like me! Look! shouted the golden balloon happily!
The rest of the balloons could not believe their eyes. Then, the clown bended them with skilful moves, and gave them beautiful shapes. Hats, belts and swords for boys, flowers and puppies for girls and anything else every child wanted.
A heap of funny faces sprang at once; blue pirates, green and yellow seafarers, pink and red princesses, captives of pirates. The game and imagination of kids know no bounds.
The balloons felt a great deal of relief and had a very good time. In the end, the kids took them to decorate their own rooms. Before saying goodbye, the round balloons thanked their golden friend because due to him they had a value again! That was an unforgettable party to everyone.
1) What the balloons realized is that anything thought of as unimportant, can somehow be made into something important. The balloons were transformed into imaginary friends of the kids with the help of markers. Can you think of some other things that may seem useless, but we can utilize them to create something nice?
2) Shown below is a cylindrical cardboard core of a toilet paper roll.
See what you can make it into with the help of the following images. They are constructs that we have created using a little imagination and simple materials. It’s your turn now, time for action!
3) We split into teams of two. We have 5 minutes at our disposal. We tell a short true story to our partner that made us feel proud or special. Once we have both done it, each one of us has to present the story they heard to their classmates.
4) Try to find as many adjectives as you can in order to describe the “balloon”. It can be big, yellow, shiny…
5) With the adjectives you thought of a moment ago, we are going to make up an imaginary story. This time, our hero will not be the balloon but something else. You can let your imagination run free or use one of these: ship, fish, pencil, carrot, witch, and tree! The story that we’ll make can consist of a big problem that in the end is solved thanks to our hero. Don’t forget those adjectives!
6) Can you draw something that will be unique? Something strange, that does not exist in reality. To achieve that use elements of different items, animals or humans. What would you say for example about a creature that its head resembles that of a puppy, has long blond hair and bicycle wheels for legs?
7) It’s time to give a different dimension to the fairy tale that we have just read.
- In fact, what would happen if, instead of balloons, there were vegetables in our story? Or, perhaps, if our story was talking about real kids? Choose something from the original fairy tale, change it and continue the story.
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