one hot dog!

Thursday, April 26, 2007 – In our Principles and Strategies of Teaching and Learning (PSTL) class, There was a group who taught us on how to Balloon Twist.

For a brief backgrounder: Our project is to be a professor for a day and we can teach any topic that we like. Going back, one group taught us on how to balloon twist. They made an airplane and 2 variations of dogs out of the balloon. As an evaluation, they ask us to make our own balloon figure using the steps they taught us.

Balloon modelling or balloon twisting is the shaping of special modelling balloons into almost any given shape, often a balloon animal. People who create balloon animals and other twisted balloon sculptures are called Twisters. Twisters often work as buskers, clowns, or restaurant entertainers.(www.wikipedia.org)

I chose to do the dog because it is very cute.

It looked like this:

Aren’t they cute? =D After we have created our own balloon animals, they asked us to make a story out of them by group.

Try making one. It is fun! I got to be a kid again even if it is just a day.

These are the steps in creating your own balloon dog:

Basic Puppy Dog

Step 1–Blow up the balloon half way.

Step 2–Start at the beginning with the knot and twist a 3 to 4-inch bubble or 3 or 4 fingers wide. Make sure you hang on to both ends of balloon, otherwise it will untwist. Twist it around 2 or 3 times. Do not worry; it will not break. Why didn’t it break? There is space at the end of the balloon for the extra air. That is why we only blow the balloon up half way.

Step 3–While holding on to the twisted balloon, make another bubble the same size. This will be the one ear. Do not let go.

Step 4–Make another balloon bubble the same size. This is the other ear. Look at picture.

Step 5–Twist balloon joints A & B together. Twist 2 or 4 times all the way around. The balloon will not break, and they will stay together.

If yours looks like this, very good; if not, try it again. Practice makes perfect.

Step 6–Now for the neck. Twist a 2 to 3-inch bubble or 3 or 4 fingers wide. This is the neck. Make sure you hang on to the balloon, both parts.

Step 7–Let’s make the legs, after all–we want your dog to stand. Start by twisting a 2 to 3-inch bubble. Hang on to the neck as you twist the balloon, and do not let go of the leg.

Step 8–Second leg, same as the first. Twist a 2 to 3-inch bubble. Twist those two parts together just like you did with the ears. Remember twist around each other 4 or 5 times. Twist the parts together to look like the drawing.

Step 9–Have a lot of balloon left over? Hotdog! We make the body 1 1/2 hands long. Then twisting; make sure you hang on to the balloon. Make the legs like you did in step 7.

Congratulations, you have just made your first hotdog dog.