For my son’s third birthday (It was a Mickey Birthday Party), I wanted him to have a pinata. Smashing something up for candy is fun for all kids, after all. After realizing that a three-year-old would have a pretty tough time breaking a pinata, I opted to make a balloon pinata. I know I could have bought a pull-string pinata, but I wanted a little more excitement than that.
The piñata is the pièce de résistance of any children's party but most don't want to mess with paper mache. Here's how to make a DIY balloon pinata!Click To TweetWhat is a Balloon Pinata
A balloon pinata is basically candy-filled balloons that you have the children pop. The candy-filled balloons are attached to a board of some sort (even a cornhole board if you want).
The board can be made of wood or foam—whatever you can stick the balloons to will work.
People use darts or push pins for popping the balloons. It is a fun and easy craft for birthdays or holiday parties.
Making a Mickey Balloon Pinata
To go with the party’s theme, we decided to make the board that the balloons go on the classic mickey head silhouette. I cut a piece of plywood into that basic shape.
We read that the ratio of Mickey’s head to his ears is about 5:3, so that was the goal. Once he got the shape cut out, I painted it black.
Putting Candy Inside a Balloon
Putting candy inside a balloon is more complicated than it sounds. I had hurt eardrums and cuts on my hands from the attempts I made.
I did find a method that worked for me, though.
Method 1: Putting Candy Inside a Balloon with a Tube
The first method I tried was attaching a balloon to a tube. I found that the perfect-sized tube for this was a regular-sized foil tube (the cardboard tube foil is wrapped around).
First, I shoved candy as far down the tube as I could. Once the candy reached the end of the tube I blew into the tube, which blew up the balloon enough, so the candy fell out of the tube and into the balloon.
Then I had to blow up the balloons the rest of the way and tie them.
While the method did work, it wreaked havoc on my ears. I only could do a few of these before I decided to come up with another way to put candy inside a balloon.
Method 2: Putting Candy Inside a Balloon with a Milk Jug
This method was by far the best for me. I used a washed-out milk jug for this method since its opening was about the same size as the cardboard foil tube.
First, I cut a hole in the bottom of the milk jug that was big enough to place candy and my hands in. I did get a couple of cuts from forcing the balloon onto the milk jug opening, but I much rather deal with that than busted eardrums.
Then, I stretched a balloon onto the milk jug’s original opening. Through the hole that I cut, I put candy inside the milk jug and pushed it into the balloon.
Once I filled the balloon with candy, I carefully removed the balloon from the milk jug.
After all of the balloons were filled with candy and blown up, they were attached to the mickey head silhouette board we had cut out and previously painted.
Popping a Balloon Pinata
We connected each balloon with a thumbtack and made sure they were very secure so none would come flying out when the kids popped the balloons. We practically hammered them into the plywood, so they weren’t going anywhere.
Okay, this may sound a little dangerous, but to pop the balloons, we taped a thumbtack onto the end of a wooden pole. We helped each child pop the balloons making sure there was no swinging of the popping stick or anything.
The kids had a blast popping the balloons to get candy!
This is such a great idea, how fun! I know my kids would have a blast popping the balloons! It sounds like work but totally worth it to watch the kids enjoy themselves. I am definitely going to do this for my daughters Birthday next month. Thank you so much for sharing!
It’s definitely more work than a traditional pinata but a lot more fun too I think
For a fun party, these would be excellent and crafty! I love all of them! Thanks for the post!
It’s a great alternative to the typical pinata!
This is such a cute idea. It is perfect for birthday parties.
It’s a fun and different pinata that kids will truly adore
this is really cute and looks actually doable thanks for sharing. u could really match this theme with lots of goodies from stores too i see lots of disney type stuff in the party sections.
Yes, it totally would work perfectly with all of the Mickey party items in stores! The great thing about this is that the balloon pinata board can be cut to whatever shape suits your theme best.
I am not sure why this never occurred to me but these are amazing! thanks for the ideas!
It’s a great alternative to a regular pinata
I always though that paper was a necessity for making a pinata. These are great ideas, especially the milk jug!
For a traditional pinata it is but this balloon pinata is a nice twist on the idea
Great fun, I’ve never made a Pinata before.
I think I’ve only made one traditional pinata before. This one is way easier
The Balloon Pinata Idea is so cute! Perfect for a Birthday party celebration.
Yes and you can customize the balloon pinata to fit your theme as well!
what a great idea! this could be used for all sorts of parties
So true! You could shape the board in a variety of things making this balloon pinata great for so many birthday themes.
This is so cool! I never knew you could make your own Pinatas.
Well, this isn’t your standard pinata but you can make those too