Float Like a Hot Air Balloon

Make Together

Hot air balloons are made up of a gondola or wicker basket, a bag of heated air called an envelope, and a powerful heat source to make it soar up to the clouds. 

Design your own mini-hot air balloon basket and use a parachute for a  smooth landing on CMOM’s YouTube Channel!

1. Cut a circle out of some cardboard roughly the size of a can, and set it aside.
2. Roll or fold up a newspaper, magazine page, or any kind of paper into 8 strips about 1 inch wide.
3. Tape the base of each strip onto the bottom of your cardboard circle and let the strips splay out like sun rays.
4. Measure the circumference of your cardboard circle with some string.
5. Roll or fold up 3 more strips of paper and then cut them to the length of your measured string.
6. Tape each of your new smaller strips around themselves like a donut.
7. Take your first donut, and weave it onto your basket by sliding it over the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th paper strips. Take your next donut and do the same, but this time over the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th strips.
8. Continue with the 3rd donut ring, and then tape the extra paper down to make a smoother basket top.
9. Cut 4 strips of string and tape one to each corner of a napkin. Then tape the other side of the string to 4 spots on the top of your basket.
10. Test your parachute by putting a toy in the basket, climbing onto a couch or a staircase, holding it by the middle of the napkin, and releasing it! 

Rather than just falling straight down due to gravitational forces, the parachute should create resistance, causing your basket to float down a little slower while the parachute fills up with air. If your parachute doesn’t work, try a different shape, different size string, or a smaller toy!