Fishies

I’ve made many fish before. Now I’ve designed a simpler fish for some friends who are going on a mission trip and are interested in some balloon twisting. This design uses one 260 balloon and one small 5″ round balloon. It’s pretty fast and only requires 2-3 twists.

To get started, inflate the round balloon and the 260 balloon, leaving about 1″ uninflated. Next, tie the ends of the balloon together. Squeeze the 260 balloon to spread the air to inflate the rest of the balloon. Fold the 260 balloon in half. You can probably figure out the rest :).

Simple fish
Simple fish

If you’d like to add more detail/color, you can use another small round balloon twisted in half to add eyeballs.

Fish with eyeballs
Fish with eyeballs

You can also add lips to the fish by doing two pinch twists.

Fish with lips
Fish with lips

Or, add both eyeballs and lips! Note: if you are adding lips, remember to leave an extra 1/2 inch of the balloon uninflated so that the balloon has room to expand for the two additional pinch twists.

Fish with eyeballs and lips
Fish with eyeballs and lips

Another fish

Fish balloon animal
Fish balloon animal (front view)

Here’s yet another fish I made. I came up with this one – it’s similar to the previous fish I blogged about, but it’s a little larger and has a little more detail (stripes.)

To make this balloon, you use a 260 balloon to make the lips and body. This is similar to how you’d start making the last fish, except this time don’t make fins with the 260 balloon. Thus, the body will be a little larger.

Then use one 160 balloon to add the top two stripes and two back fins (top and bottom). Afterward, use a second 160 balloon to add the bottom two stripes, two side fins, and middle back fin. (To attach each 160 balloon to the fish body you’ve already made, wrap the knot around the back of the fish body (where the bubbles intersect each other.))

Use a small white round balloon to make two eyes. Lastly, add a scrap 260 white (or whatever color) balloon to fill in the final middle back fin.

Fish balloon animal (side view)

Gone fishing!

Wow, another year with the 4-5 year olds class has passed by. Last year, for the last day of class, I made birds. This year, I made fish!

Fish balloon bodies

I chose this balloon to make for my class because they don’t take that much time to make, but are still quite detailed. The birds I made last year are were a bit too detailed and took more time than I originally planned. Also, these fish are a bit more sturdy – probably less likely to come undone and will last a little longer.

Fish balloons ready for transport

Tips: As shown in the picture, I made all the fish bodies first. The fish body is made up of one 260 balloon. I found leaving 3 inches uninflated was just right for me. The new neon-colored balloons I just bought looked quite nice.

After making the bodies, I added the fins and the eyes. You can position the eyes to be in the middle, closer to the front, or right in front. You can also mix and match different colors for the body and fins.

I have made this fish balloon before.
I originally saw this balloon on a youtube video (by BusterBalloon.)

To transport the balloons, I used a pop-up laundry hamper, which worked quite well. In the past I’ve used bags for transport. But this way, you can have more assurance the balloons won’t get squished. The laundry hamper also can fit a lot.

[ Video link: Clown Fish by BusterBalloon ]

Mommy and baby fish

Mommy and baby fish

I made this one for a baby shower. The larger fish above is supposed to be a mommy fish, and the smaller fish a baby fish. Trivia question: What is a baby fish called? (Answer below.)

I’ve shown you the larger fish before. (See this previous post.) The smaller fish design (along with the coral and seaweed) I saw on a youtube video by BusterBalloon. I really like that design as well – it uses an entire 260 balloon, a 160 scrap for the fins, and a small white round for the eyes.

To (loosely) attach the fish to the coral, take a small piece of uninflated balloon and find some place to secure one end on the fish. Then find some place to secure the other end on the coral. (You can first tie knots at the ends of the balloon if that helps.) If you look closely at the picture above, you can see where I slid in one end of the uninflated balloon at the bottom of the mommy fish in between the 260 balloon and the round balloon.

What is a baby fish called? A newly hatched fish is called a fry. A baby fish that is a bit older is called a fingerling (and is about the size of one’s finger or larger.)

[ Video link: Clown Fish by BusterBalloon ]

Fish balloon – one of the favorites!

Fish

This fish balloon is always one of the favorites. It’s actually not too complicated to make – it’s the combination of color and shapes that makes this fish really cool.

Video instructions: How to make a balloon fish (Removed)

This fish uses five balloons – two 260s, one large round balloon for the body, and two small ones for the eyes. (If you don’t have small round ones, you can use a 260 to make the eyes with a couple loops twists.) Choose colors that will go well together.

You’ll basically make two pinch twists (which might be the most difficult part) for the lips and two loop twists for the fins.

After making the balloon, I like to give a kid the chance to draw in the eyeballs/eyelashes, which they always enjoy.

Fish (front)
Fish (back)

[ Video link : How to make a balloon fish ]