You need 26 balloons. Write each letter of the alphabet on a balloon. Give participants a set amount of time to go from balloon to balloon and write words that start with the corresponding letter. This can be used as a before reading strategy to activate prior knowledge on a topic. Or this strategy can be used during reading to pause and reflect on the lesson so far.  This is also a great strategy to use after reading to summarize the main points of the story. After students are given a certain amount of time to brainstorm, they each get a balloon or two and form a circle and report out the words written on their balloon.

SAMPLE SCHEDULE USING THIS ACTIVITY:

• PLACE PARTICIPANTS IN A CIRCLE
  • Explain to the class that your power word is REPENTANCE (This can be any word you choose).
  • Pass out sharpie markers
  • Pour the prepared balloons out of large garbage bags (You want the 26 balloons to already be blown up and have a letter of the alphabet written on them.
• START A FIVE MINUTE COUNTDOWN
  • Play a song in the background that will last approximately five minutes. When the song or countdown is over, then the activity is over.
• ASK STUDENTS TO TAKE ON BALLOON AND STAND IN A CIRCLE
  • You can adjust the number of balloons that participants take with the number of people you have in your group. For instance, if you have 10 participants, then you will have everyone get two balloons, and a few people will have three balloons.
• RECAP THE ACTIVITY
  • Have all the participants go around the circle and share at least one word from their balloons. Sample words from the balloons around the power word REPENTANCE could be:
    • A is for ATONEMENT
    • B is for BELIEF
    • C is for CHANGE
    • D is for DEPLORE 
    • E is for ETERNITY 
    • F is for FORGIVENESS
    • G is for GRIEVE
    • H is for HUMILITY
    • I is for INTEGRITY
    • J is for JUSTIFICATION
    • K is for KEEP FOLLOWING JESUS
    • L is for LAMENT
    • M is for MOURN
    • N is for NEVER AGAIN
    • O is for OBEDIENT
    • P is for PARDON
    • Q is for QUIT
    • R is for REMORSE
    • S is for SORROW
    • T is for TRUST
    • U is for UNGODLINESS
    • V is for VICTORY
    • W is for WEEP
    • X is for X-RAY
    • Y is for YOU
    • Z is for ZEALOUS