Eric Kachel 03/31/12

Introduction:
Making balloon animals is a fun activity that is easy to do, but still impressive to those who dont know how. These instructions are for beginners who have never made balloon animals before. Here we will make an elephant which is more advanced than some standard balloon animals, such as the dog, while still being manageable for a first time artist. The process can be easily separated into four main parts. These are: Preparation The Head The Body Finishing Touch

These instructions will take anywhere from 5-10 minutes to complete depending on experience.

Materials:
To make a balloon elephant you will need: Twisty Balloons Pump Ruler (optional)

These supplies can be found in most craft stores and large department stores such as Wal-Mart.

Instructions:
- Preparation Step 1:
1.1 Choose what color to make your balloon elephant. 1.2 Repeatedly stretch the balloon. 1.3 Slide the balloon to the end of the pumps nozzle.

Step 2:
2.1 Using the pump inflate the balloon until there are about 3 not inflated at the end. 2.2 Slip the balloon off the nozzle and tie a knot.

- NOTE If you are having trouble tying the knot at the end of the balloon try: Inflating it again with more of the balloon slipped over the nozzle. Letting some of the air out may also help in tying the knot.

- The Head Step 3:

From the knot measure out an 8 section. Twist this section three times around. This section will be the elephants trunk. This will be denoted as Section A.

Step 4:
While still holding the trunk fold it over to the body and twist another 8 section three times. This will be Section B.

Step 5:
While still securing the sections A and B so they do not untwist slide Section B up and fold it in half. This section should now be positioned above the Section A and the rest of the balloon.

Step 6:
Twist Section B around three times in order to form the first ear.

Step 7:
Twist a third 8 section in the remaining balloon. This will be Section C.

Step 8:
Slide Section C up toward section B. Fold Section C in half. Then twist this section three times in order to form the second ear.

- Checkpoint 1 Adjust the positioning of the ears and trunk to form the head of the elephant so it appears similar to this picture.

- The Body Step 9:

Next is the body portion. Working below the head fold up the rest of the balloon.

Step 10:
Leaving about 2 for the neck, twist the bottom section of the fold to create the elephants front set of legs.

Step 11:
Fold the remainder of the balloon in half. Leaving room for both the body and the tail, twist the bottom of the fold to make the elephants hind legs.

- Checkpoint 2 The body of the elephant should look like this at this point.

- Finishing Touch Step 12:

Tightly curl the elephants trunk back. When releasing the trunk it should stay slightly curled upward. This step may need to be repeated several times in order to achieve the desired curl.

Conclusion:
Congratulations, you have just completed your balloon elephant. If everything went well the final should look like this. These instructions should just serve as guidelines; feel free to change these instructions to adjust the size of the trunk, ears, body, etc. to your personal preferences. Now that you know some of the fundamental techniques in balloon animal making you can attempt more complex animals, such as a three balloon penguin or dinosaur.

Title Background Image: 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. <http://apassionforscience.pbworks.com/w/page/36507887/1E3_2011%20Group%201%20%20African%20Savannah>. All other images credited to the author.