Watch the annual Park Avenue & Sanfordville Balloon Parades! A holiday season tradition.

Park Avenue second-graders and Sanfordville first-graders filled the halls of their respective elementary schools with color, creativity, and excitement this week, with their annual Balloon Parades!

_{Below this story, see a gallery of photos from each classroom preparing to line up for their parades!}

Both the Sanfordville Balloon Parade and the Park Avenue Balloon Parade are annual traditions that are as educational as they are fun, combining STEAM learning with community building. The parades are inspired by the award-winning children's book Balloons Over Broadway, by Melissa Sweet, which tells the story of Tony Sarg. Mr. Sarg was the innovative and creative puppeteer who created the iconic balloons that have soared above the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade since 1927. 

The book serves as a perfect springboard for students to explore wide ranging topics, from literacy and history, to art and engineering. First, students read the book together in class, strengthening literacy skills. They learned how Mr. Sarg combined his own artistry with problem-solving to design the giant helium balloons, and then got to create their own parade balloons!

Teachers encouraged the students to think like engineers and artists. They applied principles of design to get their balloons to stand upright and, along with lots of ingenuity, used rubber balloons and other building materials -- paper, cardboard, string, markers, and dowels -- to bring their creations to life. 

For both parades, students from all of the other elementary classrooms joined together in the hallways transforming the schools into festive parade routes. Students proudly carried their creations past cheering friends, teachers, and staff. As the students and their balloons marched through the halls, it was clear that the Balloon Parades are not only fun, but also a celebration of curiosity, creativity, and the boundless possibilities of STEAM learning.

By bringing Balloons Over Broadway to life, the students realized that they, too, can be inventors, creators, and dreamers -- just like Tony Sarg. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Park Avenue Balloon Parade

Sanfordville Balloon Parade