By Debbie Adams
Fifth grade students at Bonsack Elementary School celebrated Thanksgiving with their annual
“Balloons over Bonsack Parade” on Nov. 25. This has become a fifth grade tradition, beginning
in 2016.
As a STEM project challenge, the students design and create balloon characters representing one
of the huge balloons from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York— or another
design of their own choosing.
Who” balloon for the annual Balloons over Bonsack Parade. (photos by Debbie Adams)
The project starts off each year in the library with students reading “Balloons over Broadway” by
author Melissa Sweet. The book focuses on the origin and history of the Macy’s Thanksgiving
Day Parade. It tells the story of Tony Sarg, the puppeteer and marionette master who created the
first Macy’s upside-down puppet parade balloons in 1928, which have become the parade’s
trademark in the years since.
With help from librarian Rose McCarthy, students also learn to use the Macy’s Thanksgiving
Day Parade website to research which balloons were to be in the 2025 Macy’s Day Parade in
order to design and create a balloon puppet which represented one of the current Macy’s
balloons.
Students generally work in groups of two to four, as collaboration is one of the lessons to be
learned in completing the project. They receive a rubric with project guidelines, which require
them to use at least one balloon, but not more than four.
Balloons must stay connected to the puppet. Each creation must have at least one defining
feature of the balloon they are trying to duplicate from the real Macy’s balloon. Strings must
hang down like a marionette puppet. The puppet must measure at least 12 inches in height (not
counting the strings) and must stay connected and in one piece throughout the parade. And if
tape is used, it must not be visible.
Students were instructed to create a blueprint or plan for their balloon on paper— describing
what it would look like, how it would be suspended, and the supplies needed to complete the project. Permissible materials included dixie cups, balloons, straws, craft sticks/paint sticks, string/ribbon, paper towel/toilet paper rolls, various kinds of paper, pipe cleaners, felt/fabric, brads, and crepe paper. Permissible tools included glue or tape, a ruler, markers, crayons/colored pencils, a balloon pump, pencils, and Cropadile (a hole punch).
On their rubrics, students recorded design and construction challenges they encountered through
the process— like popping balloons.
Balloon puppets this year included Tom the Turkey, Bob the Minion, the Grinch, the Very
Hungry Caterpillar, Bluey, the Pigeon, Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Santa, Rudolph, Tigger, Cindy
Lou Who, Patrick from Sponge Bob, Pikachu the Snowman, Pikachu, Peanuts, Mr. Peanut,
Ronald McDonald, Winnie the Pooh, and the Virginia Tech Hokie Bird.
Right before school was dismissed for the Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 25 came the
culmination of the project as the students paraded their creations through the hallways of the
school which were lined with enthusiastically cheering students from all the other grade levels,
looking forward to future years when it would be their turn to walk in the parade.
The project was coordinated by fifth grade teachers Laura Muncey, Katelyn Nash, Jessica
Decker, and Nikki Hall, along with librarian Rose McCarthy, with assistance from other school
personnel.
The “Balloons over Bonsack” parade grew from another Bonsack Elementary tradition in which
the fifth graders walk the halls on the last day of the school year, cheered on by students in the
lower grades.
Third graders at Bonsack also had a special Thanksgiving project— making pumpkin pies for the
needy.
More photos of all the balloon puppets in the parade are available on The Vinton Messenger
Facebook page.
