Affirmation Hot Air Balloons with Camp Peace

Cobb County school district social worker and Paint Love artist Mandy Goodwin lead an inspiring project for the kids at Camp Peace. On the first session of this two-week project, campers learned how to make paper mache balloons. Each kid took a balloon and covered it in strips of newspaper dipped in paste.

Once each one was sufficiently sticky, we set them aside to dry. Then, each camper took four strips of construction paper on which they wrote positive affirmations about themselves. Proclamations of “I am smart,” “I am funny,” and “I am beautiful,” filled the room.

The next week, we returned the dried paper mache to the campers and helped them pop and remove the balloons on the inside. After that, they each painted their paper mache products in a variety of bright colors to turn them into hot air balloons! Some kids stuck with abstract designs, while others turned theirs into something specific - like a strawberry or a face. Once they’d finished, we used string to hang small styrofoam cups from the bottom of each. Then, the kids took the affirmations they wrote the week before and attached them to the bottom of the cups.

When they set their balloons down to dry, we loved seeing the kids’ colorful creations all around the room. The project was such a creative way foster self-love in the campers. The hot air balloons remind us that positivity lifts us up while negativity drags us down. We’re so excited to keep making art with these great kids for the rest of the summer!