Kids and their fascination with balloons is something that has transcended generations. Unlike many toys that are designed to delight and entertain but fail to captivate after more than 5 minutes, balloons seem to give us parents plenty of value for money.

Blow up a balloon and you become the most popular person at a kids party. Or in the case of travelling families, whip out some balloons on a holiday and you’ve immediately set the scene for fun and celebration.

Our family tends to go on holidays around birthdays or special occasions. For this reason, aside from their obvious easy entertainment value, balloons are always in our suitcase. Glow sticks also make our packing list. They make fantastic bathtime fun when you’re staying in hotels – throw the kids and glowsticks in the bath, switch off the bathroom light and let the fun begin.  Supervision as always is recommended! Glow sticks are also great to take to themeparks or fireworks displays so that you don’t get stung on the night by over-priced souvenirs. Our kids, probably much like yours, love the excitement of anything that lights up.

 

For this reason, I was super excited when we recently received a range of new light-up balloons thanks to Nuffnang and ILLOOMS…  Imagine that someone had invented a balloon that lights up like a glow stick! Genius!

 

I’d actually come across and purchased ILLOOMS at Walmart in the US a few months earlier. My plan was to bring a stash of these home for our son’s birthday parties because I hadn’t seen these in Australia, and also to take them to Walt Disney World’s Electrical Parade. When I received by pack from Nuffnang, I was happy to hear that I could now buy these locally…although going to Florida to buy more did sound like a fantastic excuse for a return trip! Driving 10 minutes to Big W, Kmart & Woolworths and finding the balloons in the party aisle is probably a bit more sensible though.

By now you’re probably wondering…what’s so good about these balloons and why would someone even joke about traveling that far to buy them.  These I have to tell you are no ordinary balloons. They have a small LED light attached to the top, and when it’s activated this light  glows creating an illuminated effect that is quite stunning.  If you thought your kids loved balloons before, wait until you see them with one of these.

 

 

 

 

 

My pack of complimentary ILLOOMS included the following balloons from the range:
• Plain Mixed (4 colours)
• Girly Mixed (4 colours)
• Happy Birthday (4 colours)
• Faces (4 colours)
• Multi-coloured Marble
• Pink Marble
• Flashing Alien
• Flashing Gnome

You’ll note that my boys felt the need to try them all at once…

 

 

 

In our opinion these are definitely a level up on the ordinary balloon and were a huge hit with our kids.

Each balloon lights up for 15 hours and the boys insisted on taking them into their room at bedtime….this was a bit of a bonus, no nightlight was needed on our trip.

ILLOOMS are definitely something to keep in mind if you’re looking for something a bit special to take with you on your next holiday or just to bring the wow factor to your next celebration.  They aren’t the cheapest balloon on the market but are definitely something to remember.

 

The best article I have seen yet is from Deborah at Learn with Play At Home. Check out her tips for playing hotel room Balloon Tennis!