Inflatable Classroom: Meet Jerry the Not-So-Scary Ghost

 

Meet Jerry! You're "ghost host." 👻

Jerry was given his name by a happy horde of preschoolers visiting the library this week. Jerry is an inflatable classroom created with simple and inexpensive materials.  Jerry is an iteration of an inflatable classroom I have previously constructed (see below). Here is how I did it.

Materials:

• 4 sheets of 2 mil painter's plastic, 9' x 12' (Use 6 sheets if you want to build a square or rectangular shape)
• 1 large roll of duck tape (or any other super adhesive tape you have on hand, book tape works well)
• 1 box fan (the fan I use has 3 speeds, low-medium-high)
• scissors

How-To:

1. Open and unfold two sheets of the painter's plastic
2. Match and line up the two short ends of the painter's plastic (the 9' sides)
3. Overlap the plastic and tape
4. Open and unfold the last two sheets of plastic
5. Match and line up the long ends to the "sides" of the two you just taped
6. Repeat this on the other long end
7. At this point you will need to create a corner seam in each of the four corners
8. To create the ghost shape, two adjacent corner seams were angled to go straight up when inflated
9. To create Jerry's arms, instead of folding the seam up and in, I pulled the corners out and taped
10. Choose a location for your box fan
11. Use scissors to cut a hole for the fan and tape the plastic around the outside of the fan
12. Place the fan upright and turn on to the highest speed
13. As it inflates, choose a location for the door
14. Use your scissors to cut a slit. Don't worry, your "classroom" will stay inflated. 

Tips:

• Use tape to reinforce the edges of the "door"
• Be sure to reinforce the rules (i.e. do not touch the fan, this is not a bouncy house so no jumping)
• Pick up your feet when you walk inside the inflatable classroom. Shoes can create small holes in the plastic
• As classes visit the inflatable classroom, little holes are inevitable so just tape and repair as you go
• To make the experience even more exciting, bring in a spooky light and turn down your classroom lights

ENJOY!

When I was finished, classes were invited to visit Jerry for a read aloud of Creepy Pair of Underwear by Aaron Reynolds. To enhance our experience, we used Novel Effect to engage our students with a full multi-sensory experience. 

Rectangle Version