Increase Miller’s annual third-grade balloon parade is inspired by “Balloons Over Broadway” by Melissa Sweet, the nonfiction picture book about Tony Sarg, the puppeteer who invented the giant helium balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
It’s become a tradition for the school’s third grade to read the book with Library Media Specialist Juli Hoffman, then create their own balloons of favorite book characters. The day before Thanksgiving break, the whole school gathers along the walkways outside of the school to enjoy the parade of third graders and their balloons.
Hoffman brings the project back each year because it incorporates play, problem-solving and art, and connects students to a larger-than-life tradition that the whole world watches. “The students love it!”