Start with both hands in front of your mouth, fingers curved with fingertips touching as if holding a small, deflated balloon. Move your hands outward and apart while keeping your fingers curved, expanding them into wide 'C' shapes. As you move your hands apart, puff out your cheeks slightly to mimic blowing up the balloon.
Sign 'red', then sign 'balloon' by starting at your mouth and expanding your curved hands outward.
Sign 'balloon' by showing it inflating from your mouth, then use a sudden hand motion and surprised facial expression to show it popping.
Point to the person, sign 'balloon' by moving your curved hands outward from your mouth, and use an inquiring facial expression with raised eyebrows.
Sign 'red', then sign 'balloon' by starting at your mouth and expanding your curved hands outward.
Sign 'balloon' by showing it inflating from your mouth, then use a sudden hand motion and surprised facial expression to show it popping.
Point to the person, sign 'balloon' by moving your curved hands outward from your mouth, and use an inquiring facial expression with raised eyebrows.
While not strictly mandatory, puffing out your cheeks is highly recommended! It acts as a non-manual marker that makes the sign much more expressive and clearly conveys the action of blowing up the balloon.
Yes, you can adjust the final distance between your hands to indicate the size of the balloon. Moving your hands very far apart shows a massive balloon, while a smaller movement indicates a tiny one.
'Balloon' is typically a two-handed sign because you are tracing the symmetrical round shape of the expanding balloon. Using both hands provides the clearest visual representation of the object.
