When you walk around your village outside, you might see a present float through the air tied to a balloon. If you get a slingshot and shoot it down, you will get balloon furniture or other items from the gift box.

Get a Slingshot

To get balloon presents, you need a slingshot. Check the Nooklings' store. Sometimes they have a slingshot in stock.

Stand Under the Balloon and Shoot

To shoot the present down, you have to stand under the balloon's shadow and shoot the slingshot. If you do it correctly, you will pop the balloon and make the present fall to the ground. Then you can pick it up. Careful! If you shoot a balloon present down near water, the present might fall into the water and be lost!

When Do Balloon Presents Appear?

In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, balloon presents appear when the ones digit of the minute is 4. Here are examples: 10:04, 10:14, 10:24, 10:34, 10:44, 10:54. (Note: On Bunny Day, balloon presents appear much more frequently.)

Balloon Presents You Can Get

Balloon Presents can contain improved slingshots (see below), balloon furniture and hat (see below), or if you have obtained all of the balloon furniture and the hat, you can get random furniture, including new Welcome Amiibo items. The random items that you get might depend on your item luck, which is partly influenced by Feng Shui, especially your red Feng Shui. If Katrina tells your fortune and tells you which lucky item to wear, this may help improve item luck as well. You can buy her 10000 Bell lucky item (a Tingle Hood or a Celebration Hat) and wear it to guarantee good luck.

Improved Slingshots

Silver Slingshot - This will randomly float past after you have shot down 16 balloon presents with the regular slingshot. You can get more than one.

Golden Slingshot - This will randomly float past after you have shot down 16 balloon presents with the silver slingshot. It might be possible to get more than one.

Balloon Furniture and Hat

There is a furniture set of balloon furniture that can only be obtained by shooting down balloon presents. You can also get a balloon hat from a balloon present. The following is a list of all of the balloon furniture.