Parachutes

Here’s my “new” thing for the day.

So here’s the story: I work at a summer camp. Today, the bus was two hours late, so there were ton of kids waiting around with nothing to do. So we brought out the parachute.

Here’s what you can do with a parachute:

1. The basics – Have each child grab a handle or a colored triangle, if there are no handles. Have everyone run in a circle, in either direction. Have them wiggle the parachute.

2. “Jello” – All at once have the children lift the parachute as high as they can. Have them pull the parachute around them and have them sit on it. Everyone should be inside a giant “Jello”. Wiggle it back and forth. Hooray.

3. The color game – This is my personal favorite. Have the children wiggle the parachute up and down, and then, all at once, lift the parachute as high as they can. While the parachute is up, call a color (corresponding to the colored triangles), and those children must run under the parachute and find a new place to stand before the parachute falls. This game works in any environment.

4. Shark attack – This game works better in a gym, or on a hard, smooth floor. Have every child sit down with their feet under the parachute. Choose a couple of sharks and a couple of lifeguards. The sharks crawl under the parachute and try to pull people under by their feet. The lifeguards try to save people being pulled under. Once pulled under, they become a shark as well. Have the children on the outside wiggle the parachute high enough that you can’t tell where the sharks are, but low enough that they can’t look under and see the sharks coming.

5. Cat/Mouse – I didn’t actually play this game today, but a camper explained it to me. There are two or three mice who crawl under the parachute. There are two or three cats who crawl on top of the parachute trying to find the mice. Everyone else wiggles the parachute to make it hard to find the mice. From the sound of it, I think this would only work in a gym setting.

6. Popcorn – When I was in elementary school, we had a bunch of yarn balls that we put on the parachute to make “popcorn”. I remember it being fun, but I don’t remember the point of it. (You make “popcorn” by wiggling the parachute). I managed to find two squishy balls today, and we bounced them around for a while, but without a goal, it got boring real fast.
So that’s my “new thing” for today. I hope you enjoy!

(Picture from musical-minds.com)