Any Theme Parachute Games

Materials

• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Markers
• Parachute

Instructions

1. Beforehand, make theme-related cutouts based on the class curriculum. For example, cut out snowflakes for winter, tissue paper ghosts and black paper bats for Halloween, autumn leaves, stars, hearts, shamrocks, and so on.
2. Ask the children to stand or sit around the outside edge of the parachute.
3. Distribute a few cutouts to each child. Ask the children to toss their cutouts into the parachute.
4. Go through a variety of movements with the parachute. For example:
   • Shake it fast and then slow.
   • Lift the parachute up high on the count of three to shoot the cutouts into the air.
   • Hold the parachute in one hand and walk in a circle like a merry-goround, lifting the parachute up and down gently.
5. After shooting the items up into the air, some may fall on the ground around the parachute. The children can pick up the items that fall near them and throw them back into the parachute.
6. Toss the items under the parachute and call on children one or two at a time to go under and pick up the items while the others hold the parachute up high (e.g., John and Mary will go under the parachute and pick up “just one” star, or find “two” stars, or “pick up as many as they can.” If you are using colored leaves, you may ask the children to go under the parachute and find “just a red leaf” or “just the yellow leaves.”
7. Some parachutes have a hole in the middle of them. If so, you can have children gently shake the parachute until all the items fall through the hole.

More to do

Use the same items from the parachute games for other activities throughout the day. For example, hide the cutouts around the room for children to find, tape them on the floor for the children to sit on at group time, and so on.