Loving....Caring....Teaching

This Months' Features:

Why Use A Parachute?

Your children will have FUN with a parachute, and that's a good reason in and of itself. But while they're having fun, they can be learning to follow directions, developing spatial relationships, learning cooperation, using large muscles, developing coordination, developing small muscle control, and developing social skills. Parachutes can be used indoors or outdoors. You'll find lots of uses for your parachute, apart from those suggested here. Using it for a tent is just one idea you might come up with.

Now That I Have It, What Do I Do With It?

Begin by teaching your children to hold the parachute. Keep your sessions with the parachute short at first. It takes practice, and the children's hands will get tired easily until they learn to hold the parachute comfortably.

Begin by bunching the parachute on the floor and having the children sit around the outer edges of it. Make sure that the edges are clearly visible. As you work with your parachute regularly, develop a routine way of beginning. Some people like to begin with the parachute in the bunched up position, to make it easier to keep the children from starting before they're given directions. Others like to begin with the parachute spread out on the floor. In either case, you can teach your children to gather around the edges of the parachute, put their hands flat on the floor, and wait for your directions.

First encourage them to just grasp handfuls of the parachute in their hands in any way that's comfortable for them. Encourage them to hold on tightly and try to lift the parachute off the floor. Remind them to keep their fists closed. If the parachute is jerked from their hands by the action of the other children, encourage them to grab hold again and continue practicing. It may take more than one session for them to develop just this basic skill, since their hands will tire.

When everyone has the idea, show them how to grip the edges of the parachute with both hands. There are two basic ways to do this that work best with young children. Don't get stressed out about using these grips; any way that works for the children is okay.

Practice both of these holds, having the children lift the parachute slightly as they hold it. Begin by having the children sit while holding the parachute, but then try using it from a kneeling or standing position. You'll probably do most of the activities from a standing position after you've become comfortable with grips; it will allow the children the most freedom of movement.

Practice Holding The Parachute In Various Positions

Practice holding the parachute in a variety of positions as you're working to become comfortable with it.

Begin by holding the parachute at waist level or in the middle of your range of reach. This is a comfortable, easy position for the children to manage and you'll use it often.

From the waist level position, move the parachute to a low position. If you're standing, the parachute will be low when the children stand with their arms extended downward as far as possible, usually around their knees. At this level they'll still be able to get air under it to allow them to do some of the activities that you'll want to do.

The low position is a good place from which to begin or end your activities, since it requires less expenditure of energy and is usually a more quieting position.   Now raise the parachute up high above your heads so that it's floating above the children. This is obviously the most tiring position, so you won't sustain it for very long periods of time.

As you use the parachute, rest often. You'll need to rest more often when you first begin with the parachute, but as the children become comfortable with it and develop strength, you'll need less rest periods.

Learning To Cooperate And Work Together

There are lots of ways in which to move the parachute, but all of them require that the children work together to move the parachute. If you want to lift the parachute above your heads, everyone must raise their arms. If one child doesn't raise his or her arms, one corner of the parachute won't be raised with the rest of it. If you're trying to move the parachute, all of the children need to move their sections together in order to make the parachute move smoothly.

In order to work together cooperatively, the children will need to listen carefully to your directions. You can establish some one or two word commands for basic movements. A good command to teach first is "stop." Teach the children to immediately drop the parachute to its waist level or lowest position and hold it quietly when they hear this command. You'll find it useful when things get out of control or when you want to end an activity. Other commands that you might find useful include "high," "low," "middle," "fast," "slowly," etc.

Moving The Parachute

There are lots of ways in which to move the parachute. Here are some that you can start with. Then you can make up some of your own.

Parachute Activities

You can design your own parachute activities, but here are a few to get you started. Remember to have FUN with the parachute and don't get too hung up on technique. As the children become more comfortable with the parachute, you'll be able to encourage them to work together to do more activities. Practice the four movements described earlier before you begin with the activities described below. Practice doing each of the movements in the sitting, kneeling, and standing positions.

Safe Parachuting

 As with any activities that you do with the children, you need to be in control. Parachuting is active play in which the children can get over-excited and out of control if you aren't actively involved in setting limits and managing the play.

Where Can I Get A Parachute And What Kind Should I Get?

Parachutes are available through many educational supply catalogs, or call us at 1-800-882-7332. You may also use a large bedsheet if your group is small.  You may also order them online at www.funsteps.com.

Commercial parachutes for use in educational facilities come in large or small sizes. To determine the size you want, consider the amount of space you have and the number of children that will be using the parachute. If you plan to use the parachute indoors, in a home child care setting, you'll probably want the small size. The smaller size will also work better with younger children because it won't be so heavy.

Have Fun!

Use music as you parachute. Sing songs that you know and like. Make up new words for favorite songs that tell about the things that are happening with the parachute.

Write stories about your parachute. Make up stories and act them out with parachute movements.

Be inventive. And most of all, ENJOY AND HAVE FUN!!

If you want more ideas about parachute play, look for Liz and Dick Wilmes' book of parachute activities called Parachute Play. To order just the book, click here. To order the book with a 6 foot parachute, click here. To order the book with a 12 foot parachute, click here. To order just a 6 foot parachute, click here. To order just a 12 foot parachute, click here.

1. Print out the patterns and trace and cut out the parts.
2. Cut or tear a flower pot shape from the blue construction paper. (For young children, just cut squares and use them as the flower pots.)
3. Glue or draw eyes on the yellow part of the flower. Glue the nose below the eyes, and draw a mouth to complete the face.
4. Cut along the black lines between the petals on the flower. Glue the yellow circle in the center of the flower. Bend the petals on the flower forward slightly.
5. Fold the stem of the flower along the fold lines. Glue the top of the stem behind the center of the flower top.
6. Glue the base of the stem on the flowerpot.
7. Glue the leaves behind the lower part of the stem.
8. Sign the card.

"Once upon a time there was a ________________."

Encourage the children to fill in the blank.  Then ask them:

"What did _____________ do?"

"What happened to ______________?"