Parachutes are at the top of my list of favorite toys!
After some practice coordinating the up and down motion necessary to get that perfect parachute bubble effect, try these:
- Put a water baloon (or 10!) on it and go for an all time height record, toss, or number caught.
- Got 2 parachutes? Place a team on either side of a volleyball net and have them go for the highest total number of tosses over without breaking the water baloon. This also works with 2 regular sheets and smaller teams.
- Shark is a favorite with the younger crowd. They'll play it again and again. Older folks with think it is fun once. Have everyone hold the edge of the parachute, sitting with their legs straight out in front of them under the parachute. Choose one shark to crawl under and have everyone begin to make waves (and hum the Jaws theme if they know it). The shark can pull (gently) on anyones legs and they should shriek and do their best drowning act... then, that person is now a shark too. The game continues until all are under the chute.
- Cat and mouse is similar, but the mouse is under the chute while the cat is on top trying to tag the mouse. Folks around the outside are shaking the chute for all they're worth, trying to help conceal the mouse.
- My personal favorite, however is to have someone sit right in the middle of the chute, cross-legged and then have everyone walk around and around until the person is wrapped up to but not above the shoulders. This works best on a gym floor or a dry grass field. Then, on the count of three, everyone pulls directly away from the middle taking at least 3 giant stepps backwards as firmly and as smoothly as possible. You guessed it! The person in the middle gets a dizzying ride as the chute uncoils.
Challenge By Choice, of course!