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NB* Illustrations in the manual are in black and white
Statues
The following activity can encourage children
not only to move and stop, but to move, in a different direction
after each STOP.
Children grip the parachute firmly and hold it taunt in a circle.
They walk around in a circle in the same direction and STOP
on a signal from the practitioner. (Initially the signal to move
and stop could be verbal or in response to a percussion
instrument.) Make
this into a fun activity and when children STOP, they stop
very still, like statues (strong muscles). “Can I
see anyone moving?” etc.
Once children are comfortable with the move and stop, let
them try it to music.
ACCOMPANIMENT: “Musical
Statues” - Track 5 (click to listen)
When children first move to musical statues, they should move – STOP – move
again in the same direction. When they are confident in their movements,
they can progress to move – STOP – then move again in
the opposite direction.
(The STOP could be unexpected e.g. Play a “pop” CD
and stop it at different intervals.)
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 “Making
a Statue”
Choose three or four children to go under the parachute when
the rest of the group make a high mushroom. The group guides
the parachute down over the children in the middle who then
move about to form a “statue”. They try to form
a statue which has high and low parts and interesting shapes.
They hold their shape still when it is complete and children
around the chute try to guess which point of the shape is which
child! Children pick up the parachute and unveil the statue
and reveal the children’s shapes.
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Pitter
Patter Raindrops (A)
Children grasp the parachute firmly and whilst they are repeating
“PITTER PATTER RAINDROPS, LISTEN TO THE RAIN” (x2)
they ripple the ‘chute vigorously (like rain hitting water).
Children then mushroom the ‘chute twice whilst repeating
“
RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY, COME AGAIN ANOTHER DAY” (x2).
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Pitter Patter Raindrops (B)
It is possible to use the same action song but change the activity
completely:
Put a number of small sponge balls on top of the parachute and
hold it taut.
“PITTER PATTER RAINDROPS, LISTEN TO THE RAIN” (x2)
(Children ripple the ‘chute gently to keep balls on)
“RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY, COME AGAIN ANOTHER DAY”.(x2)
(Children ripple and shake the ‘chute vigorously to try and
shake the balls off)
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Boots and Shoes
Children need time before this activity to look at each
others’ shoes – probably done most easily by
standing in a circle around the parachute with the chute
lying on the ground.
The practitioner chooses a child to sit under the chute
in the centre, then it is allowed to loosely fall over him
/ her.
Whilst the child is hidden, everyone changes places, then
lifts up the chute to just below waist height so legs and
shoes are all that can be seen.
The practitioner taps one child on the shoulder and they
begin marching on the spot. The child beneath the chute
tries to guess the name of the child.
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The
Dog and His Dinner
Place two balls of unequal size on the top of the parachute.
One ball is the dog and the other ball the dinner!
One team of children tries to help the dog take bites of
his dinner and the other team tries to keep the dinner away
from the dog!
(Teams could be decided by dividing the parachute in half
to create the teams or alternate children around the chute
are in different teams.)
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Beach
Ball
Children stand in a circle holding the parachute at waist
level and then place a large beach ball on top of the silk
in the centre of the parachute. The adult chooses one or
more players to go underneath the parachute. The players
who are underneath the parachute try to knock the ball off whilst everyone else has to maintain their grip on the parachute
edge and try to keep the ball on.
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Tidy Your Bedroom!
Half the group of children hold the parachute and the other
half are spread around the outside of it.
A number of soft balls are placed on the parachute and
children holding the parachute try to shake them off (they
are being “untidy”).
The group of children round the edge rush to pick up any
balls and throw them back onto the parachute (they are “tidying
up”).
(Let each game take approximately 30-40 seconds before
stopping to count how many balls are still in the chute.
Allow everyone the chance to “tidy up”.)
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