Well, my first parachute playtime is now complete! I would definitely call it a success. It didn’t go as planned, but I was prepared for that. Here is the outline I took in with me:
Parachute Playtime!
Ages 2-5 (18 passes Drop in)
Begin with children sitting ON the parachute and explain the rules and how we use it.
- Always hold with two hands
- There are younger kids so don’t shake it too hard, be aware
- Don’t pull the parachute
- If I ring my bell then you must stop shaking the chute and put it on the ground and put your hands on top
- Take our shoes off
- Don’t lift the chute when someone is on it
Beginning activities:
- Hold it low and high
- Shake it fast and slow
- Walk in circle
- Parents hold chute up high so kids can go under
Songs:
- Itsy Bitsy Spider-Mr Eric
- STAND-Up & Down
- One Two Three Whee!-Mr Eric
- STAND-Whee=up/Jump/Shake/Whee
- Rolling Ball-Mr Eric
- SIT-Big Ball
- Popcorn calling me-Laurie Berkner
- STAND-Small Balls-Sizzle=Shake it/Pop/Walk Dance Run
- My Ups and Downs-Jim Gill
- CROUCH-Follow Music up and down
- Old MacDonald-Mr Eric
- STAND-Cow/Dog/Chicken
- I hear the water-Mr Eric
- SIT-Make it sound like water by shaking slowly and rock back and forth. Rain-tap the chute
Here is what REALLY happened and what I learned:
- The bell actually worked really well. Any time I rang it, they stopped and did what they were supposed to do so that I could talk. I’m not sure they listened though 🙂
- I didn’t even attempt to walk in a circles, that just wasn’t going to happen
- I did have the parents hold up the chute, but not til the end. Then we gathered it together. It was a good way to end it.
- Most songs I picked worked pretty good
- Popcorn calling me-This was the song I was most excited for. We used those small play balls as popcorn. They were supposed to sizzle then pop. That didn’t quite work how it was supposed to. They just popped the balls like crazy, but that’s ok! They had fun!
- I skipped Jim Gill’s My ups and downs. They were so crazy at this point I didn’t want to explain anything else.
- The last song, I hear the water is SO GREAT. It’s clam and soothing. We left the chute on the ground and slid it side to side to make it sound like water. Then we tapped it with our fingers to make it sound like rain. It was a nice closing song for sure.
I really wish I could do the program for 2-3 year olds and a separate one form 4-5 year olds, but with our big families that come with multiple kids, I just don’t see that happening. So for now, I’m just going to leave the ages as they are. I can’t wait to do it again! I definitely want to do it around Christmas time with some holiday songs.
Oh, and this was me at the end:
Be sure to check out Kendra and Lisa’s Parachute programs as well! They have great ideas 🙂
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