Moving With The Chute!

The students performed simple stretching and strengthening exercises with the parachute one week, and a wider variety of them the next. Everyone always enjoys the excitement that builds when we move with the parachute. The kindergarten and first graders had lots of fun making milkshakes, popcorn, ocean waves, mushrooms, and bubbles with it. These basic parachute activities got us acquainted with it and stretched/strengthened our arm muscles. The second, third, fourth, and fifth graders used these same movements in more complex games. One of the second and third grade favorites was Parachute Golf. They had to work together in teams to shake and move the parachute, causing the ball to fall through the hole. It was interesting to see their strategies to accomplish this goal! The fourth and fifth graders played Parachute Steal The Bacon. This was a race between two teams who tried to steal the bacon (a beanbag) before the other. However, this student could be stopped by tagging him/her, thus giving the other team the points. This was all done while the rest of the students moved the parachute. The following week, we used the parachute to dance. Each grade raised the parachute and performed a wide variety of dance steps to music. The kindergarten and first graders shook the parachute fast and slow, then marched in a circle to the song "Jingle Bells." The second and third graders carried out side steps and swaying to the song "All Star," while quickly moving the parachute and forming mushrooms. The fourth and fifth graders did a full dance routine to the song, "Get The Party Started." It took some practice, but after a few tries they performed it quite smoothly. It was a fun dancing, stretching, and strengthening day for all!