Monthly Archives: May 2018

Parachute Activities

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  • Lay the parachute out on the groundparachute
  • Each color team finds the panels of the parachute that matches their color teams: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green
  • Roll the parachute under their fingers and grip firmly. No need to use the handles. This will spread the kids out and give you a simple way to move groups of kids by saying, “Those of you holding a (chose a color) panel, go under the parachute and find a different panel”.

Ocean Waves:  Shake the chute

  • Grip: Roll the chute under your fingers for a firm grip.
  • Big Waves: Students make big waves by shaking the chute.
  • Add balls and try to bounce them off

Color Panel Run: (Color Panel style)

  • Grip: Roll the chute under your fingers for a firm grip.
  • Cue: Shoe tops, Lift up as high as you can, pull back…
  • Leader calls out one of the four colors and the people holding that panel run underneath to the other side and take a different panel of the same color.
  • Keep calling out colors until everyone completes a turn.

Dome (Igloo) 

  • Grip: Roll the chute under your fingers for a firm grip.
  • Cue: Shoe tops, Lift up as high as you can, pull back…
  • When the teacher sees that the chute is high and pulled back well:
  • Teacher says, “Go under and immediately sit inside the chute, while keeping the chute stretched out tight”.
  • Once inside, the teacher can let the class scoot forward and the chute will get taller.
  • Optional Panel color exchange: When the teacher calls out a color, people sitting on that color can get up in the middle and exchange places with other people with the same color.

Climb the Bubble (Color panel style)

  • Teacher says, “Shoe tops, 1,2,3, lift up as high as you can, pull back..
  • SNAP the parachute down
  • Put their knees on top on the outside of the chute (You should have a giant bubble in the middle).
  • Teacher calls color teams one at a time and says to “Climb the bubble!” All of the students from that color team crawl on top  of the chute until the bubble is deflated. Then they hurry back to the outside, so every color team has a turn.
  • You will have to inflate the parachute again each time.

Merry Go Round Color Panel Run: (Color Panel style)

  • Everyone hold the panels with your left hand on your color panel.
  • Start walking (skipping?) and stretch the chute out
  • Call out a color, ie. “RED”
  • When their color is called, they let go of the parachute and run forward (the same way the chute is moving) and step into the next available color panel.
  • Continue walking and calling out the four different color until everyone has had a chance to move.

Shark Attack Spark Style:

  • Class stands holding the parachute waist high. Make ocean waves by moving the parachute up and down.
  • Chose one panel color to be the sharks. They go under the chute and place their hands above their head to simulate a shark’s fin above the water.
  • Shark should slide step or do the grapevine near the rim of the parachute  for one lap before they begin swimming and moving back and forth and underneath the parachute. They should be cruising around and looking for ankles to bite.
  • On the teacher’s signal, “Bite” The sharks grab the ankles of someone who is standing  while holding the parachute.  The sharks take their place and the bitten people become sharks. Once you’ve been bitten you are immune from a being attacked by a shark until everyone has had a turn.
  • Continue until everyone has a turn being a shark.

 Traditional Shark Attack:

  • Class sits with legs underneath parachute.
  • One panel color will be the lifeguards. They will stay outside of the parachute and try save
  • students that get pulled under by the sharks.
  • Another panel color will be the sharks under the parachute. Give each shark a frisbee to
  • hold above their head under the chute.
  • When someone is pulled under the parachute by the shark, they will exchange the frisbee
  • to the new shark.
  • The “old shark” will replace the person they pulled under on the outside of the chute.

Additional Activities:

  • Picture Perfect: Start the same as igloo, but cover your head, so you can see everyone’s face while under the parachute.
  • Mushroom: Start the same as igloo, but this time everyone step forward and walk forward so the the parachute rises in the air.

Balloons

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Balloons

Move around the gym with music and try these patterns of tapping your balloon into the air with various body parts.

  • Foot – Hand – Finger – Elbow
  • Knee – Head – Shoulder – Thumb

Pattern A

  • Hand – Foot – Foot
  • Shoulder – Hand – Hand
  • Head – Thumb – Thumb – Knee – Finger -Finger

Pattern B

  • Hand – Foot – Foot
  • Shoulder – Hand – Hand
  • Head – Thumb – Thumb
  • Knee – Finger – Finger

Pattern C

  • Head – Shoulder – Hand
  • Hand – Knee – Foot
  • Thumb – Elbow – Foot
  • Finger – Knee – Foot

Patterns Right/Left

  • Hand – Hand
  • Foot – Foot
  • Fingers – Fingers
  • Knee – Knee

Balloon Finger Balance

  • Try balancing a balloon on the end of your finger.
  • Have a competition to see who can do it for the longest.
  • The balloon must not be held, only balanced, and it must not be tapped.
  • The finger must be in direct contact with the balloon at all times.

Balloon Juggle

  • Each team (6-8 per team) is given one balloon each with two additional ones.
  • They are to try and keep all of the balloons in the air.
  • Even more balloons may be added to increase the challenge.

Balloon Juggle Memory Game

  • Each team (6-8 per team) decide on the order by calling out the name of someone in their group (it’s best if it is not passed to the person next to them)
  • Balloons may be added to increase the challenge.

Balloon Partner Volleyball

  • Inflate to medium or medium-low pressure, so the balloon “floats” only a bit but not too much.
  • Stand facing a partner across a line on the floor of the gym.
  • One person serves the balloon by throwing the balloon in the air and hitting it with an open hand across the line. Try to use volleyball techniques, such as the  pass, set, kill, or serve to hit the balloon back and forth across the line
  • If someone allows the balloon to touch the floor on their side, the person on the other side of the net scores a point.
  • Play first person to 5 points, and then start again.
  • You are allowed to touch the balloon more than once on your side.

Balloon Tennis Skills  (Use foam paddles or badminton rackets)

  • Each person in class has a paddle or racket and a balloon.  Start at your individual gym home space.
  • Can you?
    • Starting with the balloon in front of you, can you tap the balloon with an underhand motion without moving your feet. How many taps.
    • Now put the balloon above your head and try tapping the balloon straight up.
    • Forehand, backhand,

Balloon Tennis Game

  • Stand facing a partner across a line on the floor of the gym.
  • One person serves the balloon by throwing the balloon in the air and tapping it with the racket. Try to use tennis techniques, such as the  forehand, backhand, and serve.
  • If someone allows the balloon to touch the floor on their side, the person on the other side of the net scores a point.
  • Play first person to 5 points, and then start again.
  • You are allowed to touch the balloon more than once on your side.

Balloon Over/Under Relay

  • The object of this game is to get your team to the opposite end of the gym by passing a balloon.
  • Teams line up in relay team formation.
  • The balloon is passed overhead to the person in back of them.
  • That person now passes the balloon through their legs to the next person who leans down and picks it up then passes it overhead to the person standing in back of them.
  • When the last pass  is made that person runs to the front of the line and passes the balloon overhead and the pattern continues.
  • The team will eventually move their whole team to the opposite end of the gym.

Balloon Tap Race

  • Equipment : Balloon for each team,
  • Six teams lined up in shuttle relay style. Half of each team is lined up at one end of the gym and the other half at the the starting line at the opposite end of the gym.
  • Each half of each team decides on an order so everyone touches the balloon when tapping the ballon in the air, so everyone has an equal turn.

Partner Balloon Tap Race

  • Equipment : Balloon for each team
  • Six teams lined up in shuttle relay style. First two people on each team line up facing each other with one balloon between them. You may want to require the slide step while doing this.
  • Tap the balloon back and forth between each other until your feet cross the center line reach the center line. Then return back to your line by passing.
  • Pass the balloon to the next two people in line and the relay continues until everyone has had at least one turn. You could also  set a limit of two to five minutes and see how many turns they can get.