Instructions:
Having a Ball!  
A Fun Parachute Play Alternative!

Children of all ages enjoy this fun and active game involved in 
parachute play. This series of games is great both indoor and 
outdoors and can be played with a variety of ages and athletic 
abilities. Get your chute and get ready to have a ball!
A warm up is essential for any aerobic activity. Since using the 
parachute is primarily an upper body activity, the following 
routine that gets you ready to play.

Warm-up

Upper Body

1.Arm Circles ( Muscles Targeted: Biceps brachii, Triceps brachii, 
Brachialis, Brachioradialis, Anterior, and Posterior Deltoid)
Circle the arms ten times forward and ten times back.

2.  Alternate Biceps (Muscles Targeted: brachii, Triceps brachii, 
Brachialis, Brachioradialis)
Ten times on the left and the right.

3.  Wrist curls (Muscles Targeted: Wrist flexors and Wrist 
extensors)
Ten times each.

Lower Body

4.   Hop, skip, squat, and jump (Muscles Targeted: Biceps Femoris 
long and short heads, Semitendinosus, and Semimembranosus.
Do each action for a minimum of five seconds each.

The warm-up portion of the activity is also good for cooling down.

Parachute Tips

When you are introducing the parachute, the following terms are 
essential. Have the students follow what you have modeled and try 
it for themselves. You only have to introduce terms that you will 
be using for the games that you plan to play. Loco motor movements 
of the lower body— skipping, walking, hopping, running, jumping, 
galloping, and leaping skipping, walking, hopping, running, 
jumping, galloping, and leaping —are also important. Directions 
such as forward, backward, sideways, up, down, clockwise, counter-
clockwise, left and right hand, high, and low are helpful to teach 
students when using the parachute.

Teach the following grips for using the parachute—palms facing 
down, underhand with palms facing up, and the crossover grips with 
the right hand over left hand with both palms down. This crossover 
grip can be done with an overhand and underhand grip. Movement and 
speed terms include emphasizing fast, slow, accelerating, light, 
and heavy. Clearly explain and model both upper and lower 
body movements.

Most of these chute games can be played with different kinds of 
balls—whiffle balls, foam balls, balloons, beanbags, footballs, 
beach balls, and even a stability ball. Different sized balls will 
change the way in which the game goes, so feel free to experiment. 

Directional Skill Games

Rock n- Roll

This game is played with a large beach ball.  Place the ball in the 
middle of the chute and by pulling up and down; throw the ball as 
high in the air as possible. See how long the students can keep the 
ball on the parachute.

Competitive Rock n- Roll

Have children start with a crossover underhand grip.  Mark an 
imaginary line across the diameter of the chute. Have equal teams 
hold the edge of the chute on either side. Throw a ball into the 
middle. The aim is to get the ball off the chute on the other 
team's side of the line, and stop it from coming off on your own 
side of the line. 

Popcorn Popper

Start with everybody holding the chute stretched out. Throw as many 
soft balls as you can find on to the chute. Then see how quickly 
you can bounce them off with out letting go of the chute. For a 
variation of this game, try small sponges, balloons, or beanbags.  
Hypothesize which balls come off the chute first and why.

Bouncing Ball Buddies


Place two or three children under the chute.  The children under 
the chute have try to push off the balls while every one else tries 
to keep them bouncing on the chute. 

Roll and Flow

Have children start with an overhand grip. Everyone holds the chute 
taut. Place a large ball near the edge. Try to make the ball roll 
around the edge of the chute. To do this, one student starts the 
ball rolling. As it comes towards the student, lower the edge you 
are holding, and as it goes past the student raises the edge. When 
all the players do this in synchronization, it creates a kind of 
wave around the edge of the chute, which pushes the ball in a 
smooth steady circle. 

Save the Canoe

A ball is placed on the parachute, representing a canoe.  Players 
wave the chute so that it ripples.  Encourage the waves to be ones 
that will allow the ball to not fall off the edge of the chute. 
Students try to get their canoe to safety as soon as possible 
through the hole in the center of the parachute.  For a variation 
of this game try to use an overhand, underhand, and crossover 
grips. 

Sports Ball Games

Volley Ball Adventure

Divide the class in half down the middle of the parachute. With a 
soft, medium-sized balloon on the parachute, have students try to 
flip the balls onto the other team's side. Some adaptations include 
having the students hold the parachute in various handgrips.

Goofy Golf

Toss the ball on the chute. Begin waving the chute, trying to 
maneuver the ball through the hole. When the ball is sunk, name 
someone to go under the chute, get the ball, and toss it back on 
the chute. See how many strokes it takes to get the ball in the 
hole. Have the children count aloud as they wave the chute.

Fun Ball Games

Sink the Colored Ball

Put balls of different colors on the chute. Call out one color. 
Have the children work together to sink that ball down the hole. 
After that ball has been sunk, call out the color of the second 
ball and try to sink it.

Sliding and Gliding

Grasp the edge of the parachute with an underhand grip.  Place one 
ball on the parachute. Make the ball slide around the chute by 
slowly raising the chute up and down. Keep the ball rolling so that 
it does not go off the edge.

Surfing U.S.A.

Place a large ball on top of a flat chute and roll it around the 
edge. Players should lift the parachute just after the ball passes 
by. Timing is important. If someone lifts up a section of the 
parachute too soon, the ball slows down and stops. If someone lifts 
a section too late, the ball either runs into the player or off the 
chute. Test and hypothesize with various sizes of balls. Discuss 
which ones come off first and why.

Floaters

Have the children stand around the bunched-up chute and pick it up 
with a thumbs-up grip. Show the children one balloon. Set the 
balloon on the chute. Have the children slowly walk outwards 
keeping the balloon on the chute, until is completely stretched 
out.  Put several more balloons on the chute. Gently wave the 
chute. What happens when the chute is loose, taunt, and balloons 
are put in the air light, medium, and hard?  For a variation of 
this game, try different hand positions and grips. 

References

Bailey, Guy.  Ultimate Playground and Recess Game.  Camas, WA:  
Educator’s Press, 2001.

CC Info Line
http://www.ccinfoline.8k.com/parachute_games.htm

Compus Smart
http://www.compusmart.ab.ca/yowochas/games/Parachute_1.html

Le Fevre, Dale and Strong, Todd .Parachute Games.  Champaign, 
Illinois: Human Kinetics, 1996.

PE Links 4 U
http://www.pelinks4u.org/teaching/para.htm

Gym Ask
http://www.gymsask.com/games/parachute/parachute_volleyball.doc

Sissio Parachute
http://www.geocities.com/sissio/parachute.html

W3 Hands on
http://w3.hwdsb.on.ca/tailslap/funstuff/games/parachute.htm

Wiles, Liz and Dick.  Parachute Play.  Elgin, Illinois: Building 
Blocks, 2000.

Woodlands Junior School
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/parachute.html