Parachute games

Parachutes are an easy, affordable way to make 5-minute fillers a whole lot more exciting.

If you are doing parachute games with your group, check out our planning checklist.

• Check your parachute has no hole in the centre, or only has a hole as big as a tennis ball.
• Clear the space of furniture and shoes.
• Being mindful of people under the parachute.
• Watch for flying bean bags and balls!
• If pulling people under the parachute, ensure girls are mindful of hurting themselves or others.
• Manage the game so that participants know when to stop
• Make sure girls don't collide or step on each other.
• Avoid putting heads through the hole in the centre of the parachute.
• Be mindful of games that can cause injuries to the neck area.

Parachute games to try

Swooping, swapping and scrabbling for socks - there are so many different games you can play with a parachute! Try 1 of the games below or challenge your girls to create their own.

Sock soup

1. Girls stand with the parachute held at waist level.
2. Going around the circle, give each girl a number between one and five.
3. Call out a number. All girls with that number must take off one sock and throw it into the middle underneath the parachute.
4. Then shout, ‘sock soup!’. Girls who have taken off their socks must dive under the parachute and put their sock back on.
5. Whoever is last to get their sock on and back to their place must run once around the circle as a forfeit.

All change

1. Girls stand with the parachute at waist level.
2. Call out something girls in the room will have in common - for example, birthday months or eye colour.
3. Then get girls to 'pop' the parachute up.
4. Those girls with the characteristic in common have to run under the parachute, and find an empty place before it falls.

Popcorn

1. Place some small soft balls onto the parachute.
2. Divide girls into two teams. Each team kneels or stands around one half of a parachute.
3. Everyone wafts the parachute up and down to make a ripple effect - the balls should jump around like popcorn.
4. The aim of the game is to make the balls jump out of the parachute and over the opposing team’s shoulders.

Hole in one

1. Break girls into two or more teams.
2. Each team will have a different coloured ball.
3. Sit girls in a circle around the parachute, holding the edges.
4. Put the balls on the parachute. Each team needs to keep their coloured ball from being 'out' - into the middle circle or in the parachute's hole - while trying to get the other teams’ balls out.