Most afternoons the children have free play outside and decide the imaginary games they would like to play together. This month we have also been trying more group activities to foster peer interaction and communication, allowing us to come together more as a class.
During this activity, we brought out a parachute. Educator Jess chose friends to hold the handles while other peers worked together to get the ball back into the parachute. The children cooperated by holding the parachute, watching the ball, and communicating with each other. They were also becoming more aware of taking turns and sharing space with their peers while participating in the game.
This experience supported the children’s social and cooperative play skills. The parachute activity encouraged teamwork, communication, and turn-taking as the children worked together toward a shared goal.
The children also practiced gross motor skills and coordination while lifting and moving the parachute and watching the movement of the ball. Choosing friends to participate helped build peer relationships and a sense of belonging within the group. By end of the game we learned you needed a curtain number of peers to make the parachute function.
Next, we can continue to introduce more group movement games that encourage collaboration and communication. We wonder how the children might take more leadership roles in organizing the game or creating new parachute challenges together.
We could also explore adding different objects (scarves, multiple balls, or beanbags) to the parachute to extend problem-solving and cooperative play.
