Parachute Games: 15 for Nursery and School

Parachute games are group games played round a large, round play parachute, with everyone holding the edge and moving it together. The 15 below run from a two-minute ripple warm-up to a full hall session, and each one says how many children it needs, where to play it, the youngest age it suits and the one safety rule that matters.

They're written for the practitioner, teaching assistant or club leader who has been handed the parachute bag and fifteen minutes. Most work for parachute games in the EYFS and in Key Stage 1 alike, and the gentlest, ripples to a storm, suits two-year-olds with an adult beside them.

What are the basic parachute rules?

Six rules cover every game here. Say them before the parachute comes out of the bag, and keep them the same every time:

• Both hands on the edge or on a handle, unless the game says otherwise.
• One stop word. Pick it ("Freeze" or "Parachute down") and stop everything when it's called.
• Nobody under the parachute when it comes down. Children only go underneath when they're called, and only while it's held high.
• Nobody on the fabric. No walking, sitting or lying on it while others are holding it.
• Lift, don't pull. Make waves by raising and lowering your arms, not by leaning back. A hard tug can pull a small child off their feet.
• Space round the edge. Spread out evenly, arm's length apart, on a clear, non-slip floor. Trainers or bare feet, not socks.

We've left out the classic shark game, in which a child under the parachute grabs ankles and pulls others underneath, and any game that has a child sitting on the fabric while others lift it. Both break the rules above.

How many children do you need?

Most of these games work with six to twenty children, roughly one per handle. With under-fours, put adults at intervals round the edge rather than together, so there's a grown-up within reach of every child and the parachute stays level. With fewer children than handles, use the edge between handles. With more children than handles, take turns: half hold the edge, half sit in a ring behind and swap after each game.

Group games like these are where children practise the early learning goal in the EYFS statutory framework that expects children to cooperate in work and play and to "take turns with others". Development Matters describes three and four-year-olds learning to "start taking part in some group activities which they make up for themselves, or in teams".

What are good parachute games for EYFS?

These are in the order you might use them in a session: starters first, then the lively middle, then the calm end. Ages are a starting point, not a cut-off.

1. Ripples to a storm

Everyone holds the edge at waist height. Start with tiny ripples (a light breeze), build to waves (a windy day), then a storm, and back down to calm. Children love the noise of the storm and the hush after.

Who and where: 6 or more, carpet or hall, from age 2. Safety rule: the storm still means lifting, not yanking.

2. Mushroom

Count "one, two, three, up" and everyone lifts the parachute high together. As it rises, take two small steps in, and it billows into a dome. Hold it, then walk back out as it floats down.

Who and where: 8 or more, hall or large carpet, from age 3. Safety rule: everyone keeps hold; nobody lets go to run underneath.

3. Hello underneath

Make a mushroom. As it rises, everyone ducks their head (only their head) under the edge and waves at someone opposite, or says their name. Back out before it comes down. A good first game with a new group.

Who and where: 8 or more, hall or carpet, from age 3. Safety rule: feet stay outside the circle the whole time.

4. Pass the wave

One child lifts their bit of the edge high and lowers it, then the next child, then the next, so a wave travels round the circle. Try it slow, then fast, then the other way. It needs real watching and waiting.

Who and where: 6 or more, carpet or hall, from age 3. Safety rule: stay standing in your own place.

5. Popcorn

Throw a few soft, light balls onto the parachute and shake it so they jump like popcorn in a pan. Try to keep them all on. Then try to bounce them all off.

Who and where: 6 or more, hall or carpet, from age 3. Safety rule: soft, light balls or scrunched paper only, and stray balls are fetched when the parachute is down.

6. Round the edge

Put one ball on the parachute. By lifting and lowering their bit of the edge at the right moment, the group rolls it all the way round the rim without it falling in or off. Then send it the other way.

Who and where: 6 or more, hall or carpet, from age 4. Safety rule: soft ball only, and nobody leans across to grab it.

7. Ball in the hole

If your parachute has a hole in the middle, put a soft ball on it and work together to tip it in. Then try with two balls, or one big and one small. Lots of children's first experience of a team wanting the same thing.

Who and where: 6 or more, hall or carpet, from age 4. Safety rule: heads stay back from the hole as the ball drops.

8. Swap places

Make a mushroom, then call two names. Those two let go and swap places by walking or jogging under the dome before it comes down. Build up to groups: "everyone wearing blue", "everyone with a birthday in winter".

Who and where: 10 or more, hall, from age 4 (age 3 with an adult guiding). Safety rule: adults keep it high until every swapper is out, and call no more than four at once.

9. Colour lift

Most play parachutes are made of coloured panels. Call a colour, and only the children holding that colour lift their bit high while everyone else crouches down low. Call two colours at once, then "everyone except red". It's colour names and careful listening in one.

Who and where: 6 or more, carpet or hall, from age 3. Safety rule: crouchers keep hold, so nobody's hands are pulled up suddenly.

10. Dice bounce

Put a large foam dice on the parachute and bounce it off. Whatever number it lands on, everyone does that many jumps, claps or stamps, counting out loud. Older children can add the dots from two throws before they jump.

Who and where: 6 or more, hall or carpet, from age 4. Safety rule: a soft foam dice only, fetched by one named child when the parachute is down.

11. Merry-go-round

Everyone turns sideways, holds the edge with one hand and walks round so the parachute turns like a roundabout. Change direction on a signal, then change the step: tiptoes, marching, big strides, skipping.

Who and where: 6 or more, hall, from age 3. Safety rule: walking pace for under-fours, and stop dead on the stop word.

12. Up, down, freeze

Agree four words: up, down, shake and freeze. The leader calls them in any order, and the group only moves on those words. Throw in a trick word ("Upside", "Doughnut") and see who moves. It's a listening game that just happens to be loud.

Who and where: 6 or more, carpet or hall, from age 3. Safety rule: the stop word still works, even mid-trick.

13. Teddy toss

Put one soft toy in the middle. On "three", the group lifts sharply so the teddy flies up, then tries to catch it back on the parachute. Count how many catches in a row, and try to beat it.

Who and where: 6 or more, hall or carpet, from age 3. Safety rule: soft toys only, nothing with a hard face or loose parts.

14. Pass the parachute

Everyone stands still and passes the edge to the left, hand over hand, so the parachute turns while nobody's feet move. Then pass it to the right. It's harder than it sounds and good for coordination.

Who and where: 8 or more, carpet or hall, from age 4. Safety rule: feet stay planted; only the parachute moves.

15. Gather it in

The calm finish. Everyone takes small steps inwards together, gathering the fabric into their hands as they go, until the group is sitting close in the middle with a soft heap in their laps. Count the steps. Then fold it in half, and in half again, together.

Who and where: any group, carpet or hall, from age 3. Safety rule: small steps only, so nobody trips on the gathered fabric.

How do you build a 15-minute parachute session?

Pick four or five games and run them from lively back to calm. Three that work:

• A first session with a new group (10 minutes): ripples to a storm, mushroom, hello underneath, gather it in.
• Reception or Year 1 PE (15 minutes): pass the wave, popcorn, swap places, merry-go-round, then gather it in. From Year 1, the national curriculum for PE at Key Stage 1 asks pupils to "participate in team games", and a parachute is a gentle first team.
• A wet playtime (10 minutes): up, down, freeze, dice bounce, teddy toss, then the cool-down below.

If you need a warm-up before the parachute comes out, our PE warm up games need no equipment. For a calmer group game the next day, there are circle time games for EYFS and KS1, and our sports day games end on a parachute finale.

What's a good cool-down after parachute games?

The Department for Education's guidance on personal, social and emotional development says that through supported interaction with other children, they learn to "make good friendships, co-operate and resolve conflicts peaceably". The co-operating is the fun part. The settling afterwards takes a minute of help.

Three floor poses from our Freedom Flow mat do it. Butterfly: sit up, feet sole to sole, knees falling open to the sides like wings. Star (pose 3): sit with legs wide and toes up, hands on the floor in front. Happy baby (pose 13): lie on your back, hold your feet and rock gently side to side. Finish lying still for five slow breaths. For a fuller routine a class can do beside their desks, see yoga in the classroom.

Settings can order a class set of mats so every child has their own space, with the poses laser-engraved and numbered in order. At home, our yoga mats for children suit ages 3 to 8. For a two-minute reset between lessons rather than after a whole session, try one of our brain breaks for kids.

What about the child who won't hold the edge?

Some children hate the noise of a storm, or the feeling of the fabric overhead. Don't insist. Let them watch from a chair or a mat nearby; many join in once they've seen a few rounds.

Give them a job that keeps them part of it: the caller for up, down, freeze, the keeper of the popcorn balls, or the one who chooses the next game. Skip hello underneath and swap places if a child is wary of being underneath, and let them hold the edge next to an adult when they're ready.

Frequently asked questions

What size parachute for a nursery?

Choose by handles and room, not by the biggest on offer. You want roughly one handle per child in your usual group, and enough floor for everyone to stand round it with the fabric pulled flat and still have a step behind them. A smaller parachute in a carpet area beats a large one that only works in the hall.

Can you play parachute games at home with two children?

Yes, with a small play parachute or an old single sheet, and an adult holding one side. Popcorn, ripples to a storm, teddy toss and round the edge all work with three people. The swapping games need more players. Keep the rules the same: both hands on the edge, nobody underneath when it comes down.

What are some fun activities with a parachute?

Popcorn with soft balls, mushroom domes, swapping places underneath, rolling a ball round the edge and tossing a teddy are the ones children ask for again. For a calmer group, pass a wave round the circle or end by gathering the parachute in together. Most need nothing except the parachute and a few soft balls.

How do you calm a group down afterwards?

Slow the parachute down before you stop it: ripples, then a slow wave, then gather it in together and sit close. Then do two or three minutes of still, floor-based stretches or slow breathing before anyone lines up. Children who have just run under a mushroom need a bridge back to quiet, not a sudden instruction.

Sources

• Department for Education - Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework
• Department for Education - Development Matters
• Department for Education - Help for early years providers: Personal, social and emotional development
• Department for Education - National curriculum in England: physical education programmes of study