Parachutes and Bug catching

[LovingLife]

We made our own parachutes today. The kids had fun decorating and putting them together, then we went outside to try them out. They had a blast running around and playing parachutes. The only bummer was that it was breezy, so we had to be careful to make sure our parachutes didn't get away from us. If the wind dies down a bit, I'm hoping to have them do some investigations (different ways to bunch up the parachute and man, different ways to throw the parachute, etc).

There were also baby crickets and a grasshopper that the kids found and took turns holding. My DS 5 'rocked' the grasshopper during his turn...ha! He was taking care of the baby. Anyways, we had a fun-filled morning. I always love ideas for when my group has a case of the 'Mondays'.

I hope your day is going well! Rest time here, so no complaints!!

[Josiegirl]

Aww, that sounds like a great way to spend a morning outside! How did you make the parachutes?

My dcks are enthralled with bugs but we don't get tons. It's mostly mulch in my yard. Right now it's Japanese Beetles everywhere.

[Rockgirl]

We made our own parachutes today. The kids had fun decorating and putting them together, then we went outside to try them out. They had a blast running around and playing parachutes. The only bummer was that it was breezy, so we had to be careful to make sure our parachutes didn't get away from us. If the wind dies down a bit, I'm hoping to have them do some investigations (different ways to bunch up the parachute and man, different ways to throw the parachute, etc).

There were also baby crickets and a grasshopper that the kids found and took turns holding. My DS 5 'rocked' the grasshopper during his turn...ha! He was taking care of the baby. Anyways, we had a fun-filled morning. I always love ideas for when my group has a case of the 'Mondays'.

I hope your day is going well! Rest time here, so no complaints!!

How fun! I'm sure the kids loved that.

[LovingLife]

I cut squares out of white kitchen trash bags and hole punched a couple of inches in on each corner. The kids decorated their parachutes with permanent markers (they did awesome following directions and being careful with my 'special' markers). When finished, flip the decorated side over. I cut four pieces of string roughly the length of the diagonal and had the kids put one end of a string through each hole. The bigger ones could knot their own, while I helped the younger ones. Then we took the four ends of string and tied them to 'army' guys.

We also made some smaller ones out of the diaper trash bags, just decorated and tied through the loops of the bags.

Simple, and the kids commented on how much fun it was to make a craft that they could play with.