I've been inspired by my self-contained elementary music classes to incorporate more seated/ stationary movement activities this year and one of my new favorite ways to do that has been with a parachute! I bought a parachute for my classroom a couple of years ago and was always too intimidated to actually pull it out, but these seated activities have turned me into a believer. Here are my favorite parachute songs that students can do sitting down, including activities appropriate for a wide range of ages from preschool up through middle school.
Besides being easier to manage, stationary parachute activities are also perfect for students with mobility difficulties, small classroom spaces, and to use when students have less physical energy like after recess or PE class, so these are really versatile for a lot of situations.
PK-2nd grade: Shake, Shake, Shake
This song by Nancy Kopman is specifically written for use with a parachute, so it's a great first activity to try with the parachute! The words make it pretty obvious what to do with the parachute, and there are some little surprising pauses in the music that students have to listen for to stay with the song which makes it more exciting! My younger students love this one and it was a great introduction to using the parachute and some basic moves that everyone can pick up quickly.
PK-3rd grade: The Rain Falls Down
I used this song by Stephanie Leavell when I was first starting to use my parachute in class and it worked great! This song is a great way to help everyone get used to using the parachute correctly and it's also just a lovely activity for calming everyone down while reinforcing beat, long notes, and phrasing. I use the same simple, repetitive movement pattern through the entire song: bring the parachute down for 4 beats, up for 4 beats, then sway back and forth (with arms up) every 2 beats for 8 beats, then repeat. I have everyone do the half note sway in the introduction so that we start with the parachute up to begin with the first downward move when the first verse begins.
1st-6th grade: Azizam (Persian version)
This was one of the most popular songs from my Music In Our Schools Month multilingual song bracket this year (I made a last-minute swap with another song when I found it online) so I decided to use it as a movement activity to introduce form as well! For the chorus we shake the parachute near the floor to create "waves", and for the verses we sway back and forth on the beat while holding the parachute near our laps. It sounds simple but it was a great way to reinforce the A and B contrasting sections and practice some new moves with the parachute- swaying in a circle and getting everyone going back and forth in the same direction is tricky at first, but cool once they get the hang of it! And of course I love that this version of Ed Sheeran's song features more of the Farsi language and Iranian musicians!
I was so much less intimidated by the idea of using a parachute once I realized how much we could do seated in a circle instead of standing/ walking around! If you're just getting started using a parachute in elementary music class, I highly recommend starting with everyone seated first and then you can always add in locomotor movement later.
Movement props are such a fun way to mix things up while reinforcing musical concepts! You can see my favorite activities for the stretchy band in this post, and some of my favorite scarf songs for each of the 4 seasons in this post for more movement prop ideas! Do you have other favorite seated parachute activities for elementary music lessons? I'd love to hear about them in the comments!
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