Physical education teachers tend to appreciate all sports and see the benefit of a wide variety of activities. That said, there are certain units, or pieces of equipment, that we might have a soft spot for. The parkour unit is one of those units, and the parachute is one of those pieces of equipment.
In kindergarten, second and fourth grades, students recently got to play some of our favorite parachute games. The parachute requires a high degree of cooperation, and to accomplish a goal, like launching all the skittle balls off the ‘chute, students need to work together. Not to mention the precision it takes to send people spinning around the parachute on scooters.
Parkour, too, requires a high degree of precision. Pre-kindergarten, first and third grades learned to leap, vault, and land last week, putting all those skills together in the game of ‘Mission Impossible’ (a never-ending version of the floor is lava). Frequently throughout the gym were the words, “I did it!” quickly followed by, “What’s the next challenge?” Our students are definitely ready for their action movie slo-mo sequence.
