Teacher Notes

The parachute has numbers on it round the edge. The children hold the parachute off the ground at their waist level. They stand next to a number.

The children close their eyes and gently wave the parachute up and down. This will produce a slight mushroom effect.

The teacher walks round and touches two different children on their shoulder. These two let go of the parachute. They crawl quietly under the parachute and sit still there.

The teacher tells the children to open their eyes and asks “Who has gone?” The children who are still standing say which numbers have gone. The teacher tells them to add the missing numbers. The child standing by the number which results from this addition, lets go of the parachute and crawls underneath. Of those three children, the one who held the smallest number comes out and rejoins the circle.

Only two children should be under the parachute at any time.

The game is then repeated. Instead of adding the numbers , the teacher could ask them to subtract one from the other, or multiply or divide.

If the answer is a number greater than those attached to the parachute, like 34, then children standing by the separate digits act. In this case 3 and 4 would go under the parachute and both those underneath would return to the edge of the parachute.