Elizabeth Gomez

LEI 4724
Activity: Fun Circle Toss
Source: Willett, P. (Parachute Games, March 18, 2006)
Equipment Needed: parachute or large circle divided into sections, bean bags, various action
cards.
Activity Description:
This activity can be anywhere from 6-8 participants depending on the size/sections of your
parachute or large circle
1. Lay out the parachute on the ground and place the various action cards in the center of
each section.
2. Have participants either stand or sit on any section of the parachute.
3. Have each participant toss the bean bag and perform the action on the card that it lands
on.
4. Have Fun!
*Note: the action cards can say anything from yelling your name 3x, telling a joke, saying a
nursery rhyme, yell a cheer, it can all depend on the age group that is participating in the activity.
The Fun Circle Toss can also be either done outside or inside.
Leadership Considerations:
1. A few goals that are important to keep in mind when working with patients that have
Alzheimers is to enhance their cognition and promote social engagement. In this activity
they are able to engage with other participants, but to try to involve everyone as much as
possible you can have everyone do the action that the bean bag landed on, not just the
participant that tossed it. Having action cards that require the individuals to recall a
memory (example: state the weirdest food item youve ever eaten) will be beneficial as
this will enhance the cognition of these participants with Alzheimers.
2. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may need aid in interacting and
communicating with others, as well as developing their intellectual, emotional, and
physical skills. When its time for the child to perform the action on the card, you can
have them choose someone to do the action with them, this way they are able to engage
with the other participants. An idea that can incorporate the whole group while building
their intellectual skill, is after youve gone through all action cards, have the children
themselves come up with actions to put on the card. This gets them excited to engage in
the activity knowing they had a part in putting it together.