How To Make A Parachute

One of the fun ways to spend time with your kids is by lending a hand in their craft projects. If you find that making cards, toys, paper crafts and pen holders is passé, why not think something different this time? Seen as tiny flying things in the sky, kids are naturally fascinated by parachutes sailing through the skies and against the wind. How about making a parachute and let your kids catch hold of their fantasy? Homemade toy parachutes are very easy to make and you don’t have to search for the supplies in craft stores either. The number of items needed to make a homemade parachute is limited to just four or five, which can be easily found at home. With simple available materials, you can help your kids create a miniature parachute and explain the actual physics that go in the process of flying a real parachute. Go through the following lines to get directions on how to make a homemade toy parachute.

Making Homemade Toy Parachute

Method 1

Things Required:

Scarf
String
Washer
Scissors

Procedure:

Use scissors to cut four pieces of strings, each measuring 18 inches long. Make sure that all the strings are of equal length.
Tie a small knot in each of the corners of a mid-size scarf. Now, tie the strings on each corner of the scarf. Ensure that you have tied all the knots firmly and secured the strings properly.
Locate the center of the scarf. By holding the center of the cloth on one hand, pull all the four strings with the other. Now, secure the four strings together with an overhand knot.
Tie a washer to the four strings that have been joined together. The washer acts as a weight for the parachute.
Now, test the effectiveness of the parachute by releasing it from a height, say six feet.
If you find that the parachute doesn’t land properly and crashes instead, probably the strings are not secured properly or are of unequal length.
To check the parachute’s performance on increasing weight, add an additional object onto the washer. On dropping it from a height, the parachute should glide down smoothly to the ground, without crashing.

Method 2

Things Required:

Polythene Bag
Scissors
Modeling Clay (or a plastic person figurine)
String
Paper Clip

Procedure:

To start off with, place the polyphone bag on a flat surface and carefully cut out an octagonal shape. If possible, grab hold of a stretchy polythene bag rather than an ordinary one or any other material.
Using a pencil, create a small hole at each corner of the octagon, so cut. You should have eight holes in total.
Cut out eight strings of same length and tie/tape one each to the hole created.
Secure the other free ends of the strings and tie them to the paper clip.
Make a toy soldier from modeling clay. Alternatively, you can also use a plastic toy figurine.
Fasten the dummy soldier to the paper clip.
Carefully, cut out a small hole, measuring 1x1 cm, in the center of the parachute. This will enable the air to pass through the hole, instead of spreading onto the sides. Also, your parachute will glide in a more straight pattern.
To test the parachute, hold the polythene portion at the highest height and let it glide down.
Watch your toy parachute and passenger fly and land on the ground.

By following the directions carefully, you’ll have your own mini parachute for your kids. When you release the parachute the weight pulls down on the strings and opens up a large surface area of material that uses air resistance to slow it down. The larger the surface area the more air resistance and the slower the parachute will drop. Build one and get set ready to have fun!

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