You never know: someday you may need to throw an egg or a plastic toy soldier in the air and then see it slowly glide to the ground! In these cases, you will need to build a toy parachute. Here's how to do it.
Steps
Step 1. Prepare the canopy
Cut out a 40cm hex from a grocery or trash bag.
Step 2. Prepare the holes for the strings
With a punch, a pair of scissors or a cutter, make small holes in the vicinity of each of the 6 points of the hexagon.
Don't get too close to corners, or the fall will turn into disaster and plunge your GI Joe into the void
Step 3. Attach the ropes
Cut 6 threads of 40 / 50cm, pass each of them through one of the 6 holes and fasten them well to the parachute.
Assign a number to each of the 6 wires. You can use a marker and mark 1 to 6 each strand clockwise
Step 4. Build the base
For the parachute to work, weight is needed near its base. You can tie the threads to a washer or to a small paper container or plastic cup so that you can insert an object into it as you like. Here we will use a washer to illustrate the example.
Step 5. Mark the washer
Use your marker and mark the numbers 1 to 6 around the washer, corresponding to the numbers drawn on the parachute.
If you are using a cup or glass, do the same thing on the outer edge and make a small hole in correspondence with each number
Step 6. Attach the wires
Take a line from the parachute and attach it to its corresponding number on the washer.
Step 7. Repeat for all 6 strands
Step 8. Make sure there are no kinks or tangles in the threads, otherwise fix or discard them
Step 9. Try it
After you have finished the parachute, you can go up to the attic or balcony and throw it to see if it works. You can place any object inside the base of the parachute that is not too big or too heavy: a small doll, a plastic toy soldier, a ball, an egg, etc. You certainly don't want it to fall on some delicate object or break glass, do you? After you have dropped the parachute, you can go back down to the courtyard and see where and how it landed. Good fun!
Advice
- Add a cotton, sponge or foam protection inside the base to protect any delicate objects that the parachute may carry.
- Color either the canvas and the base of the parachute to combine it with the goods it carries. If he's a toy soldier, you might want to decorate him in a camouflage style. If, on the other hand, it is Easter Eggs, you could for example use more vibrant pastel colors, such as green, yellow and pink.
- If you are going to drop the parachute off the stairway, make sure it is large enough not to hit or damage the walls.
- If the egg you insert into the base of the parachute breaks due to the excessively rapid fall, build a larger hex with longer strings to get a better parachute.
- This is an ideal group work to do with family or friends. You can compete to see which is the best decorated parachute, the strongest, or the slowest landing.
- Make the incisions with particular care not to cut yourself.
- If you drop an egg in a parachute and it breaks, you'll need to clean it up. If it breaks inside the base, you can make an omelette out of it.
- Make sure, before throwing it, that the parachute has no cuts or tears in the canopy.
Warnings
- Make sure the threads are tied well. If they are too loose, the parachute could fall over and overturn its contents.
- Make sure there are no people in the landing zone for your parachute to avoid hurting anyone.
- Make sure children understand that the parachute is for small objects and that they are not using it to parachute themselves.
