I teach science to all my students.  Today was my day for the beginner 7 year olds.  There are only four of them, but they can be a handful.  OK, the two boys are a handful… the girls are fine.  :)

Today we made parachutes.  It’s really easy.  All you need is a plastic bag, some string or thread, tape and a small toy.  Cut a large circle out of the plastic bag.  The bigger, the better, really.  Cut four pieces of thread approximately equal to the diameter of your circle.  That’s the distance across the circle for those of you who forgot high school geometry.  Tape the thread at equal intervals around the circle.  Tie the four pieces of thread into a knot at the bottom.  Use more tape to secure the toy to the thread.  Now, hold your parachute up and drop it!  Watch how it falls slower than if you dropped the toy without the parachute.

As an extension, you can ask the kids what they think would happen if your parachute was smaller or the toy was bigger.  See what they say, and then try it!  That’s science.