Para-balloon

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Para-balloon is a tool used in games and a series of games around this tool. It has a parachute shape and is made of fragments of cloth in different colours. It is colourful and often attracts children.

[edit] Origin

An unknown Japanese visited YMCA in United States on October 1960. There he saw a game that involved a parachute when he visited a town in Los Angeles. He was attracted by the game and hoped that children could play this game.

He came back to Japan and tried to find that kind of parachute everywhere. He found none, new nor second-hand. He later came to know that there were many good shoemakers around YMCA千歲幼稚園 in Kobe. He asked them to make 20 pieces and design many games for them. He named it as Para-balloon after Parachute and Ad Balloon.

[edit] Use

Para-balloon is selected as the symbol of Grasshopper Scouts from The Scout Association of Hong Kong. It is used to train groups of children of ages from 6 to 8. The association uses the name 快樂傘 for it in Chinese. Many schools, kindergarten, youth centres follow after success stories from Grasshopper Scouts.

The para-balloon games are also adapted to help elderly people in Hong Kong perform more physical exercise.