A para-balloon is a tool used in a variety of games. It appears as a parachute shape and is composed of fragments of colorful cloth in multiple, bright colours.

Origin

An unknown Japanese visitor saw a game involving a parachute at a

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in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in October 1960 and also in

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and was attracted to it. In the hope that children could play the game he returned to Japan and searched unsuccessfully for a similar style of parachute. He later came to know that there were many good

shoemaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as '' cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen ...

s in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

. He asked them to make 20 pieces and design games involving the parachute. He named it as the "Para-balloon" as a combined form of the words "Parachute" and "Balloon".

Use

A para-balloon is the symbol of Grasshopper Scouts from The Scout Association of Hong Kong. It is used to train groups of children aged 6 to 8. The association uses the name 快樂傘 in Chinese. Many schools, kindergartens and youth centers utilize para-balloons, following the Grasshopper Scouts. Para-balloon games are sometimes incorporated in physical exercises for elderly people in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

External links

Training material on para-balloon (from the Scout Association of Hong Kong)
Children's games Scouting and Guiding in Hong Kong {{toy-stub