Ah, chalk! One of the best past times for kids. It is lovely for so many reasons- it keeps kids busy freely creating anything in their minds, it helps them experience gross motor skills as they use their whole bodies to draw on large surfaces, it is a fun and different medium to teach all kinds of color and line lessons, it helps give little kids experiences working with a variety of writing tools, and best of all- you do not need to hoard their artwork if you do not want to! No sneaking their masterpieces off to the garbage- the rain will do that for you, no heartache for anyone!
While Amazon has been my best friend during the stay at home orders for purchasing essentials (chalk is essential!), it has been more expensive during the pandemic than I am used to. If you do not have it on hand, this awesome website has a great recipe and video for homemade chalk.
Enjoy this roundup of fun chalk activities, perfect to get your kids started if they are tired of being creative by themselves.
Alphabet Jump: Write the letters of the alphabet out on the sidewalk once per child. Call out a letter, and they have to jump to find it! The same game could be done with numbers. Use whatever your child is working on, like spell your name, sight words, 10 partners, multiplication, etc.
Escargot: I got this from our Kiwi Crate countries edition (which has been so fun, I highly recommend). This was in our France crate. Whenever we play with chalk my Kindergartner wants to do this. Draw a large circle on the sidewalk, then a spiral going outward. Fill in the spiral with lines. Each person takes turns hopping to the center of the “snail shell, which is safe (2 feet are allowed here). If they stumble or fall out of the shell, they loose their turn. If they make it to the center and back, they get to put their initials in any square. You are allowed to rest and put both feet down on your initialed space. When all the squares are taken, count the initials to find the winner! Try it out for an alternative to hopscotch.
Shadow Tracing: My kids love shadows! Not only is it a lot of fun, but it is a great way to get kids observing their world to trace their shadows. Try tracing their feet and shadow in the morning and coming back in the afternoon, stand in the same place, and see how the size and position has changed.
Body Tracing-: We love taking turns lying down and tracing each others’ bodies. My kids get so excited when they see how tall they are getting! They also love to decorate their chalk selves- adding all kinds of facial expressions and other accessories.
Chalk Photo Booth: Create an awesome scene you can pose in. You can go on an awesome adventure right in your neighborhood, or become someone with great super powers, like my cute nephews 🙂 My sister gave this to my brother in law for Father’s Day not too long ago!
Chalk Drawings, Mary Poppins Style: Didn’t you just love that magical scene where Mary Poppins along with her dear friend Bert take the kids on a magical adventure that came out of Bert’s head? See where your kids take you.
Become a Master Artist: Check out this article showing photos of amazing artwork done in chalk. I have a long way to go!
Enjoy creating and sharing your wonderful creations with your neighborhood!
What are your favorite activities or memories with chalk? We are always looking for fresh ideas, so please share in the comments!