Saturday, July 31, 2010

Ten Ideas for Sidewalk Chalk

Sidewalk chalk is one of those marvelous summery entertainments for kids that costs very little and has great educational value.


Here's a list of 10 fun ideas we love to squeeze the amusement from your tub of sidewalk chalk.

1.  Yeah, normally a 'chalk outline' of a body is a bad thing.  But your preschooler doesn't need to know that.  Trace his outline on the sidewalk and then let him color it in.
2.  Draw a flower garden.  I particularly like this one, since if it doesn't rain for a few days my chalk flowers last a lot longer than real flowers I might attempt to plant.
3.  Make a color wheel.  What better way to start to introduce the differences in the colors to your child?
4.  Draw a prarie dog colony, and once your tunnels are established, race your stuffed animals from burrow to burrow.
5.  Likewise, draw a small city, and use matchbox cars to maneuver from one side of town to the other.
6.  Write out the alphabet in large letters, and then have your child call out simple words like "CAT".  Spell the word for your child, having him run to each letter as it's said. 
7.  Draw some trails of animal tracks (horse, cat, bear).  Have your child act out the animal as he follows the tracks.
8.  Draw different rooms and play house.
9.  Draw a maze.  Have kids race to see who can go through the fastest.  Have older children try to navigate backwards.
10.  Instead of normal hopscotch, draw a river with scattered stones and logs.  Have your child practice jumping from stone to stone without touching the water.  If he touches the water, he has to go back to the start.

Have fun!

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7 comments:

My Mad World said...

Very creative ideas! Thanks for sharing these!

Insightful Brain said...

Wonderful ideas... I especially like the flower garden! I do not have a green thumb... but surely I can pull this one off!

Anonymous said...

Fun ideas! I think I may write your ideas down and put in our chalk box.

Andrea said...

Love these! I may have to post some links for a post today (lazy and didn't set something up to go live) and include this! COol!

Mama Goose said...

Awesome! We love chalk but don't know what to DO with it. Especially the city and house ideas are great for even a toddler.

Unknown said...

These are awesome. I want to try them all.

Mommy Evolution said...

This post is perfect for the Monday Kid Corner Weekly Linky Party. The next party goes live Sunday morning and this week’s theme is SIDEWALK CHALK. Be sure to brush off those archives as well and link them up at http://thejennyevolution.com/category/linky-parties/monday-kid-corner/ See you there! Jennifer