Sidewalk Chalk Activities

Spring has definitely sprung here in Dallas, but if you have lived here for any amount of time then you know the scorching hot summer is upon us.

I’ve made it a point to get outside and play with my son everyday while the weather is pretty, because pretty soon the only way we will play outside is if a pool or water is involved.  I’m always looking for fun, new (and cheap) ways to play and learn with him.  Sidewalk Chalk was our latest activity. I love sidewalk chalk because it is a great way to “trick” them into learning.  It’s so fun they don’t even know it’s educational.  It also helps build their creativity, fine motor skills and gross motor skills.

There are 4 squares of concrete in our driveway so I came up with 4 games for us to play together. It took me about 15 minutes to draw these all out during nap time, and then it got me about an hour of playtime afterwards.  I call that a win!!

1.  Number Hop

This game is basically a variation of hopscotch but the  numbers are drawn in a circle.  I just had my son hop on the numbers as he counted.  After we went through it a few times I would call out a number and he would have to count and hop all the way to that number and stop!! He loved this one.

2.  Letter Search

In this game I just drew the whole alphabet randomly on the concrete.  I would call out a letter and he would have to find it.  I would say “Skip to the X” ,  “Hop to the B”, or “Tip-toe to the K”.  He thought that was really fun!   If you want to make this game a littler harder you could tell your child to find the letter that says the /b/ sound or even find the letter that “baby” (or any other word) starts with. You could also pull out the scooter and have the scoot from letter to letter.

3. Color Hop

In this game I just drew a bunch of different colored circles.  I would call out a color and he would have to only hop on that certain color.  Some paths were easier than others.  I made the red path where the circles were all next to each other.  I made the other  paths where he might have to hop over one or two circle to get to another circle of the same color. He had a blast doing this!

4.  Follow the Directions

In this game I drew action words along with a little picture to help my son know what it said.  The actions he to do were…….Twirl, Jump, Leap, Kick, Stomp & Bow. This game didn’t last very long, but every now in then he would go back over to it and say “Watch me, Mommy”.  He was so proud of himself for knowing how to follow the directions!

After we played all of our games, I had one more activity up my sleeve……..

DIY SIDEWALK CHALK PAINT

To make the sidewalk chalk paint, you just use equal parts of water and corn starch.  (I used one cup of each.) Whisk it together, pour it into some cups, add a few drops of food coloring and Voila, you have sidewalk chalk paint!!

My favorite part about the sidewalk chalk paint was that my son made up his own little game that I hadn’t even planned.  I had just intended for him to free draw, but he started tracing over all of my letters and numbers that I had drawn.  What a great way to teach your child  how to form letters!! 

So, what are you waiting for?  Run to the Dollar Store and get some sidewalk chalk if you don’t already have some or even better run to your pantry to get your corn starch out and make some sidewalk chalk paint.  The possibilities with sidewalk chalk and sidewalk chalk paint are endless.

Go out and enjoy this beautiful weather!!

Do you have any fun games or activities you do with your child with sidewalk chalk?