I love getting my kids outside to play as often as possible. There’s something fun about nature and learning opportunities seem to abound. From counting rocks to finding colors in the leaves and sky, being outdoors is something I try to do with my kids any day the weather is nice enough to allow it.
One of the things we’ve recently discovered is sidewalk chalk. There are so many fun things to do and ways to play with sidewalk chalk that keep my kids entertained for hours. Here are three of our favorite ways to play with chalk.
1. Draw letter, shape or number roads.
I love the idea of channeling a two year old’s boundless energy while giving them an opportunity to learn. One of our current favorite activities involves me drawing a bunch of shapes or letters on the side walk in a line and calling them a road.
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We run up and down the road shouting the shape or letter that we’re stepping on. Sometimes we back up the road and we make truck backing up sounds. We also go up the road sideways or really slow.
I’m pretty sure our neighbors think we’re crazy, but we have a ton of fun with our sidewalk chalk roads and it’s an easy way to teach letters, numbers or shapes.
2. Sidewalk Chalk City
We love drawing sidewalk chalk cities. The city usually has all of our favorite restaurants, our friends’ houses, library, bank, and grocery store. Once we get all the important landmarks drawn, the fun begins.
I let my kids take toy cars and trucks outside and they drive them all over the city. They pretend to get money at the bank, groceries at the store and of course they make sure to get fries and chicken at our chalk Chic-fil-a (the kid’s favorite place to eat).
They usually are entertained and having fun for a long time driving their trucks and cars all over the driveway.
3. Chalk Mailboxes
My son loves this game. He plays it all the time. I draw a bunch of mailboxes all over the driveway. Then he hops on his trike and pretends he’s the mailman. He drives all over putting sticks in the chalk mailboxes and pretends the sticks are mail.
To extend our playtime, I’ll draw the number six on a mailbox and tell him to deliver mail to mailbox six. He’ll then take the mail and drive over to the mailbox with the number six on it and put the mail in. He’s having fun, getting energy out and also learning his numbers. A win-win in my book!
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4. The Old Fashioned Way – We Just Draw Stuff
Sometimes we just go out with the chalk and draw for fun. My son comes up with really creative ways to use chalk. He drew a huge scribble on the sidewalk the other day and told me he was a snowplow and the scribble was snowmelt on the road.
I have fun watching my kids draw and use their imaginations.
We have had so much fun this spring outside with sidewalk chalk. What are some ways you’ve found fun to play with chalk outside?
