Make learning fun and active with these educational sidewalk chalk activities!
Summer fun often includes sidewalk chalk. We all have memories of spending endless days scribbling on the ground only to be excited when the rain washes it away and we can start over from scratch. If your child comes in and does not need a bath they did not do their job! Sidewalk chalk can also be used to make learning fun. Here are 10 Educational Sidewalk Chalk Activities to try with your kids.
10 Educational Sidewalk Chalk Activities
These learning activities using chalk are a great way to introduce new topics, as well as, a fun way to maintain the skills they have already learned over the summer.
1. A great way to use sidewalk chalk is to explore textures.
You child can scribble nearly anywhere outside and see the textures of different items in the chalk. It leads to no damage and washes away in the next summer rain. Scribble on cement, brick, even tree bark, then spend time discussing different shapes and gaps you see. Ask how it felt to write on these different things.
2. Teach your child about shadows and time.
Place a large object in an open space you can draw on. Trace the shadow of your large object and write the time inside the shadow. In a few hours come back and repeat the entire process. Discuss how over time the shadow changed is shape and direction. Here are more tips for tracing shadows with kids.
3. Use sidewalk chalk to set the stage for pretend play.
Pretend play is great for kids. They learn basic skills and get to use those imaginations that will one day leave their mark on the world. From setting up your own farmers market to blasting off in a spaceship sidewalk chalk takes art outside and makes it big enough to come to life in your child’s head. Now you can even buy 3D chalk.
4. Practice letters and words with rainbow writing.
A great way many parents teach children to write is with rainbow writing where you write the word and then your child traces it repeatedly in the colors of the rainbow. This method creates a fun design while helping your child build muscle memory. Only It gets even cooler with sidewalk chalk when you make your child’s name “life size.”
5. Create an obstacle course.
Make an obstacle course that put hopscotch to shame! Get creative and build a nice big obstacle course full of wild twists, turns, and jumps. You can give them instructions of things to do in certain spots such as “do 2 jumping jacks” or “spin in a circle”. Cover your entire driveway! Let the obstacle course stay until the rain washes it away.
6. Draw in the puddles for deeper more vivid colors.
While drawing with wet chalk will make you use it up more, it is loads of fun to see how much brighter the colors of wet chalk are. Plus, it is messy and kids LOVE messy. If you live in a dry climate, bring a bucket of water and allow your kids to experiment with using wet chalk.
7. Spelling words can be so much more fun full-size.
While younger kids can practice making their letters, older kids can work on spelling. This is a great method for kids who need a little more activity to get through a basic spelling lesson. Or those who still don’t like being confined to lined paper. You can also have them use one color for consonants and another for vowels.
8. Math can be done outside with chalk.
Doing math outside with chalk can make it more fun. Skip counting with hopscotch is a fun way to practice times tables. Write out math problems in chalk, for younger kids add pictures to the math problems. Young kids can work on shapes while older kids can get on the fun by doing some geometry outside by measuring angles and sides JUMBO size.
9. Draw Constellations.
Sidewalk chalk can even be used to study the stars. When studying astronomy you can create constellations right on the ground during the peak of the day. Drawing them out is a great way to bring them to life on your child’s level and make it fun. Use the Gaia app to find out what constellations will be viewable in your night sky. Draw those with your kids to make it easier for them to see them in the night sky later that evening.
10. Learn geography outside.
Work on geography outside by drawing the shapes of the states. You can draw one at a time as you study them. Really get familiar with each state’s shape as you talk about the state itself with your child. You can print a state out on cardstock (after a google search) to make it easier. Then allow them to fill in the capital, rivers, and any other major landmarks. You can also encourage the kids draw the flags of states and countries they are studying.
11. Make Memory Work Fun
Do your kids have a memory verse they need to memorize for Sunday school or a quote for history class? A fun way to help your kids with memory work is to write out the verse or quote they are memorizing in chalk. Have them read it out loud. Then erase one word – any word, just not the first one – maybe start with an article such as “an” or “the” or a conjunction such as “and” or “but”. Have them read it out loud while filling in the missing word. Erase another word. Have them read it out loud again filling in the missing words. Continue erasing one word at a time until you are down to just a period and they can say the entire passage from memory. There will be giggles while doing this. It is the most fun way I have discovered to help my kids with memory work.
More Summer Fun for Kids:
5 Frugal Ways to Keep Kids Busy During the Summer
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