Sidewalk Chalk and All the Ways You Can Play With It

Some of the best activities for kids are also the simplest ones. Sidewalk chalk is one of those things that never seems to lose its appeal. It’s inexpensive, easy to pull out at a moment’s notice, and it gets kids outside using their imagination. My daughter and her friends can spend so much time drawing pictures and mixing colors. Sometimes but not often they'll play hopscotch but her crew is more into arts and mess.

Over the years they’ve come up with a few favorite ways to use it, some of which make perfect sense and some of which is just a mess.

One thing they love to do is shave the chalk down, add a little water, and turn it into chalk paint. They scrape the chalk with butter knifes, mix it with water in a cup, and then paint the driveway like little artists. If you’d rather skip the shaving, you can also make a simple DIY chalk paint at home.

Simple DIY Chalk Paint

All you need is:

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

• 1 tablespoon water

• a few drops of food coloring

Mix it together in a small cup or muffin tin and hand the kids a paintbrush. It washes right off the sidewalk with rain or a hose, and the colors show up really bright.

But their absolute favorite way to play with sidewalk chalk is by getting the chalk wet.

When you dip the chalk in water before drawing, the colors become so much more vibrant and bold on the pavement. The chalk almost glides across the sidewalk and leaves thicker, brighter lines. The drawings really pop compared to using dry chalk.

The only downside is that you’ll go through the chalk a lot faster this way. Wet chalk softens more quickly, so it wears down as the kids draw.

You don’t want to soak the entire sidewalk because that will make the chalk too soft and crumbly. Just dipping the chalk in a small container of water works perfectly.

Another fun option is to bring the chalk out on a rainy day. The the colors blend and make beautiful swirls.

If the pavement is already a little wet, the colors show up darker and brighter, almost like paint. It gives the drawings a totally different look than when the ground is dry. Rainy days can feel long when everyone is stuck inside, but if the rain is light, chalk drawing can turn it into something fun instead of gloomy.

Sidewalk chalk is also one of those activities that grows with kids. Younger kids might just enjoy making big colorful scribbles, while older kids start drawing pictures or playing hopscotch.

Some other simple sidewalk chalk ideas kids love are:

• Drawing roads and neighborhoods for toy cars

• Making obstacle courses to jump, spin, or hop through

• Tracing each other’s shadows

• Practicing letters, spelling words, or math problems

• Playing hopscotch or tic tac toe or four square

The best part is that it requires almost no setup and no complicated materials. Just a bucket of chalk and a little bit of sidewalk can keep kids busy for a long time.

Sometimes the activities that last the longest are the ones that are the simplest.