At Home Activities

For Word of the Day, you can use your name, site words, high frequency words, spelling words...get creative!

Sidewalk Chalk games to encourage movement and creativity

Connect the Dots

Draw a simple outline of a familiar object such as a tree, house, flower, etc. using only dots. Before the kids use chalk to connect the dots, have them jump or hop from dot the dot and guess what the picture will be. Then, let them use sidewalk chalk to connect the dots and find out what picture the dots make. Can also make basic shapes, numbers, letters, etc.

Lily pad Jump

Draw different sizes of green lily pads on the concrete making sure the distance between them are different distances apart. Ask kids to jump across the "pond" by only standing on the lily pads.

Locomotor lines

Players make one continuous line with side walk chalk and another player has to follow the line. The first player takes a piece of sidewalk chalk and begins to draw a continuous line with it making circles and squiggles as they go. The second player must try and follow the chalk line by walking or running on the line. Can use different locomotor skills and have children jump, hop, skip, gallop as well as travel forward, backward or sideways. Simple, but lots of fun!

Sidewalk Chalk Maze

Draw a large maze on the ground that kids have to maneuver through on their bikes, scooters or on foot.

Target

Draw a large circle target of the ground with sidewalk chalk. Divide the circle into sections and give each section a point value. Draw a line about 7 feet from the target and have children throw bean bags or rocks onto the target. Tally up the score and the child with the most points after 6 rounds wins.

Body Outline Trace

Have the kids lay down in different positions on the concrete and then draw around their shapes. Then let them fill and color the outline with their face, features and clothes. Have conversations about different body parts and what exercises or movements can be performed with those body parts. (Ex. What body parts do you use to jump rope, kick a ball, shoot a basket, do a push up?)

Snail Hopscotch

This game is a lot of fun! Draw a large circle (about 10 - 12 inches) on the ground and then draw a very large spiral board on the concrete starting at the circle and spiraling out to look like a snails shell. The spirals of the snail shell need to be about 8 - 12" apart. Make 3 or 4 large spirals around the center circle. Divide the spirals into spaces about 12 - 14" apart and number them. The first player hops on one foot from the center circle to the outside and back. If they make it without stepping of a line or losing their balance they can use sidewalk chalk to mark ANY space they want with their initials. No one is able to jump on that space the rest of the game. The next player must hop on one foot from the center and back but must jump over the space that is marked with initials. If they make it then they may write their initials on any square they choose. This is a simple game, but it gets crazy when kids have to hop all the way across the board to an empty space near the end of the game. The person with the most initialed squares wins.

Sidewalk Chalk Rainbow

Use 7 colors of sidewalk chalk to draw a huge rainbow. For a challenge, see if children can color using their non-dominant hand. Include a pot of gold at the end!

Human Board Game

Draw a large game board on the ground using sidewalk chalk and the kids are the playing pieces and move themselves around the board. Start by drawing a giant size oval or rectangle game board. Divide the game board into pieces that are large enough for kids to stand in. In some of the spaces write instructions on what they have to do when they land on that space.

**Some fun examples are: Move back 3 spaces, Jump up and down until your next turn, Go ahead 2 spaces, Cluck like a chicken until your next turn, Dance in your square until your next turn, Sing “Happy Birthday”, Change places with any player, Go back to Start, Go to any square on the board, etc. You can use regular dice or decorate a large square box with construction paper to use as the die.

Bounce Out

Draw a large rectangle about 2 feet wide and 10 feet long. Divide the rectangle into 5 equal sections - number the sections 1 - 5. Draw a line about two feet from the #1 section. Two players stand behind the line. One of the players takes a ball and tries to throw it so it bounces in the #5 space. After they throw the ball the other player races to the end of the rectangle and tries to catch the ball before it bounces in the square.

If the first player successfully throws the ball so it bounces in the #5 square without touching a line or getting caught by the other player they get to try and throw the ball to the #4 square. When the first player misses mark which square they were in and then it is the other players turn to try. If the second player during a round catches the ball before it bounces in the square it becomes their turn.

Box Out

This game is simple enough for younger children and can also challenge older kids as they learn to use strategy to win. Draw a very large square about 10 feet x 10

feet. Divide the large square into a grid 10 spaces wide x 10 spaces deep. You can make the initial large square smaller, but the grid spaces need to be big enough for kids to stand inside them. Give each player a piece of chalk and assign them a corner to start.

The first player will move to a connecting square and then cross out the square that they came from with their color chalk. Players take turns moving from one square to the next crossing out boxes as they go. After a box is crossed out no one can step in that box again for the entire game. If a player is stuck and cannot move they must forfeit their turn. The winner is the one who can move last after all the players are “stuck”. Use the same grid over and over by using an X to cross out the squares for the first round, an O for the second round and color in the square for the third game.

Tic Tac Toe

Draw a tic tac toe board with sidewalk chalk on the ground. Draw a line about 2 feet from the board that the kids will have to stand behind. Using beanbags or rocks have the players one at a time throw their markers onto the board trying to make a tic tac toe.

Trace Shapes

Use cardboard shapes you've cut out in different shapes or have the kids trace around objects such as buckets, hoses, chairs, boxes, etc.

Treasure Map

Draw a sidewalk chalk treasure map. Let the kids draw a treasure map of the yard and how to get to a hidden treasure using broken chalk lines on the map. After they draw the map let them hide a small treasure for other children to find.

Yard Map

Have the kids draw a bird's eye view of your backyard with their sidewalk chalk. Include the shape of their house, car, swing set, bushes, sidewalk, etc.

Four Square

Draw a large square (over 10‘ wide) and divide it into 4 equal squares. Number the squares going clockwise 1, 2, 3 and 4 and then draw a diagonal line in square 1 because it will be the serving line. The player in square 1 serves by bouncing the ball in his square and then hitting the ball into any of the other squares.

Players have to allow the ball to bounce one time in their square before they hit it into another players square. Players can be eliminated from the game by hitting the ball out of bounds, letting the ball bounce more than once in their square, hitting the ball more than once during their turn or holding or catching the ball.