Given that summer is upon us, I thought it could be helpful to share some fun (and easy) sidewalk chalk ideas. These are fun games and activities that you can do only using sidewalk chalk with your kids for fun. I’m sure you can even use your imaginative and creativity and expand upon these ideas for hours of sidewalk chalk fun.
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My kids have been playing with sidewalk chalk every.single.day for the last few weeks. Yes, it gets everywhere. They use it to draw all over the deck, the fence, their playset, and they even enjoying tossing it all down the slide. It breaks in half whenever my 2 year old chucks it as hard as he can at the payment. But, hey it’s inexpensive, easily washes off and it keeps them entertained for long periods. So I’m not complaining in the slightest.
Unique Sidewalk Chalk Games & Activities
Here are some of our favorite sidewalk chalk games to play:
Shapes & Colors Game
This is a great one for toddlers just beginning to learn their colors and shapes. Just draw shapes, like circles, triangles, and squares in various colors on the pavement. You can then call out a colored shape — “green circle” and whoever makes it there first wins.
Alphabet Practice
Another great learning activity using sidewalk chalk is the alphabet game. You draw out all the letters of the alphabet in sidewalk chalk. Then you call out a letter and have your child race over the letter. Once they get to the letter then can call out a word that starts with that letter for an added bonus.
Follow the Line
In this activity, you simply draw a long meandering line on the ground. Make sure to make it loop and swoop back over itself at points. Your child’s task is to walk along the line from the beginning the end.
Ultimate Hopscotch
This is a fun twist on the classic hopscotch game that we all played as kids. With this you can get completely creative. Draw shapes that aren’t squares, and add lines as paths that must be walked on along. You can also add in unique instructions like walk backwards, stomp 3 times, roar, touch your head, do a jumping jack. Basically just get as creative as you can making an activity course for your kids to follow. My daughter absolutely loves doing this and coming up with ideas to add along the course.
Body Outline Trace
If your kid enjoys drawing, they’ll probably love this one. Have them lay down and trace an outline around them. Then they can color in their outline. They can add clothes, a face, hair, etc. This is another one of my kids absolute favorites.
Target Practice
This is a really fun one. Draw a target on the ground – start with a bullseye and then add concentric circles which get increasingly larger. You can then go back in and add point labels for each area. Then tossing bean bags if you have them (if not, a rock or even pennies will work), take turns trying to get as close to the center as you can.
Twister
Create your own twister board by drawing colored circles on the ground. Then either pick a person to call out plus a color that everyone else must touch with either their hands or feet. Alternatively, you can each take turns calling them out, but then everyone may call out what is easiest for them.
Nature scavenger hunt
What kid doesn’t love a good scavenger hunt? Create scavenger hunt instructions for your kids in sidewalk chalk. Include items they must find and big circles where they can deposit the items as they hunt them down. For example, you could task them with finding 5 flowers, 3 acorns, 2 rocks, and 1 large stick. Feel free to get creative with this one!
Cross the River
In this game you create two riverbanks and a river that must be crossed. You can draw two big parallel lines and add some blue in the middles. Then add in rocks or logs as stepping stones along the way to form paths to cross the river. Then your kids can take turn jumping from rock to rock (without touching the “water”) to cross the river.
Create a City (or Neighborhood Map)
This one can be super fun if you have kiddos who love playing with cars or other vehicles. It can also help them learn about their surroundings and where they live. Draw a map of the neighborhood or city that you live in. Include roads and street names and add in landmarks along the way. Be sure to add in your house too! Your child can then drive their play cars along the roads around the city.
Tic Tac Toe
Another classic game that we love to play with sidewalk chalk is tic tac toe. I love it because it teaches kids to think ahead and strategize without getting too complex. As your kids get older, you can advance into more complex games, such as dots and boxes. In dots in boxes you draw a grid of boxes. Each person then takes turns drawing straight lines connecting adjacent dots to each other. Whoever creates the 4th line to a box to complete one then gets to mark that box with their initial. Whoever has the most initials at the end wins.
Draw fun Chalk Art and Take Pictures
Finally, if either you or your child is moderately artistic…you can make some incredibly cool drawings and pictures with sidewalk chalk. One of the most common ones I’ve sen people do is draw a pack of balloons on strings in front of a drawn landscape. Then someone can lay down and pretend to hold the balloons flying above the landscape. There are so many fun and creative ideas around this out there!
Some related common questions (with answers) about sidewalk chalk:
What’s the Best Sidewalk Chalk?
Our personal favorite is crayola washable sidewalk chalk. I find that they have the most variation in color and the richest pigment. I also love that they aren’t round, which means they don’t go rolling away.
Is sidewalk chalk toxic to ingest?
If you have a little one who sticks everything in their mouth, you may wonder if it is safe for them to play with sidewalk chalk. The good news is that sidewalk chalk is considered non-toxic in small amounts. So I wouldn’t allow your kid to chomp away on pieces of chalk, but if they stick it in their mouth, it shouldn’t be a big deal.
Is sidewalk chalk the same as regular chalk?
Somewhat…sidewalk chalk and regular chalk are both typically made from the mineral calcium sulfate, or gypsum these days. However, sidewalk chalk is usually much larger than regular chalk since it is designed to be used outside on rough surfaces. If you try to use regular chalk on your driveway, most likely it will break and the lines will be minuscule and hard to make out. In addition, sidewalk chalk is also designed to be easy to wash off. Finally, sidewalk chalk almost always comes in a wide variety of colors. Contrastingly, regular chalk is typically white for use on blackboards.
How to wash off sidewalk chalk?
Usually, you can wash away simply with water using a hose. Or you could always wait for mother nature to do the job for you when it rains. Sometimes fresh pavement or more textured areas that aren’t as exposed can be more difficult to get clean. In those cases, mix up some laundry detergent and water. Spray the sidewalk chalk remnants with that mixture. Scrub briefly with a soft-bristled brush and then wash away with water.
I hope you and your littles have tons of fun with these sidewalk chalk games. Did I miss one of your personal favorite sidewalk chalk games? If so, I’d love to hear from you in a comment down below.
Thanks for stopping by! If you enjoyed this post you may also want to check out my post on the 10 Best Outdoor Toys for Kids.