Five Fun Games to Play with Sidewalk Chalk

Kids really never outgrow chalk. A container of sidewalk chalk can keep three-year-olds busy, as well as a group of teens and their friends. At the end of the school year, I brought several boxes of sidewalk chalk for my art classes to use at the end of class. I knew this would make the first graders happy, but was surprised to see how happy it made the 7th grade class. They not only drew pictures and traced their friend's bodies, but they also taught me some new games.

Longscotch. Instead of stopping at ten squares like in a traditional hopscotch game, the kids went all the way down the sidewalk. The challenge was less about throwing the pebble and more about simply hopping without collapsing! They had a blast both making the super-sized hopscotch game and jumping.

Hit the mark. You need a few tennis balls, or other bouncy balls in addition to a piece of chalk. Draw circles on the concrete. It is helpful to do this in front of a wall so that the balls do not get anymore out of control than necessary. The circles can go in a line, a semi-circle or just place them randomly around the playing area. Standing in a designated spot, each player takes turns trying to bounce their ball in each circle consecutively. When they miss, the next player goes. Each successful bounce gets a point. We kept track by using tally marks under each players name written in chalk. I really enjoyed playing this game with the kids. They really got to see my competitiveness as I tried to WIN.

Imaginary obstacle course. I don't know whose parent came up with this game, but it was a huge hit. After handing out chalk, a small group of kids got right to work drawing and writing on the concrete. When they started making unusual motions, I had to go check it out. They drew a series of large circles connected by a single line. Each circle had something written inside for them to act out. For example, one circle had them hopping on one foot ten times without stepping outside the circle, another had them climbing a pretend ladder. Going from circle to circle was just as tricky; the single line was in fact a tightrope over dangerous crocodiles. I did say this was my art class didn't I?

Long jump contest. Draw a starting line on the ground. Each participant holds a different color piece of chalk and then jumps as far as they can. After landing, they make a mark at their toe to show how far they jumped. Each person gets two turns. The winner is the one who jumps the farthest.

Tic-Tac-Toe. Not the most original thing to do with chalk, but it is an easy way to engage a shy child. Draw a quick grid and play. The funny thing is, I sat down to play with the loner and before long, several kids flocked around to play the winner and it turned into a never-ending tournament.