Disclaimer: I do use affiliate links on here meaning that if you purchase anything through my affiliate links I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. My views and opinions are never swayed because of this. I only recommend products and services I love!

Do you feel like sidewalk chalk is boring and there’s not much you can do with it? Well look no further, this staple of childhood has so many ways it can be used that you probably haven’t even thought of yet! I think we can agree, while spending extra time at home we all need to use our resources to the fullest extent of their abilities. So I want to help you get the best use out of this unassuming tool in your garage: sidewalk chalk!

It’s an item I’ve been using to keep my kids entertained these past few months during quarantine and have really gotten excited about figuring out more ways to use it. You could say we’ve gone a bit overboard… but it’s been too much fun to stop and we’ve had plenty of time at home to try new kids activities!

I hope you find this post helpful and learn a new trick or two. Comment on this post to show me your own chalk creations. I can’t wait to see!

Without further ado, here’s a list of…

10 Unique Ways to Use Sidewalk Chalk – that you might not have thought of yet 🙂

1. Make a town: Think of a play mat for cars, and then let your mind run wild. We made a giant, twisty path around the black top then added our own ideas to make the perfect town. We added our house, a donut shop and a farm. My daughter prefers the giant town we made that she can ride her bike thru; but, it was too hard to get a picture of the whole thing in one photograph. I took a picture of this smaller one you can use with large trucks. We truly did let our imaginations run wild! 

2. Make a race track: On your mark. Get set. Go! My daughter loved riding her bike through the race track we created. You can use a timer to see how fast your child can get through the course or just have fun cheering them on!

We use a combination of chalk and these cones I bought for a construction birthday party theme to create so many different race tracks. They’ve come in really handy!

3. Make inspirational images for people walking by: Who doesn’t need a little encouragement right now? Why not add some color and positivity for people passing by? Our neighbor has thanked us for making her smile in the morning as she’s walking to her car and sees our chalk art. Spread a tiny bit of light in the darkness. We all need it.

4. Make a hop scotch: I know this one is a throw back and seems like a no brainer, but trust me we all need a refresh on the simple things from time to time!

5. Decorate a friend’s doorstep on their birthday: What a fun surprise to wake up to when you open the door on your birthday! This is a fun way to make a birthday special for a friend when you’re practicing social distancing but still want to stay connected.

6. Make life size games for your child to explore:

Let them find different paths through this grid of shapes. Follow the purple triangles through to the other side!
Hop through the clouds jumping on each cloud in the order 1 – 5.

What other games can you think of? Four Square? A life size tic-tac-toe? Or maybe a baseball diamond? The possibilities are endless!

7. Practice letter recognition: This one is simple, but effective. Draw your family’s “important letters”, as I call them, scattered around the black top (M for Mama, D for Daddy, and the first letters of your kids names is where to start. These letters are way more important than ABC) Then invite your child to jump, dance, or balance on each letter. Run between the letters to make it exciting. Whenever you can link large motor activity to other areas of learning it’s a good thing, creating stronger neurological connections in the brain.

I almost never get out the sidewalk chalk without writing out my children’s names and “Mama” and “Daddy”. I say the letters as I write them out and then we reference them throughout our time outside. It not only helps build site word and letter recognition, but the idea that print has meaning.

So simple and extremely effective.

Below is another simple activity to practice letter recognition that your kids are sure to love!

Draw letters on the wall and give your child a spray bottle filled with water. They can spray away the letters as they work on letter recognition.

8. Trace Your Shadow: My daughter and I had a lot of fun thinking of silly poses to do while taking turns tracing each other’s shadows. This is a great activity to work on fine motor control. What kind of poses can you come up with?!

9. Make An Activity Path: There are so many directions you can take this. You can make it as simple as following a line around your driveway, drawing “hurdles” or a series of lines like a ladder to jump over, or a path of dots to jump on. This is an example of what I made on our sidewalk, mashing up several ideas. My four year old has loved testing out all the different paths I’ve made. This is a great way to get kids moving!

10. Chalk Mosaic: Use tape to make a pattern on the ground and then have your kids color in the shapes created by the tape. Once the coloring is done, remove the tape and you have your masterpiece! It is so beautiful and simple! Your kids can help you lay out the tape and be a part of the entire process.

I hope you feel inspired to go create your own fun using sidewalk chalk. I love seeing what my kids draw and come up with and I have thoroughly enjoyed getting in on the action with them. One of the greatest things about chalk is that it’s open ended and can be used in so many ways. What will you and your kids create?!

PIN this post to keep coming back to when your creativity is feeling low!

LIKE Big Love Small Moments on Facebook to stay up to date of the great things happening here!

SHARE this post with your friends on Facebook to help spread the love and the inspiration!