Sidewalk Games
Chalk the Walk
Mark off an area of your driveway, sidewalk or any other washable surface and let your kids go to town with Sidewalk Chalk. You can ask them to draw shapes, letters or numbers, or just let the little ones doodle. I'll draw objects or animals and then ask my son to run and jump on them, which adds a little physical activity. My son loves to finish ...(read more)
Sidewalk Shape Game
Draw shapes on the sidewalk with chalk (do 2 or 3 of each shape if you have multiple children). Then make a game out of finding the shapes. For younger kids, you can just ask 'can you find the triangle' and have them go stand on it. For older kids, you can make it more of a race -- 'Can you find the square' and then everyone ...(read more)
Go Speed Racer!
A fun game for your little speed demon: Find a large concrete area. The driveway is a good choice, as long as it's safe! Draw a chalk racetrack on your driveway, and then let your child speed around it on her trike or big wheel. If you don't have a driveway (or don't have a safe one), you can draw a long line down the ...(read more)
Sidewalk Skeeball
Draw some shapes on a wall or on the ground with chalk. Write a number (the score) inside each shape. Be sure to give the smaller shapes a higher score. Have the children (depending on their age) stand at a distance from the wall or ground (you can even draw a line that they cannot go over) and have them each take a few turns and try to score ...(read more)
Welcome Home, Daddy
Daddy travels a lot so whenever the weather permits, we will break out the sidewalk chalk and draw as many activities as we can that depict all the things we did while daddy was away. Then when daddy gets home, we spend some time outside looking at all the pictures and telling daddy everything we did while he was away. It is a nice way to catch up ...(read more)
Hopscotch Spelling
A great way to improve spelling skills while having fun! Using either sidewalk chalk or foam interlocking-letter squares (you can find them at Right Start or Ross), list the alphabet. Say a word and have your kid(s) spell out the word hopping on the letters. Younger kids can play by just finding a letter and then progressing to finding the letter that sounds like "ssss."(read more)
Advertisement
Being Savvy Today
SavvyPicks: A Few of Our Favorite Parenting Books
Being the parent of a small child is nothing if not perplexing and ever challenging. Just when you think you've got the routine down, that little one decides to grow and change and test you -- so you need some new tricks, fast! Where do
Take Our Expert Quiz
how is your toddler or preschooler progressing developmentally?
Advertisement