21 Awesome Chalk Activities to Keep Kids Learning in Summer!

Posted by May 25, 2017 Family Fun, Raising Readers, Seasons, Summer, Toddlerhood

Keep kids learning during the summer with these educational games and activities using chalk! #ChalkActivities #ChalkGames #SummerGamesForKidsSummer is here which means it is time to get outside and play! We have been spending as much time as possible out in the sun and my daughter has a newfound fascination with chalk. There are so many ways to use chalk to teach and reinforce important concepts to kids, from letters and numbers to colors, shapes and more! In an effort to keep the learning going this summer, I decided to round up some of the best learning activities that use chalk so we would have plenty to keep us busy!

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Alphabet Games

  1. ABC Sidewalk Chalk Game – Buggy and Buddy created this fun and easy game using a grid and the alphabet to practice letter recognition and spelling while using gross motor skills! The letters are mixed up around the grid so kids have to be creative when hopping from letter to letter.
  2. ABC Word Game – Practical Mommy shared this easy to set up game that she used with her daughter. She wrote out the alphabet in a grid and had her daughter move from letter to letter, coming up with a word that started with each one.
  3. Water Balloon Letter Smash – School Time Snippets created this fun game using chalk and water balloons to practice letter recognition. Kids are sure to enjoy smashing water balloons, and parents will love that they are learning!
  4. Frozen ABC Chocolate Chalk – Parenting Chaos created this fun sensory learning experience which uses homemade frozen chalk made of cocoa, cornstarch and water. They share so many fun ways to play with it as well!
  5. Chalk Dust and Feather Writing – The Preschool Toolbox offered this fun activity which allows kids to practice fine motor skills and writing skills. Grating chalk on a grater gives kids fine motor practice, while writing with a feather will make spelling fun!
  6. Driveway Letter Grid – Creative Family Fun shared this activity which uses a large chalk letter grid to help kids practice spelling. By having kids jump from letter to letter to spell a word, they can work on their gross motor skills as well!
  7. Number/Letter Recognition Hopscotch – Days with Grey set up these simple hopscotch boards which can help kids to practice letter and number recognition. They also offer ways to adapt the game to work on a variety of skills.

Shape Games

  1. Chalk Shapes – My daughter and I have been working on shape and color recognition lately, so chalk has given us the perfect opportunity to practice! I created a grid of shapes drawn with different colors and encouraged her to find specific shapes when I called them out to her. This eventually turned into dancing on them, jumping on them or placing the ball on them. She loved searching for the shapes and colors, and I loved that it got her moving and learning!
  2. Shape Recognition – The blog Jesus and Wine shared a similar activity in her wonderful roundup of shape activities for kids. They encouraged kids to get to the shapes in different ways, and practice drawing them as well.
  3. Shape Maze – Creative Family Fun created this fun game which helps kids work on shape recognition, problem solving and gross motor skills.  She created a maze of shapes and encouraged her kids to get from one end of the maze to the other, stepping only on squares.
  4. Extending Chalk Patterns – Bambini Travel offers this fun and easy activity to help kids practice recognizing and extending patterns. This is a really easy way to get kids practicing an important skill anytime you are playing with chalk.

Related Reading: 12 Educational Sand Activities

STEM Games

  1. Driveway Hundred Chart – Creative Family Fun uses a giant chalk hundred chart to practice a variety of important skills. From skip counting to solving addition and subtraction problems, there are a wide variety of ways to utilize this easy to create chart!
  2. Hopscotch – Life at the Zoo suggests a good old fashioned game of hopscotch to help kids work on number recognition, counting, writing numbers, hand-eye coordination and agility!
  3. Animal Classification – Mother Natured offers two fun ways to use chalk to teach kids about animal classification. By using chalk on a hopscotch board or a trampoline, kids can be moving and jumping while reviewing classification.
  4. Math Equations – Castle View Academy offers a list of 10 chalk activities including target practice, where kids toss a rock or beanbag onto targets and add up the point values.
  5. Learning about Blue Whales – KC Edventures shared this great science activity which gives kids a concrete way (no pun intended) to see how big whales really are! By using chalk and a measuring tape to draw a blue whale, kids can get a better understanding of the whale’s massive size. I have a ridiculous fascination with blue whales, so we will definitely be trying this out when my daughter is older!

Chalk Art

  1. Shadow Art – Rhythms of Play offers this fun STEAM project which gives kids the opportunity to be artistic while learning about shadows. Kids can create fun artwork using their own bodies as models!
  2. DIY Chalk Paint – Momtessori Life created this colorful activity which allows kids to practice fine motor skills while creating their own paint! By grating chalk and mixing it with water, kids can create a new way of decorating the sidewalks. This would be a great way to use those old broken pieces as well!
  3. Chalkboard Book – Parenting Chaos came up with this great way to repurpose old books that were too damaged to donate. The resulting chalkboard book is a great way to bring the chalk inside on bad weather days, and it can be used to do all sorts of learning activities!
  4. Wet Chalk Art – School Time Snippet uses wet chalk to introduce color concepts, including primary colors, secondary colors and color mixing. This is a great way to teach colors while cooling off or making the best of some rainy weather.
  5. Mason Jar Chalk Craft – Julie Hoag from Julie Hoag Writer shared this fun craft that her kids came up with using chalk, mason jars and a hammer. By smashing the chalk, kids can learn about chalk changing shape, as well as working on patterns. They can also create a fun keepsake to remind them of the sunny days of summer during the colder months!

There are so many great ways to use chalk as a learning tool. Keep the learning going all summer long! What are some of your favorite games to play with chalk? Share in the comments below!

Keep kids learning during the summer with these educational games and activities using chalk! #ChalkActivities #ChalkGames #SummerGamesForKids

Avoid the summer slide with these educational chalk activities for kids!

Avoid the summer slide with these educational chalk activities for kids!


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64 comments on “21 Awesome Chalk Activities to Keep Kids Learning in Summer!”

  5. The weather is finally breaking here so hopefully we can get outside and do some of these great ideas!! I’m sick of drawing in the garage with chalk lol

    • Me too! We’ve been blowing bubbles in the garage with the door open because my daughter just wanted to be outside – even though it was pouring!

  9. Wow…chalk is so outdated for my son’s generation..but I remember using it to play a lot of games during my childhood. This post brings back good memories.

    • My daughter has been loving it, which makes me happy because then I get to play with it! Haha.

  12. What an amazing list! I’ll be saving this to my summer fun Pinterest board and we’ll definitely be doing the water balloon letter game. And I know I have some books we can repurpose into chalkboard books. Thanks for sharing!

    • I hope you have fun with them! I can’t wait for warmer weather so we can do the water balloon game too!

  13. my favorite memories growing up involved drawing with chalk every day in the summer! I’m excited to break it out again for the littles 🙂

  14. So many things to love about this post… the main thing I love though is that while the kids think they are only playing, they are actually improving SO many skills! I am going to try the math game and the shape maze, we are definitely trying chalk paint this summer too. Awesome ideas!

    • I’m so glad they were helpful! I had the same problem coming up with new ideas after days of drawing!

  21. Adults think ABC’s are boring, but kids LOVE everything with them! This is a great way to keep your child engaged and being creative with their learning!

  22. We love playing with sidewalk chalk. We have been using it on the tennis court since no one uses it much. Lately I’ve been letting my daughter use the chalk on our balcony.

  24. You made me nostalgic about some of the games I used to play when I was small.. nevertheless, waiting for my kid to grow up to have these re-play’s with him:)

  32. Already saved this post in my bookmarks folder. So many amazing ideas to do with my kids and their friends. I know for a fact that already some of them love to play with chalk. This will bring so many hours of fun and joy and at the same time it can be very educational. Thank you so much Vicki!

    • I’m so glad! I hope your kids have fun with them. My daughter has been requesting we repeat some of them already!

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