Hobbies And Interests
Strategy and Skill
Sidewalk chalk games can help teach children about skill and strategy, or thinking about what they will do before they do it. The game London requires players to use strategy to fill all seven sections of a rectangular with three full "people." Players take turns rolling a stone up the board. If a player's marker lands inside a space, he begins to draw a person, starting with a circle for the head in that space. On each consecutive turn, if a player's marker lands in a space where she has drawn a head, then a body can be added, a leg and then the other leg. Players begin a new person if they've completed one and land in the same space again. If a player's marker lands on London, he adds to an existing person or begins a new one in another square. This game works well for older kids because it challenges them to figure out the fastest way to fill all squares.
Math
Hopscotch helps children with their numbers to nine or 10, depending on the size of the grid they draw. Make traditional hopscotch into a math lesson by playing a game called Do the math Hopscotch. A calculator is drawn with sidewalk chalk. The first player tosses a stone and hops out an equation that equals that number. Players hop on one foot to odd numbers and on two feet to even numbers and symbols. The first player to hop out equations through nine wins the game. Older children can use equations that add or subtract to equal their number.
Teamwork
Some sidewalk chalk games can be played in teams, encouraging players to work together to win. For Tic-Tac-Toe, for example, teams of two or three people can play. Players stand on a predetermined line and throw decorated stones, four in one color and a fifth stone in a different color. They take turns tossing stones onto the grid. The team decides where best to place the stones. The fifth stone is the "change" stone; players throw it once per game to try to take over their opponent's box, but their throw must be accurate because if they miss the box, their team cannot throw it again.
Words
Vocabulary skills increase through games made with sidewalk chalk as well. The alphabet board game, for example, encourages language skills by challenging kids to come up with different words. A board is drawn with 25 squares, and players randomly draw letters of the alphabet (excluding 'x') in each square. The players must think of five words that begin with the letter they're standing on before they can move forward. Make this game more challenging for older players by also asking them to come up with two or three words ending with that letter.