You don’t have to go very far to encourage your child to be creative outside. All you need is a bit of chalk. The ideal place for a chalk game has to be your driveway, patio, local playground or the path in front of your house. Rain washes it away so encourage your children to stay close to home yet still explore their imagination.
The next time that your children and their friends come over for a playdate, send them outside armed with chalk. It’s always so much more fun with a gang so let them use their imagination, have fun and play some good old-fashioned chalk games.
That’s exactly what our outdoor adventurer, Dillon Lynch, has in mind for this week’s challenge - hop outside and play a chalk game.
Chalk is a much under-used and very inexpensive way to get your children outside and be creative.
Encourage their creativity as much as possible, ask them to write messages for family or friends, get them to practice their letters and encourage them to play some old-fashioned chalk games. Using chalk on the pavement is a different medium that children are used to so they’ll really enjoy seeing their work and their creativity in this way.
Here are some ideas that will take you back to your childhood and help you share the excitement of chalk games.
Hopscotch
The granddaddy of them all. Who doesn’t remember playing hopscotch in their driveway or path in front of their house or friend’s house? It might lead to animated conversations with their grandparents about the time they played hopscotch many moons ago.
Chalk Bullseye
This is a great game when you use different colours of chalk. Draw concentric circles with a bullseye in the middle. Depending on the age of the children, you can draw it for them to be large or small. Next write values in the circle if you wanted to encourage your children to keep the score. Ask your children to pick a stone or something similar and throw it toward the bullseye. Every house can make up their own rules for Chalk Bullseye, the fun is in the playing.
Snow Angels v Stiff Statues
Encourage your children to draw around each other – so they can create a row of stiff statues and snow angels. Two children can take turns tracing around each other so first they can be a stiff statue, next could be a snow angel and so on. The children can then colour them in and make more of an impact on the row.
Here are some handy tips that Dillon wanted to share that he’s discovered along the way:
- Use the giant pieces of chalk. They last so much longer than the small ones. You can pick them up in any art and hobby shop.
- Use as much colour as they want. Chalk games are not long-lasting, as soon as the rain comes, it washes it all away so tell your children to be as creative and colourful as they want.
For more information, check out your Challenge Information Sheet. To get your cert at the end of your challenge, visit the TRTÉ website where you'll also find details of sporting organisations in your local area.
*All Dillon’s challenges should take place within current Covid 19 restrictions.
