Sidewalk chalk or even regular chalk is inexpensive and kids will love being able to draw
on the road or on another piece of concrete. The beauty of sidewalk chalk is the no
clean-up required rule. The next time it rains it will all be washed away. If the children
use a back patio as their canvas you may want to hose it down with water so chalk isnt
tracked inside the house.
Hopscotch is a fun activity that will help children learn their numbers while hopping. It
is great exercise and energy burner. Play with the traditional rules of using a marker (a
small rock is perfect) and numbering the squares of the hopscotch pattern with the
numbers one through eight. Each child must toss their rock onto a numbered square
starting with one and hop through the pattern without touching the square the marker is
on. Then they turn around and come back picking up their marker on the way. This
continues with the marker being tossed on each subsequent number. If a child misses the
correct number they are out of the game.
At the end of the hopscotch squares, the children can draw a half-circle for a resting place
(this is optional). They can take a second to regain their balance before hopping back to
pick-up their marker. The only other time the children should place two feet down is
when there are two squares placed side-by-side in the pattern.
The marker and number part of the game can be skipped and the kids can just have fun
hopping through the squares. Let them make the pattern as big and elaborate as they like.
Another variation is to use the alphabet instead of numbers or have the child spell out
their name in the hopscotch squares.