1-2-3 Come Do Some Back To School Sidewalk Chalk Activities With Me

I LOVE sidewalk chalk and so did my young fives.  You can buy 6 to a dozen sticks at The Dollar Store, so I always had a big bucket on hand, for those crazy days when everyone has had enough, and you just need to take a break and get outside. 

Keeping in mind, that just about everything we do has to be "educational" and include the "standards", I'd have my kiddos practice writing their names, letters, numbers and drawing shapes.  After we got that out of the way, they enjoyed creating "mess-terpieces" 'til it was time to go in. 

For quick cleanup, make sure you bring some wet wipes with you, so students can wipe off their dusty hands.

If you give your students a first day gift or treat bag of some sort, and are looking for something easy and inexpensive, then I think you'll enjoy my "Welcome! ___________ is 'chalk' full of learning fun!"  treat bag.  I have templates for preschool, kindergarten and first grade, plus a blank one to fill in with whatever you teach.

And... no worries if you've already started school.  There's a generic "Wishing you a day that's "chalk" full of fun!" black & white, plus colorful note too.

My inspiration for this packet, came from My Sweet Sanity's blog spot.  She used the "chalk full" play on words, for an end-of-the-year summer gift.  Click on the link to zip on over and see her rainbow version. 

So that you have a time-filler if you need it, run off the header on white construction paper, so that students can pull it off, color and use as a bookmark. 

You could also run them off on a variety of colors of construction paper, or print the ones that are in color. 

Attach the card to the front of a Snack Baggie, with a glue dot.  (I don't like using staples with little ones.) Put a piece of sidewalk chalk inside and you're done! 

Because students will want to play with the chalk right away, I wouldn't put them on their desks.  Instead, put the treats in a big basket in full view and wait for children to notice, or show them one and let them know that they will get their Baggie at the end of the day to take home, or...

Use them as a behavior modification technique.  Tell students that they need to work as a team with their new friends. 

Each time they complete a task, or show great group behavior, you'll color in a letter on the "chalk" poster.  When all of the letters have been colored in, they get their chalk and are able to go outside for some special fun.

As long as you're outside, why not take some pictures. Pinterest has quite a few photo op examples that involve sidewalk chalk.  If you take a first day of school picture, one of these ideas would be adorable.  Children tend to be less camera shy while playing outside, so you should get some adorable shots like the ones pictured here.

I especially like the kindergarten idea.  Write your grade level as shown, and then have each student pose. 

I've linked back to give credit when I could, however some showed just a photo and went no where.  (Hover over the photo to see if it's linked and then bop over to those sites for more details.)

The balloon and crown idea are also easy and cute. That little guy is so joy-filled!

Keeping with the sidewalk chalk theme, I designed some writing prompts that I call "Chalk Talk". 

There's one for boys and one for girls.  Children complete the prompt: "I had a nice day at school.  These are a few of the things that I did."

I've also included two "chalk talk" posters to use for whatever you deem appropriate. 

Click on the link to view/download the Chalk Talk packet.

To see if I could find any other interesting things to do with sidewalk chalk, I Googled it.

For 30 fun games and activities with sidewalk chalk check out this creative birthday party idea website.

You can buy a bucket of sidewalk chalk at The Dollar Store, but if you’d like to make some, you can find a recipe on wikihow. For 7 fun ways to make ice chalk, click on the link.  I like the idea of using Popsicle sticks, so children's hands don't get as messy.

Finally, click on the link for a recipe for scented sidewalk chalk paint, (She used Kool-Aid for non-toxic fragrance) and says: "This is a super-simple and inexpensive paint recipe that rinses off with a hose."

Well that's it for today.  Feel free to PIN away. 

I'm headed outside with my brand new tub of sidewalk chalk to create some awesome photographs with my little grandson Kaiden.  Hope you have a day full of giggles too. 

"A picture is a poem without words." - Horace

10 pages.

Packet includes a fish-theme bulletin board and several back-to-school treats and treat bag ideas, with templates for preschool, kindergarten and 1st grade, plus a blank pattern to fill in with whatever.

 Fun First-Day-Of-School Treat Bags

 If you have the time, and want to whip together something special, I designed a really easy, brown lunch bag-owl, which takes just a few minutes to put together.

If you own circle punches things will go even faster.  Even if you don’t want to make these as a treat bag, they make a fun and easy art project for your students.

Have them stuff their lunch bag with tissue.  Children could write: Whooo is wise? on the owl’s tummy.  When they flip up the bag it can say: __________ (child’s name) that’s whoooo!

If you want to skip filling a bag with treats, but would still like to do something, you can buy some M&M’s, Reese's Pieces, or Skittles in bulk at Sam’s Club, fill the tiny Baggies they sell at Hobby Lobby etc. and staple the Baggie to my owl card.

I also found teachers that simply put an apple on their students' desks with an apple die-cut note attached that said: “WELCOME! You are the apple of my eye.” How about a golden delicious apple with a note that says:  “Wishing you a golden year filled with delicious learning!”

OR… how about cutting out construction paper apples, punch a hole in the side, make a slit to the hole and slide a candy bracelet through so it looks a bit like a worm.  Write your students’ names on the apples + “A sweet treat for a neat student!”

OR… how about an orange or a small snack Baggie with 3 candy orange slices, with a note that says: “Orange you glad you’re in _____________________ grade! Wishing you a sweet year!”

OR… a bag of peanuts (making sure no one has allergies) that says: “ I hope you’ll go simply nuts over all of the exciting lessons we’ll be studying this year!”

OR…a bag of microwave popcorn (They sell individual treat-bag size packages) attach a note that says:  “Poppin’ by with a friendly first-day Hi, to wish you a terrific school year!” You could list that month’s popcorn words on the back.

One Florida teacher gives her students water bottles with flip up caps. They decorate their bottles with markers & stickers, and re-fill them for the entire month. They keep them in their desk so they stay hydrated all day.

Because my first science unit was dinosaurs, I had a basket filled with multi-colored dinosaurs sitting on the table.

My students got to choose one when they completed their tabletop lesson.   That’s a big thrill for them, as well as an incentive to stay focused and finish their first day’s lesson.

Click on the link to view/download Owl Treat Bags

I also revamped a Lucky Charms note that was posted a zillion ways on the Internet. Simply buy a box of Lucky Charms for your kiddo's to munch & crunch and include this sweet note.

Click on the link to view/download Lucky Charm Treat Bag Note.

I also have a cute treat bag note that I made up for some easy and inexpensive treat bags.

Click on the link to view/download Treat Bag Note.

For other treat bag ideas, including bags for reading and writing, click on the link to download the Treat Bag Idea packet.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope your year is as sweet as the treats you give your students!

Thanks for visiting. Feel free to PIN anything you think others might find useful.

Hope you can stop in tomorrow for more back to school ideas.

"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand." -Chinese Proverb