Ms. Amy's Blog @Child Central Station

Today I'm joining in with Craftulate and 49 other bloggers  from the Kid Blogger Network to bring you the next in the series: The Ultimate Guide to Chalk! We aren't chalk experts around here- but we sure do love to experiment with it! Some of our favorite experiences include: Dipping chalk into white paint and drawing with it on black paper. (You can read more about this experience by clicking on the link).  Pounding chalk bits on the wet sidewalk.  For more information on our pounding activity you can follow this link.  We also LOVE to create super long hopscotch boards on the sidewalk! I also love to watch the little ones as they are learning how to HOP! You can read more about it in this post. We also like to make sidewalk paint- some people call it sidewalk chalk paint- It is made with household ingredients and washes easily away! (Find the recipe here) . We love to add color to our sidewalks. Sometimes we: Using the paint with pendulums is a fantastic learning experience ...

If you have been following the blog for any period of time, you know that we like to give the children a wide range of process art experiences. We use a lot of different types of tools and give the children freedom to choose materials. This becomes a bit trickier when the children are younger. They are not always able to articulate exactly what they would like to use or what they need.  So, with infants and toddlers, I tend to offer a set of supplies for them to explore. The art station is always available to them to make other choices, but typically I have a few selections available to them on the table.  During this particular exploration- I gave them each a container of white tempera paint. (I always add a little bit of dish soap to my paint. I know it says that it is washable, but the soap helps it wash out even better!) The children are welcome to explore the materials in any matter they deem fit. I don't demonstrate, and I rarely create beside them...

Do you use chalk? Do you ever end up with iddy biddy chalk stubs? What do you do with them? I found this great idea from The Chocolate Muffin Tree   and   The Imagination Tree where you can crush them to make paint, but we decided that rather than making paint, we would just SPLAT our stubs all over the wet sidewalk! The technique is quite simple. Wait for the rain to stop OR go out in the rain... Plop a chalk stub down and hit it with a hammer.... and SPLAT! Lovely bursts of color! An opportunity to use real tools. If/when the sidewalk starts to dry up, make sure you have a water bottle available for spraying!  Spraying, pounding, drawing.... great fun with chalk! And, when you get tired of chalk, attempt to recreate the plunger print pumpkin patch.....   that the rain washed away!  Have fun pounding the pavement  sidewalk! (For more photos of our explorations, don't forget to stop by our Facebook page !) This p...