By slightly tweaking some of your child’s favorite sidewalk activities you can add learning elements that will improve your child’s math, health, and social studies skills.

Who knew that by drawing 10 boxes on the ground, you can help your child’s number recognition, ability to follow directions, practice taking turns, and hand-eye coordination?

How to play:

A Hopscotch court is traditionally made up of 10 connecting boxes. The boxes should each be about 18” x 24". Begin by drawing box 1. Draw two boxes over top of box 1, numbering them 2 and 3. Proceed up from there with box 4, then 5 and 6 on top, then 7, and 8 and 9 on top, and finally box 10.

Each player chooses a small stone. The first player tosses their stone into box 1. The player hops over box 1 and lands onto boxes 2 and 3 with one foot on each box, making sure not to step onto box 1. The player then jumps onto box 4 on one foot, then into boxes 5 and 6 with one foot on each box. The player then hops onto box 7 with one foot, then boxes 8 and 9 with one foot on each box. The player then proceeds onto box 10 on one foot and turns around balancing on the same foot. The player goes back down the court in reverse order to boxes 2 and 3, bends forward to collect their stone from box 1, then jumps over box 1 and off the Hopscotch court. The player then tosses their stone onto box 2 and continues their turn, unless they miss, in which case the next player takes their turn. Players begin each subsequent turn where they left off. Players never jump onto the box where their stone has been tossed. The game continues like this with players advancing one box each time, then reaching box 10 and returning successfully in reverse order to box 1.

If a player throws their marker on a line, it is the next player's turn. If a player hops on a line, that player's turn is over, and the next player takes their turn.

The first player to successfully land their markers into each box, and hop according to the directions, is the winner!

*You can also mix it up by making the outline of a hopscotch court, give your child a math problem to figure out (such as 1+3= ) and have them jump to the square that contains the answer to the problem.

Bonus for mom: hopscotch can burn about 300 calories per hour. For more calorie burning and body sculpting, do squats or lunges instead of jumping into each box.

You have helped your child write all the numbers, letters, and words you both can think of. What else should you do with that chalk? Here are a few of our favorite ideas.

Have your child draw trails of animal footprints around and down the sidewalk. At the end of each trail draw the animal that makes each track. Kids can then walk over the tracks themselves while acting out each animal.

Try out footprints of dogs, cats, snakes, monkeys, elephants, lions, bears, and birds to get you started.

Think about all of the things you see around your town. Help your child draw a map of your town and create areas and buildings of interest to them, such as their home, friends’ homes, a park, playground, supermarket, and post office. You can add matchbox cars and little people on the map. Not only does this activity provide hours of imaginary play, it also gives children a sense of their place in the community and on the map.

Bonus for mom: this light activity burns about 240 calories per hour. For more calorie burning and body sculpting, do a squat instead of just bending over to draw on the ground.

Besides the obvious cardiovascular benefits of jump rope there are many ways jump rope can easily become educational too.

By memorizing and reciting jump rope chants, your child is practicing his or her phonemic awareness and is a good influence on language development. Here are a few of our favorite jump rope chants.

Cinderella

Cinderella, dressed in yellow

went upstairs to kiss a 'fella

made a mistake

and kissed a snake

how many doctors

did it take?

1, 2, 3…count until someone misses.

Postman

Postman, Postman, do your duty, Here comes {name of jumper}, the American beauty, She can wiggle, she can waddle, she can do the splits, but most of all she can kiss, kiss, kiss. How many boys did she kiss? 1, 2, 3…count until someone misses.

Rich Man, Poor Man

Gypsy, Gypsy please tell me

What my fortune's going to be

Rich-man, Poor-man, Beggar-man, Thief.

Doc-tor, Law-yer, In-di-an Chief.

Tink-er, Tail-or, Cow-boy, Sail-or.

****

Continue repeating “Rich-man, Poor-man, Beggar-man, Thief.

Doc-tor, Law-yer, In-di-an Chief.

Tink-er, Tail-or, Cow-boy, Sail-or” until jumper misses and that is who you will marry.

Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake,

Huckleberry Pie,

who's gonna be your lucky guy

a,b,c,d,e,f,g…ect…until someone misses.

Coffee and Tea

I like coffee

I like tea

I like the boys

And the boys like me

Yes, No, Maybe so..Yes, No Maybe so . . .

****

Continue repeating Yes, No, Maybe so..Yes, No Maybe so

until jumper misses and that is their fortune.

Not Last Night But the Night Before

(you need a long jump rope and at least 3 people)

Not last night, but the night before

24 Robbers came knocking at my door

As I ran out (jumper runs out of the jump rope)

They ran in (jumper runs back in the jump rope and start jumping again)

I asked them what they wanted and this is what they said:

Spanish dancer turn around (turn each time you jump)

Spanish dancer touch the ground (touch ground once when you are jumping)

Spanish dancer give a kick (kick in the air once)

Spanish dancer get out of town (jump out of the jump rope)

Bonus for mom: jumping rope burns about 500 calories per hour.

	AnimalSorting.pdf
	AnimalTracks.pdf
	TheGignerbreadBoy.pdf
	SoccerFun.pdf
	SongAndDanceMan.pdf

By Carole Boston Weatherford

Carol Boston Weatherford observes the urban scene through the eyes of a child in Sidewalk Chalk: Poems of the City, illus. by Dimitrea Tokunbo, a collection of 20 original works. On the street where "dreams take root/ in concrete" readers watch "As little girls jump double Dutch,/ [and] beaded braids swirl and click." Tokunbo's realistic illustrations in thick colorful outlines depict all the landmarks that define a neighborhood, from the Laundromat to the barbershop to the stained glass windows of the church and its gospel choirs on Sunday.

By Glen Vecchione

From Freeze Tag to Double Dutch, this bright and lively companion to Sidewalk Chalk presents some of the best traditional street and sidewalk activities ever. For every game, you'll find out how many people can play, along with instructions, tactics, and tips. Charming childlike drawings in crayon, plus diagrams, capture the fun and illustrate the rules of play, too. A kid alone can try Seven Up, as long as there's a ball and a wall. Go Shoebox Bowling; enjoy that old favorite, Kick the Can; and check out how limber everyone is with Limbo, a Jamaican dance-game. The good times will keep on going!

By Jamie Kyle McGillian

With colored, neon, glittered, swirly, or even plain white chalk, and the ideas in this charmingly illustrated book, the sidewalk's your canvas! Make your own chalk, write your favorite sayings, draw pictures, or play games (such as hopscotch) that include one or more kids: there are so many different suggestions, you won't run out of fun for days. Chalk the town with the holiday calendar creations in these pages--or create silly rebuses to catch the eye of everyone who walks by. (There's an example to start you off.) Bring out the animals for a sidewalk safari: just copy a small part of your favorite beast (like a lion's mane) and challenge your friends to figure out what it is. Whoever guesses right finishes the picture. The hippo-phant drawn here will give you a clue to what crazy things you can do.

By Rebecca Kai Dotlich

hese 32 original rhymes are infused with fresh, colorful imagery and toe-tapping rhythm. Appropriate for reading or chanting aloud while jumping rope, each one has a lighthearted, whimsical quality. The vibrantly colored illustrations are equally playful. Smaller vignettes alternate with single and double-page paintings, and the style of each picture perfectly captures the tone of the accompanying poem. Tiny sketches of a girl jumping rope appear on the bottom right-hand corners of the pages, giving the semblance of motion when they are flipped.

Games galore! From Capture the Flag to Stickball and Volleyball, from Jacks and Old Maid to Word Lightning, here are easy-to-use instructions, recommendations, and scoring for more than 250 popular games and sports for children. Presented in quick-access format, this unique guide is ideal for parents, teachers, adult referees, grandparents, babysitters, and camp counselors.