Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Works for Me Wednesday: Sidewalk Chalk Ideas


My daughter loves sidewalk chalk. One day about a month ago, she started drawing on her Step 2 wagon. You know what? It is a great chalk board. We drew some lovely pictures on the wagon and marched up and down the sidewalk with it like a float.

Don't worry. The neighbors talk. Believe me, we give them plenty to talk about. At least they know that we are out playing with our kid, right?

So sidewalk chalk. It is a no tech, cheap kids toy that is sometimes taken for granted. Drawing on the wagon? A great idea that also turns into another activity when the chalk becomes boring. Give the kids a hose and a bucket of soapy water with a rag. They'll be out for at least another hour! (The same for camp dishes, but not those in the sink at home.) Our "float." Making mooshy chalk stamp pads. Getting the hands good and chalky. Leaving our "paw prints" for the neighbors to see. Even mom. (I swear that my foot is only a 6 1/2 even though it looks much larger here.) Inspecting the work.Part 2. Washing the work.

Sidewalk chalk? Works for us! And when you soak it in water, it makes a great fizzing sound! Bonus fun!

Argh:
To the man who was too busy to stop his car at the crosswalk,

Seriously. Your life can't possibly be that busy that you can't wait 1 extra minute while an old man with a stop sign in his hand stands in the middle of the street to make certain that it is safe for my daughter and me to cross. Thankfully, he hadn't given us the all clear. You rolled past, then realized your transgression and stopped about 20 feet ahead to catch a good glimpse of my dirty look, then you went on. It looked like you were busy doing something. Please, busy yourself with driving. My daughter and I could have been in the street. Thanks to Mr. Jim for keeping us safe.

Smiles in my day:
- Walking K- to school in the rain and conquering her fear that another bolt of lightning was going to strike while we were walking. (It happened on our last attempt to walk in the rain. We were fine, but even better when Daddy came and rescued us!)
- K- walked to school without complaint. Frankly, I think that she walks to school better when her friend doesn't go with us.
- Passing on some garage sale leftovers to someone in need. The rest is being picked up by Amvets.

5 comments:

Phoebe @ GettingFreedom said...

And I thought we were the only ones that used that wagon for a chalkboard. :)

The Activity Mom said...

Ahhh how fun! I've never thought of that!

Becky @ Our Sweet Peas said...

This is why I LOVE the blogging community. I have the same wagon and would NEVER have thought of that. It will have to wait for next summer unless we get some surprise warmer weather in MI. Thanks for the brilliantly simple idea!

Sincerely,

Mom of twin boys that NEED lots of activities :)

Rach said...

Huh! I thought I commented first thing this morning--I guess it didn't go through.

We LOVE sidewalk chalk at our house and now I'm wishing we had a step 2 wagon to draw on. Lil just uses the columns on the gazebo and the pergola to draw on. :oP

Jamie said...

We still love sidewalk chalk but our wagon is long gone. Looks like it would have been pretty fun, though.