Make a Sidewalk Chalk Obstacle Course

During the summer in particular it can be so hard to get kids moving. Whether its hot outside or they’re just more interested in a device, a book or something else, they often aren’t getting the amount of physical activity they should.

This sidewalk chalk obstacle course from Playtivities is quick to set up and a lot of fun for kids of various ages (and grownups, too). She offers ideas for planning out your course, but of course what you do will depend on how much space you have and the age of the kids you are working with.

Or try mapping out an obstacle course through the whole yard, where you use the sidewalk for part of it but also include running through part of the yard, ducking under or climbing over things, whatever works for the space you have.

[Photo: Playtivities.]

Sidewalk chalk is a great way to entertain the kids and you don’t need to buy it. It is so easy to make at home and inexpensive too. Sidewalk chalk is great for adults who like to draw or doodle too. Grab the kids and find some concrete sit down and have fun.

Looking for more sidewalk chalk crafts? Check out these articles we wrote featuring Sidewalk chalk tutorials, ideas and activities too. We have a popular recipe over on our site too – DIY Sidewalk Chalk .

Making and using sidewalk chalk became very popular in 2020 as decorations and drawings were placed on the streets by children during the lockdown. If you are looking to make your own chalk check out this Sidewalk Chalk paint Kit it uses liquid chalk for squeezing and painting rather than hand drawing with solid sidewalk chalk.

Did you know that October is Squirrel Awareness Month? I didn’t know we needed more awareness of these little creatures, but let’s take it as a sign to learn more about squirrels!

Let’s start with some fun facts via Kids Konnect: did you know there are five subfamilies and more that 280 species of squirrels? The smallest are pygmy squirrels and the largest, the Bhutan giant flying squirrel, can be longer that 4 feet (1.2 meters).

Tree squirrels can climb down trees so fast because their ankles can rotate 180 degrees, allowing them to grab the tree bark as they go down. While most squirrels don’t survive their first year of life, they can live five to 10 years in the wild and squirrels have been known to live up to 20 years in captivity!

Rhythms of Play has more fun facts and tips for observing squirrels if you want to add some real life nature to your nature study.

We always like to start these collections with life cycle and parts of the animal printables, so let’s grab the squirrel life cycle an parts of a squirrel worksheets from Montessori Nature. (It doesn’t look like these are free any more but they have a whole unit study on squirrels you can buy that includes life cycle and parts activities, characteristics of different kinds of squirrels, a printable poster, information about predators and more.)

Grab the squirrel lapbook printable (free with email address) from Homeschool Share to learn the parts of a squirrel, where they live, what they eat, whether they hibernate and more. There’s also a nut taste test printable, a place for making observations about squirrels, life cycle of an oak tree, games and more.

Simple Everyday Mom has some cute squirrel themed worksheets including tracing the letter s, labeling the parts of a squirrel and a letter s maze. She also has more activity pages with a squirrel theme, including matching, a more traditional maze and a counting and graphing activity.

Work on letter recognition with this squirrel and acorn game printable from Teaching Mama. I love the idea of hiding the letters in a fall themed sensory bin for kids to find, identify and match to the letter on the worksheet.

For older kids you can do this “if I were a squirrel” writing prompt from Lesson Planet.

And throw in a little counting with these squirrel and acorn tens frame printables from JDaniel4’s Mom, which you can use to count real acorns or any other little fall themed thing you have handy.

Have you read?

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