sidewalk chalk painting

Have you ever let your kids paint with sidewalk chalk?  A friend introduced us to this idea a few months back and now it's become a favorite art medium in our house.

Just give the kids the chalk and a bucket of water.  You can let the chalk soak in the water a bit or just dip the ends in as they go.  When the chalk is wet the colors are vibrant and it's more like painting than drawing. The wetter the chalk, the deeper the colors.  Tip: just don't let it soak too long or else it starts to disintegrate. 

I love how you can paint on the concrete with the wet chalk and almost immediately it dries and becomes a painting.  For whatever reason, when I add water to an activity my kids are engaged longer and are more involved in the project.  Every time I gave them dry chalk, they'd draw with it for a few minutes but always ask for an adult to draw something for them.  When I add the water, they are creative on their own.  Kids love water.  Maybe it's the feel of the wet chalk and getting a bit messy that entices them.  I admit that chalk painting can be addictive.  I envision myself creating chalk paintings like Bert in Mary Poppins(if only)!

Bella likes to get the chalk super wet and mush it on the ground then use her finger to paint the chalk mush into pictures.  

 Happy painting!