Recommended Age: 4 years and onwards
Level of Parent Involvement: Low, this exercise requires the adult to demonstrate then the child may work independently
Prerequisites
- The child must have some knowledge of basic shapes and how they are formed
Materials
- Large chalk
- Masking tape
- Scissors
- Bucket
- Scrubbing brush
Preparation
- None
Steps
- Invite the child letting them know that for this activity they will be going outside
- Encourage the child to get ready for outside according to weather conditions independently (jacket, hat, sunscreen, shoes etc)
- Bring the masking tape, the child may bring the chalk
- Go outside with the child letting them know that today you will be showing them how to make geometric chalk art
- Let the child know that they will need to work on pavement or concrete and go with the child to find an appropriate space
- Take the masking tape and cut a few pieces, placing the masking tape on the pavement to make a geometric shape, for example a square
- Make another shape attached to the first for example a triangle
- Make a few mote shapes attached together with the masking tape
- Show the child how to fill in each shape with the chalk, using a different colour for each
- Once all shapes have been filled in show the child how to remove the chalk
- Notice the colourful geometric pattern created, asking the child “what shapes can you see?”
- Invite the child to make their own masking tape design then fill in the shapes with the coloured chalk
- Leave the child to work independently
- Come back after some time to check in on the child, helping them remove the masking tape if necessary
- Notice the shapes the child has created
- Ask the child if they would like to leave their chalk art on the pavement/concrete or if they would like to scrub the pavement/concrete
- If they would like to clean the pavement, invite the child to get water in their bucket
- Show the child how to dip the scrubbing brush into the water and scrub the chalk from the pavement/concrete
- When the have removed the coloured chalk with the scrubbing brush show the child how to rinse the pavement using the water from the bucket
- Invite the child to find a dry area of pavement/concrete and make another geometric chalk art or transition the child to their next exercise
Variations
- The same exercise, using chalk paints and a paintbrush to fill in the taped areas
