Engage the whole family to design your own whole body math games, draw them on your sidewalk with chalk, and invite everyone in your neighborhood to play! This activity was a collaboration with my neighbors, ages 6 and 9, who you will see introducing the games in the videos. They designed the games with the help of their parents, and we all worked together to create what they envisioned with chalk that spanned the sidewalk of the block we live on.
Materials:
- Sidewalk Chalk
- Water
- Chalk paint (optional)
Instructions:
- Plan the games on paper: The key to this activity is engaging children in the design of the games, because while the players of the game practice math skills, it is the designer that engages in a deeper level math thinking. Have a conversation with the children about what game they would like to make: Will it be about shapes, numbers, patterns, etc.? If they need inspiration, do a little research on the internet together. Encourage them to draw their design and explain it. Ask questions to help them think through how the game will work and be fun.
- Draw your games on the sidewalk with chalk: We have a few tips to share from experience –
- Dip the tip of your chalk in water before you draw, it makes the colors brighter and the lines last longer on the sidewalk.
- Add brief descriptions at the beginning of each game, so passers-by will know how to play.
- Play!
In the videos below, you will be introduced to five games: Lava Shape Hop, Lava Square Hop, Hop to Answer, Stay On Line, and Dance on Square.
These games were on our sidewalk for over a week before the rain washed them away, and throughout the week I would hear giggling and counting, look out my window and see children hopping, skipping, and dancing on our sidewalk games. One 3-year-old neighbor down the street played the games over and over again, screaming, “I can do this all day!”
Modifications:
- Engage older siblings or adults in the family to design a game or two: In addition to the benefit of engaging the whole family, these games are often more complex and varies the challenge level mathematically and physically, making playing on the sidewalk more interesting for passers-by of all ages.
- Mix up the sequence of adult- and child-designed games, so that there are different levels of challenges as players travel along the sidewalk. In our case, Hop to Answer was the challenge, where many young children slowed down, stopped, used their fingers or consulted their grown-ups. It was followed by the more straight-forward game of Stay On Line, on which everyone runs and moves along quickly.