With it being summer time, Riley and I love to be outside. Riley loves to go for nature walks, play in her pool and sand table, and play with chalk. For more of a sensory experience as well as to continue to strengthen those fine motor skills, I felt it was time to make some liquid sidewalk chalk. This is a great activity for kids of all ages. For older kiddos, have them help you make the liquid sidewalk chalk.
Materials
- Condiment style squeeze bottles
- 1 cup Flour
- 1 cup Water
- 1 Tablespoon Dish soap
- Food coloring
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk or wooden spoon
- funnel
Directions
- Add the flour and water to the mixing bowl. Stir until well mixed.
- Add dish soap and stir until combined.
- Stir in desired amount and color of food coloring.
- Pour the mixture into one of the condiment style squeeze bottles using a funnel and secure the lid on tightly.
Note: This recipe makes one squeeze bottle. Repeat the recipe as many times as desired to make more squeeze bottles of liquid chalk.
Riley’s experience
Riley had a great time playing with the liquid sidewalk chalk. We went out two days in a row using the same liquid chalk to paint up the sidewalk. The liquid chalk did begin to separate the second day, but by shaking the bottles (Riley enjoyed helping with this step) the chalk mixed back up and was good to go. Riley didn’t squeeze the bottles as I intended. Instead, she preferred to let mama paint the side walk and then go over it with her hands, feet, legs, and arms to really mix it into the sidewalk. She would then come over to mama and wipe her hands off on mama’s legs and clothes. Riley also enjoyed shaking the bottles and carrying them off to other parts of the sidewalk. She would take two at a time until she transferred all the bottles to one side of the sidewalk. Then she would begin to return them back to me. Riley was quite content to repeat this for much of our time outside.
Benefits
- Fine motor skills: This is a great activity for strengthening those fine motor skills as the child needs to squeeze the bottle in order for the chalk to come out. Also, older children will be working on fine motor control and coordination as they use the squeeze bottles to draw, write, and make more sophisticated art.
- Cognitive development: This is a sensory experience and the more senses involved, the stronger the neural connections being made.
- Language development: By talking with your child, you are expanding their vocabulary, encouraging them to socialize with you, and helping them to explore and hear sounds and words.
- Gross motor skills: This is an outdoor activity. Your child may walk, run, skip, hop, crouch, crawl, etc. all throughout this activity.
Links to materials
