
Chalk fun Activity
An easy way to play outside with your tamariki.
Why do it?
- Using chalk provides a different experience of drawing.
- It develops hand–eye co-ordination.
- This is an opportunity to be creative — small toy animals and people can be used to make ‘scenes’.
- It’s easy to clean up afterwards — hose down the path or leave it for the rain to wash away.
- It trengthens the fine muscles in their hands and fingers
- It's an opportunity do lots of kōrero with you about what they’re doing and why, which will extend their vocabulary and ability to express themselves.
How to do it
You'll need: Chalk and some concrete to draw on
- Find a place outside with a suitable hard surface — for example, a footpath.
- Ask them open-ended questions: ‘What do you feel like drawing?’ ‘What do you need?’
- Help them to find other props that they could add to the chalk ‘scene’, such as blocks, small boxes, cars, toy animals and people.
- Blobs of playdough work well to help toys, twigs and people stand up in their play scene.
- Extend the ideas by asking ‘How could you make a river or a bridge?’
Other ideas — Ētahi atu whakaaro
- See if you can draw using other things like stones, bits of brick or sticks.
- Read the children’s book called Chalk, by Bill Thomson.
- Try making up a song about what you’re doing using a tune that you both know. Here’s an example, to the tune of ‘Here we go round the mulberry bush’:
Ka mahia e koe he pāmu, he pāmu, he pāmu
Ka mahia e koe he pāmu
He pāmu tino pai!
You have made a farm, a farm, a farm
You have made a farm
And it is really good!
Using more te reo Māori
Te reo Māori | English |
---|---|
Whakaahua | Photograph |
Tioka | Chalk |
Tuhituhi me te tioka | Draw with chalk |
Ngā tae | Colours |
Whero | Red |
Kōwhai | Yellow |
Kahurangi | Blue |
Kākāriki | Green |
Mā | White |
Waiporoporo | Purple |
Karaka | Orange |
Māwhero | Pink |
Huarahi | Road |
He huarahi roa | A long road |
Ara | Path |
He ara tuaranga | A rough path |
Porowhita | Circle |
Tapawhā | Rectangle |
Porotītaha | Oval |
Tapatoru | Triangle |
He mākohakoha tēnei rākau | This wood is smooth |
Ka taea e koe te tuhi he tapawhā? | Can you draw a square |
Ka taea e au ki te tuhi he whetū | I can draw a star |
He iti rawa tēnā tioka | That chalk you have is so small |
Kua pau te tioka māwhero | The pink chalk is all used up |