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• Using chalk provides a different experience of drawing.
• It develops hand–eye coordination.
• 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.

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!