Chalk Art

It makes me sad that art is not considered academically acceptable in many places anymore. There are so many benefits to incorporating art experiences. The big one for me is that it teaches kids how to be creative. So often we tell them to be more creative in their writing, come up with ideas for activities-but we really have never taught them how to do that effectively. They have never had practice with it in many circumstances. And it's fun!

I started what I call an Enrichment Club on Saturdays. The school is open because there are students who attend tutorials, so I invited some kiddos to come learn how to play chess and make art! I found this activity quite by accident. I had leftover sidewalk chalk (we aren't allowed to color the sidewalks at our new school building) and wondered what would happen if we dipped it in paint. Voila! The effects are really cool and when it dries the paintings do not have as much chalkdust that comes off. We used dark construction paper and white tempera paint.