Sunny days call for sidewalk chalk! Here are two fun ways Veronika played with chalk today.

The first was a take on the old game of Simon, a handheld memory game that repeats a sequence increased by one step each time. But nix the technology and you can play Simon on the sidewalk, too!

First, I drew a full rainbow of colors with chalk (rather than just the original Simon’s four colors), which was great for a quick ROYGBIV review. Then I had Veronika stand in the center and called out, “Stand on purple!”

She jumped to purple, and then went back to the center. “Stand on purple, then stand on orange!” I instructed.

At age 2, Veronika’s limit was about 3 steps (we made it through: purple, orange, green), but big kids can not only act out longer patterns, but also see who can remember the most steps!

Then we noticed our shadows behind us, short and squat and funny in the afternoon sun. I invited Veronika to trace mine (though it was a rough approximation, of course).

Use chalk to fill out your new chalk friend with an outfit and a silly face.

It’s also fun to trace the shadows of other objects, so next we tried her Duplo doll. Shadows were so short that this one barely showed up, but we colored in the doll’s outfit, too.

I caught Veronika sideways, so traced her shadow this way before we added silly clothes and features.

For older kids, consider coming back and making these sidewalk “portraits” throughout the day, watching them change from tall to short to tall again. You might also try having your child “fit” his or her body back into their shadow, almost like a puzzle piece!