Sidewalk Chalk Circles

I slipped out early this morning to freehand a few lopsided circles, of varying sizes, on the sidewalk...

...for the girls (and I) to color in today.

They hadn't taken their box of sidewalk chalk from our box of summer yet...

...so I thought a fun and fanciful project might help spark some creativity.  There's something whimsical, aesthetically pleasing, and hard to resist about a large number of circles grouped together. Even the Man of the House smiled when he saw them, and he generally dislikes sidewalk chalk projects in the front yard.  He didn't even make a comment about the risk of tracking chalk in through the front door - so I know he liked them.  Coloring them in was amazingly relaxing (therapeutic even).

Not to mention, that squatting down to draw, and color in, all those circles was a great workout for our quads.  And, it was a long enough project to keep the girls outside in the sunshine and fresh air, on and off, throughout the day.

But really, best of all, I was afforded the biggest belly laugh of the week, when my 18 year old appeared at the door, wondering when I was coming in.

"Maaahm, are you ever coming in?  Everybody's up in here, and there's no Mom - who's going to make breakfast?"

As there were neighbors within earshot, I restricted my answer to semi-quiet laughter, holding my stomach and rolling in the grass, letting tears of pure mirth fall freely.  I think he got the message.

Anyway, tips for engaging your children in sidewalk chalk art:

• provide a nice selection of colors of chalk
• if the chalk sits idle for too long, provide a structured project (you can find several here, from summers past)
• keep it simple and doable
• try not to have a completed "look" in mind
• join in the fun - children are much more likely to enjoy a project if they see you're interested in it as well.