I hate chalk. It’s a texture thing. It’s the same reason I dislike graphite pencils–it’s like dry hands on rough paper, and fingernails on…well…a chalkboard. I’ve seen people do AMAZING things with chalk, and I’m always super impressed. But it’s just not my medium.
Myla loves to chalk! She makes it fun. Once, when I had a terrible headcold (much like the one I am currently trying to evict), we went outside to chalk. Trying not to seem like a total weirdo, I put on a garden glove and chalked. “Can you turn me into a monster?” She asked. She lay down in our driveway, and I drew a shape all around her. It was a fun way to pass the time with very little energy output on my part (because: headcold).
We made monsters and mermaids…
And when it was my turn? Ahhhh, sweet relief for a sick mama–I lay down and closed my eyes to the sun and relaxed while she happily chalked all around me.
So that’s become our thing, and sometimes when the mood strikes, we pick up the giant container full of chalk we keep in a planter by the front door bench, and chalk chalk chalk, turning ourselves into all sorts of little beasties.
It came in handy when my husband was deployed, and we’d send him pictures. We made a soldier…
(I’m pretty sure that’s the same face I made when I was enlisted…)
We made helicopter pilots…
And since he couldn’t be there for father’s day last year, we chalked a great big “daddy.”
We’ve been chalking “daddy”‘s for a couple of years…
And it comes in handy as a nice “hello” when he came home from deployment…
So yeah. I hate chalk. I hate the way it feels.
But it’s fun, and it sure does come in handy for the memory-making, and that’s definitely worth a little discomfort! And that’s why I love it.
(….But yeah…I still sort of hate it, too. Hahah!)
busy mockingbird 
Good for you making the sacrifice to your senses to do something fun. I feel the same way about sand as you do about chalk but I suck it up and go to the beach with my own kids and play in sandpits with my preschool students because I want to facilitate fun. My boys absolutely love playing with chalk outside. We actually have not owned a chalkboard for many years because we just use outside as our chalkboard. We have drawn elaborate scenes, had drawing competitions, and created chalk murals but we have never done the drawing around each other thing. We might try that next time. Thanks for the idea!
This is so fun. I like the interactivity of putting the kids into the art.
Gloves !!! Why didn’t I think of that !
I hate chalk, too, but my kids use it to make chalk outlines to turn our driveway into a crime scene, so I LOVE that part of it.
The helicopter is so perfect!