Being a teacher you would think I'd have a slight affinity for chalk, however, I am quite the opposite. I almost despise chalk. It's messy, dusty, gets all over your hands and clothes and did I mention that it's messy? I almost never use chalk in my classroom. And at home chalk drawing usually occurs just before bath-time, since afterwards my kids clothes, hands, and faces are often covered with brightly colored dust.

Despite my dislike of chalk and it's mess, it does have some redeeming qualities. For starters we have an abundance of it at my house. Chalk is a great inexpensive gift or treat bag stuffer and the Easter bunny may have left some in my kids' Easter baskets this past Spring. We have so much of it that I actually had to start keeping it in an empty baby wipe container as seen below.

Okay, so it doesn't look like we have that much chalk, but most of it was all over our driveway when I snapped the picture. You'll have to take my word for it.

Also, my kids both LOVE to draw with chalk. So much so that the last time they were drawing with chalk outside I had to bribe them with "icy pops" to get them to put the chalk down. My four year old son does NOT love to sit and color, but loves to create race tracks and treasure maps out of chalk on our driveway. My 16 month old daughter also enjoys chalk drawing, I just have to watch her carefully to make sure she doesn't try to eat it. But seriously an activity that both of my kids enjoy doing at the same time is a huge score in my book (even if it is messy).

In addition to being fun, drawing with chalk can also be educational. While all kids are developing their fine motor skills through chalk play, older children can practice writing their names or letters. My son is particularly good at the letter 'X' when making his treasure maps saying, "X marks the spot Mommy." You can also use chalk to practice drawing shapes or even people. On our most recent chalk outing my son and I took turns drawing people. A circle for the head, rectangle for the body, lines for arms and legs, and more circles for eyes and noses.

Can you guess which shape man is mine?