7 Fun Sidewalk Chalk Art Ideas to Try This Summer

Making sidewalk art with chalk is an inexpensive and fun way to enjoy some fresh air and sunshine, right in front of your own house. Creating masterpieces that can easily be washed away to provide a clean canvas for a new piece can keep kids entertained for hours. Here are some ideas for sidewalk chalk art projects:

Walk this Way

Start at one end of the street and leave instructions for how pedestrians should move down the sidewalk, leaving markers and arrows to guide them when to stop or change movement. Have fun coming up with commands for people to dance, hop, skip, pretend to dribble a ball, take comically-long strides, and more. Kids can create a new game every day, and then sit back and watch to see if the neighbors follow directions!

Tiles or Mosaics

Make outlines of subway tiles, bricks, or intricate mosaic patterns and pick a color scheme to fill them in. These can turn out so pretty, you may hope they don’t wash away!

Celebratory Messages

Is a neighbor or someone in your household celebrating a birthday, anniversary, or personal achievement? Decorate the sidewalk with a cheerful greeting announcing the occasion. 

Fantastical Walkway

Draw a path or river, and surround it with imaginative landscapes — trees, buildings, birds, animals (both real and mythical), and flowers are all fun to draw and can be any size, shape or color, depending on the artist’s vision!

The Night Sky

Show your kids pictures of constellations and have them recreate them on the sidewalk. Include the sun, moon, and other planets, lightning, clouds, rainbows, and anything else they feel inspired to add to make a beautiful motif. 

Old MacDonald

Draw a portrait of a farm and everything that might be on it — chickens, cows, pigs, barns, fields, tractors, and of course, farmers!

Hopscotch

This is less “art” than it is a game, but it’s a classic chalk project that has entertained children for decades. Draw an 8-square hopscotch grid on the sidewalk, and decorate a rock to use as the marker. Has it been a while since you played? The rules are simple:

• The first player tosses their marker in square one
• They hop on one foot over the first square into square two, then hop into all 8 squares
• The player turns around and hops back, stopping in square two to pick up their marker
• They continue their turn by tossing the marker into the second square, and so on
• All hopping is on one foot except where squares are side-by-side, then a foot is placed in each square
• Players must jump over any square with a marker
• A player’s turn is over if their marker does not land in the correct square, they step on a line, they put a second hand or foot down while bending over to pick up the marker, or if they put two feet down in a single box

Increase the curb appeal of your home with a sidewalk chalk art project — it’s easy, fun, and sure to delight the neighbors!