Ask Ollie
Chalk Trail to the North Pole
Here's one to try together!
Hop, spin, leap and crawl along a chalk path all the way to a snowy workshop!
Reviewed by our team.
Safety first
- traffic: keep the path far from the street with adult supervision
- cold weather exposure: dress warmly
- slipping or falling while hopping, spinning, or crawling on pavement or wet surfaces
- chalk is a small item young children might mouth
What you need
- Sidewalk chalk, 1 box
- Warm clothes, 1 set per person
- Painter's tape, 1 roll (optional)
How to do it
Grown-up prep: Find a safe paved spot far from the street, grab the chalk and bundle everyone up warmly. If it is wet or stormy, move indoors and use painter's tape on the floor instead.
- Bundle up in warm clothes and walk to your safe drawing spot.
- Draw a long chalk trail that ends at a striped pole and workshop. Ask: What do you think Santa's workshop looks like inside?
- Add hopping squares, a zigzag candy cane line and a spinning pond.
- Draw gift boxes to leap over and chimneys to crawl past.
- Write a movement word in some squares, like gallop or tiptoe. Ask for help if you need it
- Travel the whole trail from start to the North Pole! Ask: Which part do you think will be the trickiest?
- Take turns adding one fresh square for the next player.
- Show your trail to a friend or a grown-up and race it together! What will you add next? Ask: What was your favorite part, and what new surprise should the trail have next time?
Play it again
- Reindeer relay: pass a mitten to the next player at the pole, who runs the trail back.
- Freeze and switch: a grown-up calls freeze and everyone must change to a new animal move.
- Indoor sleigh run: tape the whole trail on the floor and do it in cozy socks on a rug.
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