Fine Motor Activities with Chalk

Kids struggle with fine motor skills. You may have seen it in a pencil grasp that needs work. You may see it in a child struggling to open a food container in the lunchroom. You may have seen it with weak or low endurance when coloring. All of those struggling areas are challenged by fine motor weakness and distal mobility problems that result in real struggles in the classroom or home.

Here are fine motor activities using chalk, an everyday item that you will find in many therapy rooms or classrooms. It’s all part of our fine motor activities with items like craft pom poms, playing cards, paper clips, and play dough.

Fine Motor ACTIVITIES using Chalk

We’ve shared ways to use sidewalk chalk to build fine motor skills. This selection of activities are ideas for using small pieces of chalk that you might find in the classroom. Sidewalk chalk may only be on the shelves during summer months. Grab a pack of chalk from the dollar store and get ready to build precision and dexterity!

For information on what are fine motor skills and how these small motor skill areas impact function, check out the search bar on this website.

Add these activities to the therapy lineup this week:

1. Draw chalk on cardboard.
2. Draw chalk on carpet squares.
3. Copy pre-writing lines on construction paper.
4. Wet chalk in water. Draw lines on a toilet paper tube.
5. Draw big lines. Cover lines with rocks.
6. Break chalk. Color small shapes.
7. Use small pieces to color rocks.
8. Draw with crayons and color on top with chalk.
9. Drop chalk in water. Mix to create chalk paint.
10. Break chalk with hammer.
11. Draw on floor on sheets of paper.
12. Carve into edges of sidewalk chalk with toothpick.
13. Scoop up chalk dust and add drops of water. 
14. Break chalk into small pieces and draw or copy shapes.
15. Use chalk to rainbow write on sandpaper.
16. Draw a line on paper and make a finger obstacle course.
17. Write letters and shapes on paper and paint over them with water on a paintbrush.
18. Tape paper to a wall or easel and write or copy forms with chalk.
19. Break chalk into dust and add water. Use it to paint letters, shapes, and forms.
20. Draw a chalk Twister board on cardboard. Use fingertips to play the game.
21. Break chalk into dust. Add water and mix. Use the chalk paint to fingerpaint letters or numbers.
22. Use the side of chalk to swipe a large line. Writing on a chalkboard, form extra large letters or numbers
23. Use a toothpick to carve letters into the sides of chalk.
24. Crush chalk into dust. Add a small bit of water and press the chalk into a mold (a chocolate mold or ice cube tray works well. Pop the mold into the freezer and use the molds to draw.
25. Use chalk to color a coloring book page.
26. Write letters or mystery words on construction paper with chalk. Use an eraser to swipe away the word. See if the word can be discovered by the left over letters or dust.
27. Make a tic tac toe board with chalk. Use fingers to “hop” through the board.
28. Crush chalk into dust. Sprinkle it onto paper. Use a spray bottle to spray water onto the dust.
29. Use a scrap of material as a writing surface. Staple it to cardboard if it’s too hard to hold in place.
30. Write mystery words n a piece of paper towel. Crumble up the paper towel and see if someone else can read the mystery word.

More fine motor activities with chalk

What would you add to this list? Leave your chalk ideas in the comments below!