Chalk: Where Will it Write?

We have had some wonderful weather lately and have been spending lots of time outside.  I brought out the sidewalk chalk to let J write.  I encouraged him to write on everything he could to see if it would write or not.  We did this over several days and learned a lot about where chalk will and won’t write.

J discovered that chalk will write on a lot of things:

Rain gutters, the top of our sandbox, our mailbox, and the wooden fence.
It also writes on:

glass doors, house siding, Mom’s jeans, and the front door.
He also discovered that chalk will not write on:

the front door mat, twigs, or his shoe.
I like doing things like this with J because he learns from his own experimentation instead of being taught something.  Things “stick” better when a child learns things on his own and in his own world.