It’s summer. It’s nice out. You have kids. We’re in the middle of a pandemic. What’s a parent to do? You can only color on the sidewalk with chalk so many times before you can’t take it anymore, plus no doubt about it, your kiddos are probably getting pretty tired of drawing the same old things too.

Luckily, thanks to the ladies over at WhatsUpMoms, filled with great mom hacks and tips, we’ve learned there are lots of innovative ways to play with sidewalk chalk—ones that don’t involve drawing the same flowers or hopscotch blocks over and over.

First up: Stained glass chalk. It sounds complicated, but it’s actually super simple. All you need is some chalk (which of course you already have if you’re reading this!) and some duct tape.

All you do is tape off a shape filled with lots of other types of shapes (think of what real stained glass looks like). Then just color in all those shapes, making sure to get all the way to the lines of the tape. Once you peel off the tape, you have an impressive and beautiful chalk drawing that looks just like stained glass!

Next up: interactive chalk. No, this doesn’t involve talking to your chalk, but it is pretty cool!

For this one, you’ll have your child draw an image of that they can interact with. For example, a birthday cake (where they can blow out the candles) or a form of transportation they can ride in.

Let their imaginations take off as they draw their masterpiece, and then it’s the fun part: Have them pose with their chalk drawing (e.g., blowing out those candles or riding in that plane) and take a photo of them from overhead. Not only will the kids love it, as a bonus you for, you now you have a fun memory that will last forever!

Last but not least: Wet chalk. Sure, as the name indicates, this one is a bit messy, but that just might mean it’s the most fun.

For wet chalk, you’ll need to get spray chalk paint, which you can find at Target. Then, after you make your drawing or outline a design with tape, you can spray the can over it to make your design more of a painting. You can also try drawing a design and then spreading water over it as well.

To see these three chalk techniques in real life and learn more about how fun they can be, check out the video below!

Will you be trying out these cool new ways to use sidewalk chalk? Which one do you think your kids will like the most?