Chalk Town: Riders, Walkers and Road Signs

The schoolyard becomes a neighborhood with streets, intersections and crosswalks shared by cyclists, scooter riders and pedestrians. Students apply basic signs and right-of-way.

How to play

1. Teams set up: chalk streets, two crosswalks, a stop intersection and a yield intersection (6 min).
2. Quick review: what each sign requires (stop: full stop; yield: slow and look; crosswalk: walkers go first) (4 min).
3. Round one: a third on bikes, a third on scooters and a third on foot as pedestrians (8 min).
4. Rotate roles twice; two officers note violations on a sheet without stopping play (14 min).
5. Debrief: the three most common violations and why they're dangerous on real streets (3 min).

Rules

• At a stop sign, come to a full stop with one foot down.
• Pedestrians in a crosswalk always have the right-of-way.
• Strolling speed: if officers see rushing, you walk a lap.
• Scooters ride on the road part of the course, never on the chalk sidewalks.

Variations

Adaptations

• Students with a visual impairment: take the pedestrian role with a guide partner and learn how traffic should treat them.
• Deaf or hard-of-hearing students: officers use gestures and color cards instead of a whistle.
• Wheelchair users: travel the sidewalks and crosswalks as pedestrians and check whether crossings are accessible.

Learning goals

• Apply stop, yield and crosswalk rules.
• Respect the most vulnerable road users.
• Understand each user's point of view by rotating roles.

Equipment for a class of 25

• bicycles: 12
• kick scooters: 6
• helmets: 30
• chalk: 10
• cones: 20
• cardboard road signs: 12

Teacher tip

Make signs from cardstock taped to cones; draw them with the real shapes and colors (red octagon for stop, inverted triangle for yield). Students bring bikes with a signed permission slip, or borrow them from the city or local police; if you are short, pairs take turns.

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