Hawaii is an island state...actually lots of different islands in the Pacific Ocean far away from the US mainland. And in the sea waters around these islands live hundreds of different kinds of beautiful fish.

Chalk drawings are wonderful for brightly colored subjects like tropical fish. You can draw with colored "pastel" chalks on paper...especially paper with a rough texture that will catch and hold the powdery chalk. And you can draw on cloth, like the Hawaiian fish in our example. Any plain colored cloth will work fine, but white or beige cloth is best for showing off the colors of the chalks.

The trick of chalk drawings on cloth is making the chalk stick and not brush off. To "set" the chalk, get the cloth wet with milk before you draw. Regular milk works, but buttermilk is best. Spread the damp cloth on your worktable. Draw your picture, then let the cloth dry. Ask an adult to put the chalk cloth picture between scrap papers and iron it for a minute with a regular clothing iron.

Here's what you'll need to make chalk-cloth drawings:

• Plain cloth, white, beige or other colors
• Pastel chalks
• Milk or buttermilk
• A clothing iron
• Scrap paper