Company Bio

Children’s mental health is found to be a top concern across multiple communities in the 2025 California Community Health Needs Assessment, conducted every three years. Rising anxiety, substance use, vaping, and emotional distress among young children and teens are alarming trends—yet access to mental health services remains limited. Increasing screen time exacerbates mental health issues. 

Why it matters

Mental health influences every aspect of a child’s life—from physical well-being and academic performance to family stability and community engagement. When children lack access to quality education, mental health support, and enriching activities, the consequences extend far beyond the individual. These unmet needs create long-term barriers to learning, limit future opportunities, and ultimately weaken the social and economic health of the community. 

A Solution:

ChalkWild offers an innovative, effective, low-cost, staffing-light, portable, equitable, and scalable solution. ChalkWild CreateCalm Kit contains the world’s first erasable art-powered backpack, 12 chalk markers, a terry cloth, and paired with our proprietary unique T-SEL–aligned curriculum and standards-based art enrichment. Lessons feature fun, relevant themes kids love, such as How to Draw Minecraft, Roblox, Pokémon, Angry Birds, Mario Bros, Minions, Bluey, Dragons, Dinosaurs, Ocean creatures, Sports, etc. Our curriculum can be used independently or complement your current curriculum like Second Step with creative and in-depth lessons. Besides all these benefits, it encourages the development of fine motor skill in young children. 

Invented by an 11-year old kid in Modesto, California, for kids, ChalkWild gives children a creative outlet to manage emotions, build self-esteem and resilience in classrooms, after-school programs, homes, community spaces, and anywhere. 

The Impacts:

Research from University College London by Dr. Daisy Fancourt and Dr. Hei Wan Mak, has shown that regular participation in the arts (not innate talent) significantly increases children’s self-esteem and fosters essential soft skills—creativity, growth mindset, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving—all linked to higher academic achievement and social-emotional growth. 

With ChalkWild, every doodle is a step up the ladder of self-esteem. A study at Salvation Army showed an average increase of 41.3% in self-esteem score (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale) after 6 weeks of engaging in ChalkWild art program. Salvation Army staff members also shared some profound observations:

“Alix, a student with ADHD, stayed calm and focused for 30–45 minutes while drawing on his backpack on the floor during ChalkWild art time. Another shy student began proudly sharing his art after just a few weeks.”

Another heart-warming story that illustrates the transformative power of art is Bella’s. Bella is a 6-year old girl in Modesto and has endured horrific trauma (death of her older step-brother due to physical abuse by mom and both parents in prison). Counseling at school has not helped much. Her uncle gave her a ChalkWild CreateCalm Kit and it seems to be the breakthrough she needed. Her aunt says the transformation in her behavior is a miracle. 

Studies show that about 85% of job success is attributed to soft skills. If we begin to instill soft skills in young children now, they will possess strong soft skills to succeed in school and beyond. In fact, Superintendent of the Fresno County Office of Education, Dr. Michelle Cantwell-Copher, and prominent business leaders agree that arts in education will save Fresno’s economy. (https://sparkfresno.org)

Join the districts and youth organizations already using ChalkWild—Ceres USD, Stockton USD, Lincoln USD, Merced COE ASSET, Fresno USD, Colton Joint USD, YMCA San Joaquin, El Concilio, Table Foundation, and Boys & Girls Clubs of Stanislaus—to strengthen student wellness, engagement, and success.