Thursday, May 28, 2009

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk

It is SO easy to make homemade sidewalk chalk! You need 1 cup of plaster of paris, 1 cup of water, and powdered tempera paint.


 

Mix the ingredients together.



Pour the mixture into a mold. We used our insect molds, the plastic container that Buddy came in, and the flower mold that we used to make chocolate flowers. The molds don't lay flat (I guess I should have realized that), so we spilled a lot of the mixture during this process :)
Let your chalk dry for at least 24 hours, pop it out of the mold, and have fun!!! O loved drawing on her gigantic outdoor chalkboard :)


 


9 comments:

  1. Very cool! We will def. have to try that, thanks!

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  2. That chalkboard is the coolest thing ever! and can't wait to try the homemade sidewalk chalk. Very fun!

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  3. I love this giant chalkboard!! I think we might need one for our fence.

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  4. Oh, we definitely have to try that! My girls will love it.

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  5. Perhaps this is the solution to our problem of my 1 year old eating the chalk. Just mix up some homemade chalk and add something not tasty. Now if I could get him to stop eating crayons and sand...

    You know, it might be cheap to make a giant outside chalk board if you have a smooth board and some chalkboard paint. We used the paint in the kids' bedroom with magnetic paint underneath and they now have an earthquake proof (because nothing is hung on the wall, just painted on) giant magnetic chalkboard.

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  6. Hello,
    The Itty-Bitty Bookworm will soon be publishing a monthly e-magazine. It will be a compilation of the best preschool activities around the blogosphere. I would like to include one of your ideas (and pictures). It is your sidewalk chalk recipe. If you agree to allow us to publish this idea, we will also publish your name, bio, and bloglink.
    Thanks for your consideration.

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  7. Yes, Tara, that would be fine. Thanks!

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  8. I am taking a creative activites class at school, I am in the Early Childhood Education Program, and one of our activities was to make chalk. I love this idea, letting the children make their own chalk, creating their own colors rather than going down to the store and buying chalk.

    In class we used wax cups (like dixie cups) and mixed everything into the cup and let it dry in the cup. No need to wash out bowls or spoons, just peel off the cup and toss it out after the chalk has hardened. Also we used popsicle sticks to stir the chalk with.

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