Raise your hand if you or a loved one has wasted way too much money at Target buying those eye-catching $10 chalk paint rollers. …GUILTY! 🙋🏻♀️
If your kiddos are anything like mine, they love all things art! For us, one of the earmarks of summertime is making art with sidewalk chalk in one hand while simultaneously ruining said art with sticky popsicle juice dripping from the other hand. While we LOVE regular sidewalk chalk, homemade chalk paint for art projects is a fun change to upgrade your basic chalk drawings. I was pleasantly surprised by how vibrant this chalk paint turned out. Best of all, it is only ONE INGREDIENT. Not even really an ingredient! The ingredient is itself! JUST chalk and a few tools.
Supplies:
- Sidewalk chalk (in your favorite colors, I grabbed the cheap set from Walmart)
- A Ziplock bag (don’t risk ruining a reusable one, you will need a disposable one)
- A hammer or rolling pin (for some therapeutic smashing)
- Water
Making the Chalk Paint
Step 1: Select Your Chalk
Gather your supplies. You’ll need sidewalk chalk, a ziplock bag, and a hammer. This is a great opportunity to let the kids pick out their favorite colors. We used three sticks of chalk for each jar. (This is also a good opportunity to use up broken chalk and chalk leftovers!)
Step 2: Smash!
Place a few pieces of chalk into a Ziplock bag, seal it, and start smashing. Hammer away until the chalk is finely ground. This step is probably better left to the adults, but if you have older kids, you can use your judgment to decide if letting them help is a good idea. Alternatively, if you don’t have sensory issues, you can use a box grater. While you do that, the rest of us cringe deep in our souls and our skin crawls at the thought of grating chalk… because, EW.
Step 3: Repeat With Remaining Colors (and get those GAINS 💪🏼)
Once you’ve got your chalk ground up into fine powder go ahead and pour it into separate jars, bowls, or cups. I would recommend using a jar with a lid. Repeat with the remaining colors you would like to use. Call it your arm workout for the day!
Step 4: Mixing
I poured about 1/3 to 1/2 of a jar from a few different colors onto a plate and added a few splashes of water. You want a cake-batter consistency! Please do not attempt to lick at the spoon in this scenario. Stir, stir, stir. Let it sit for a minute or two for the chalk powder to dissolve some, and then stir again!
How to Use the Paint
Use the paint like you would any other paint! I let my toddlers paint with it on the driveway for a while and when they were tired of that we switched to our Outdoor Acrylic Easel. (We make and sell the easels in our shop, feel free to check them out in our Etsy store! These easels are our best seller, you can find them HERE.)
Clean-Up
One of the main reasons I love chalk paint is that it is gloriously ✨ temporary ✨. A spray with a hose or a rainy day will wash it away. It also washes off clothing easily!
Why We Love This Activity
Creating chalk paint is more than just an artistic activity. It’s a full sensory experience that gets kids moving, thinking, and creating. They’re measuring, mixing, and observing – all while having fun. What more could you want in a summertime activity? I will link some of the supplies we use below.
Happy Playing!
(**Disclosure: Some of the links in my blog posts may be affiliate links. This means that if you click on the link and make a purchase, I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you or additional product cost. I only recommend products that I personally use and love!)
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Links 🔗
Outdoor Acrylic Easel (This is our Etsy store!)
Fun Chalk Colors (Amazon)
The Paintbrush Set We Used (Amazon)
Replay Plates We Use As Washable Paint Palettes (Amazon)
Mason Jars With Lids (Amazon)
Shepherd & Hope Co. Blog 