CHALK One Up For Summer!

Summer is in full swing and at my house, that means lots of outdoor time.  One of our favorite activities is drawing with sidewalk chalk.  For this month's post, my family decided to make their own.  

A friend had sent me a link to this recipe at Playful Learning's blog.  We more or less used the same quantities.  Here is a list of s supplies you will need for this project:

• cardboard wrapping paper tube
• wax paper
• masking tape
• tempera paint
• plaster of paris
• scissors
• blade (to cute the cardboard tubing into segments)
• mixing bowls (we used plastic cups)
• paint stirrers (we used disposable chopsticks)

First, have your honey or some other adult, cut the tube into even sections with your blade.

Cut some pieces of wax paper.

Roll up the wax paper pieces and insert into the tubing.  You want to have a nice barrier between the cardboard and the chalk mixture.

Secure the wax paper with masking tape.  Cut additional wax paper to cover the bottom of the tube and secure that as well.

Now, the fun part.

You are going to mix 1/2 cup of water and 2 tablespoons of paint.  

We also used an assembly line of sorts to keep things organized.

We did 6 colors so needed 6 mixing container.  We found it easier to put the water and paint in the cup (bowl) first, and then mix in the plaster of paris.

You will need to mix in 3/4 cup of plaster of paris.

Mix well!  After the colors are mixed, pour each chalk mixture into a zip-top sandwich bag.

To keep our tubes from falling over, we taped them all together in a big clump.

 Clip a bottom corner off the bag and squeeze colored chalk into the prepared tubes.

Let dry at least 24 hours.  Some of our colors are still not completely dry and its been about 36 hours but this is probably due to the humidity.

After the chalk has dried completely, tear off the cardboard tubing and wax paper and there you have it.  Your very own sidewalk chalk!

Author: Rachel Skvaril

Sugar Artist

Fondant Flinger