Homemade Sidewalk Chalk

Sidewalk chalk art can be a lot of fun for kids and the chalk is easy to make yourself using Plaster of Paris.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Plaster of Paris
• 1/2 cup of water
• powdered tempera paint
• Something to use as a mold *

Directions:

Mix the water, Plaster of Paris and powdered tempera paint. The more tempera paint you add, the deeper the color of the chalk will be. Then pour the mixture into you mold.

* Mold Ideas

Toilet Paper Roll: A toilet paper roll works as a mold. Just seal one end with duct tape and pour the mixture into the mold and let it dry. When I use toilet paper rolls I like to let it dry for over 24 hours. You can line the toilet paper roll with wax paper so that the chalk will easily slide out.

Egg Cartons: Egg cartons are nice because you can do numerous different colors in one mold.

Dixie Cups: 5 ounce dixie cups also work well.

Film Cannisters: Just line with wax paper and the chalk will slide right now.

Note: Be sure to follow all safety precautions on the Plaster of Paris box. And, this makes a mess!

Answers:

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk

Another easy chalk mold is old ice cube trays. That way all the pieces are uniformly shaped. (08/06/2004)

By Cheryl from Missouri

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk

you say 1/2 water meaning a cup please ,let me know this sounds great for my classroom thank you patty
Editor's Note: yes, it is 1/2 cup water. I changed the recipe. (06/20/2006)

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk

Where do you get the paint powder? (06/27/2007)

By Peg

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk

I'll bet ice cube trays would work well, but the pieces wouldn't be very big. They'd be easy to pop out I would think! (07/03/2008)

By Pam

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk

I use the bigger dixie cups. It makes it easy because you can just tear the cup away when the chalk has hardened. An added bonus is that the chalk is slightly tapered so it won't roll all the way down the sidewalk. Instead, it just rolls in a circle. (04/25/2009)

By Melissa

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk

Why would regular food dye not work? It is intense enough in colors, you can make your combination. I have a 5 gal bucket left of Pop that I bought a big sack of. Will give it a try with food coloring.

Another thought, gently tap, tap, tap the poured molds to get the air bubbles out of. Do not hasten the drying process mechanically (like with hair dryer, microwave, etc). WHY do I say that? With my big projects I have done that, fine. With small ones it does not work. (07/07/2010)

By Grandma J