Crushed Chalk Paint Recipe

Crushed Chalk - Recipe for Play

If your house is anything like mine you have tons of half used pieces of sidewalk chalk.  It reminds me of crayons.  Children love a brand new, full length stick of chalk and don't tend to reach for the stubs.  A couple years ago I discovered a use for all those tiny bits, and I created a whole new paint recipe using crushed chalk!  This simple recipe for play can be used in many ways and is easy to make.  We love making homemade paint and were thrilled to discover a new favorite.

How to Make Crushed Chalk

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Supplies:

• sidewalk chalk
• baggies
• hammer

Directions:  To make crushed chalk I sort all of the chalk pieces by color.  The kids can help with this step.  For this batch I included some new pieces of chalk as well to be sure I made plenty.

I sealed each color group in a ziploc baggie, and then JZ (6) and J-Bug (5) gently pounded the chalk until it was crushed.  It's important not to use too much force with the hammer to avoid splitting open the baggie.

Multiple shades of the same color will blend and combine when crushed.  Watching the colors mix is  my favorite part of this process.

The ideal consistency is a fine powder.  Sometimes we think we are done pounding, but then we open the bag and discover several large chunks left still.  When that happens we reseal the bag and continue to break it up with the hammer.  If the baggies tears open, grab a new one.  We have also used an open container in lieu of baggies.  Please consider using protective eye wear if you go this route.

Once all the colors are finely ground, the crushed chalk is ready to become paint!

How to Make Crushed Chalk Paint

Directions:  Are you ready for this?  Add water.  Boom.  Done.  Seriously, that's how easy it is to make crushed chalk paint!  Add the water slowly to avoid adding too much.  As you can see we still have quite a few larger chunks left in our chalk powder.  That's okay, they added a bit of texture to our paint recipe.  Tip:  Mixing with a whisk aids in getting rid of any pieces that are too large for the paint mixture.  Any crushed chalk that doesn't get used can be stored indefinitely in a baggie or container.

Take the crushed chalk paints and head outside, or to wherever you like to paint.  We tend to do our art outside.

The chalk paint glides smoothly on paper and is really vibrant.

We haven't had any staining issues with crushed chalk paint, but here are my best laundry tips to keep clothes bright and stain free.  Since my twins are boycotting shirts lately this shouldn't be an issue for us anyway.

This paint recipe doubles nicely as finger paint.

Here is a good view of the paint when it's wet.

As you can see it dries nicely and maintains most of the color.  The paper did warp a tiny bit, though.

For more homemade paint recipes follow me on Pinterest.

More chalk paint recipes:

Two Ingredient Sidewalk Chalk Paint ~ Scented Sidewalk Chalk Paint ~ Erupting Ice Chalk