My kids love to be outside and we’re always looking for simple, fun, and different things to do around our house while playing outside. We ran out of chalk so, why not make our own! There are a few different ways to make your own chalk. You can make it paintable like we did, you can make the typical chalk, or you can make chalk in fun molds. Let me show you what we did!
Supplies needed to make paintable chalk:
- Cornstarch (1 TBS for each color)
- TBS measuring spoon
- Warm water
- Spoon
- Paint brushes
- Food coloring
- Muffin pan or some place to mix and store your paintable chalks
Start by gathering you supplies. We got out our muffin pan and added 1TBS of cornstarch to each muffin tin. You don’t have to use a muffin tin. You can really use any kind of bowls, but I choose the muffin tin because it made it easy to transport the painting chalk and it was less likely to spill this way. The only downside with using a muffin pan is that the colors can easily get missed, especially with younger kids.
Then we added powder food coloring to each muffin tin to create different colors. You can also use liquid food coloring, it’s just what we had on hand at the time.
Next, warm up some water and add 2 TBS of warm water to each muffin tin. Mix the water and cornstarch together until the cornstarch is fully dissolved.
It’s as easy as that! Grab some paint brushes and head outside to let the masterpieces begin!
How To Make Traditional Sidewalk Chalk
This is very similar to what we did with making paintable chalk. Let me walk you through how it’s done.
Supplies needed to make traditional sidewalk chalk:
- Cornstarch
- Warm water
- Mold for the chalk (you can easily use toilet paper rolls)
- Parchment paper
- Measuring spoon or cups (depending on how big your mold is)
- Spoon
- Bowl
- Food coloring
To start decided how much chalk you want to make. Then, mix equal parts of warm water and cornstarch. You can either mix all the warm water and cornstarch together in one bowl and then divide into different container to add food coloring. Or you can add warm water and cornstarch to multiple bowls and then add the food coloring once mixed.
Regardless of which way you choose, you want your mixture to be a thick and even consistency.
If you’ve not already, add the food coloring until you’ve achieved your desired color.
Line your chalk mold with parchment paper, unless using a silicone mold, that’s the only time this step is not required in order to get the chalk out once it’s dried.
Now, add your chalk mixture to your mold. The chalk needs to dry and requires at least 12 hours to do so.
Take the chalk out of the mold and have fun with your new DIY chalk!