Sidewalk Chalk Paint that costs $1

I originally wrote this post last summer, but now that summer has seemed to find Montana, my kids and I decided to try this again. If you are interested in the original post, you can find it here.

We live in Northwest Montana where the pleasant summer weather is limited to just a few months, so when a good day comes along we try to find activities that we can enjoy outside as much as possible. One day I saw a picture my friend posted of her daughter painting outside and I asked her what she was using, to which she replied “sidewalk chalk paint.” I’ve seen many recipes for sidewalk chalk paint on Pinterest, but they’ve all required artificial dye, an ingredient that I no longer keep in my house. With this in mind I was apprehensive about asking how she made it, but I asked anyway. I was pleasantly surprised when she told me that all she used was chalk dust and water! I already had a ton of chalk on hand, and I can always find more at the dollar stores when I run out, so I gathered my supplies and got started

Making sidewalk chalk paint is a fun project for my kids because they can help make it and then enjoy all the fun that their hard work brings.

The first step is to grate the chalk with the fine side of your box grater like the firefighter has

or a little hand held one like the princess is using.

It will be come a fine dust like this.

Then you add the water and mix it till you get the consistency that you want. I found that the little medicine cups that come with children’s benydryl give you the perfect consistency for sidewalk chalk paint.

Leaving the sidewalk chalk paint on the thick side, lends to more to more vibrant colors.

This was an activity that kept my kids entertained for over an hour. They practiced their shapes, talked about colors, figured out that painting each other was not the best idea. It helped the fire fighter work on his fine motor skills and allowed the princess to actually paint. This is something that my kids have been waking up every morning this week asking to do again.