by Ann-Katherine Souilliard

Created on: March 03, 2009

Sidewalk chalk combines a child's love of drawing on things that are not necessarily art materials and a parent's desire for them to get outside and play. Making sidewalk chalk is a great craft for slightly older children, since measuring is an important part of making sure that it comes out right.

Sidewalk chalk is made with just a few simple ingredients that should be easy to find at an art or school supply store, but the possibilities are amazing. You need to purchase plaster of paris and powdered tempera paint, it comes in dozens of colors but I don't recommend using the metallic ones since they don't usually blend well with the plaster. You will also need molds for the chalk but these are very easy to come by, you probably have things you can use lying around the house.

First things first, you need to select your chalk molds. If you want to make classic sticks of chalk, the easiest thing to use is toilet paper tubes. They are the perfect length and not a bad diameter either, and since you were throwing them away anyway there's no need to worry about them being ruined. You will need to set them on something, like an old cookie sheet, or use duct tape and a piece of cardboard to seal one end of the tube. If you want more original shapes, you can use old candy molds or cookie cutters. Make sure you don't plan on using the molds for food again, since plaster and food don't mix.

Mixing the plaster can be a little tricky and, depending on your child, maybe best left to an adult. Check the directions on the box but for most types of plaster it will get mixed using a one to one ratio, one cup of plaster to one cup of water for example. Then you need to mix in the powdered paint. Add it a little at a time, so that you can get the color concentration that you're looking for. You can mix it well and get a uniform color, or mix it less and get swirls in your finished product. Experiment a little, the chalk will work well either way.

After mixing and coloring the plaster, you need to put it in the molds. You can spoon or pour it in, being sure to shake and tap the molds often to remove the air bubbles. Depending on the size of the mold, the chalk will be dry in one to five days. Removing it from the molds can be a bit challenging if there is a great deal of detail to the mold. The easiest molds to release the chalk from are the toilet paper tubes since you can just peel them off the finished stick of chalk.

Hopefully you and your children will enjoy making and using your sidewalk chalk.

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