How to Make Homemade Chalk

Make your driveway a canvas for your children. Using tempera paint and plaster create homemade sidewalk chalk for your kids. They can pick the colors the want and help make the chalk. When it's done, they'll be busy drawing.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Toilet paper tubes
• Plaster mix
• Powdered tempera paint
• Wax paper
• Disposable plastic container

1. Use the toilet paper tubes to make a mold. Cover one end of the tube with duct tape. To make a set of chalk, prepare several tubes at one time.

2. Cut a piece of waxed paper to fit the inside of the tube. Loosely place the wax paper in the tube so it clings to the inside edges. This will prevent the chalk from sticking to the tube.

3. Mix 1/3 cup plaster with 3 tbsp. water and 1 tbsp. powdered tempera paint. Mixture will be very thick. Stir until color has mixed in completely. This makes about one chalk piece.

4. Spoon the mixture into the toilet paper tube. Tap the sides of the tube to get rid of air bubbles. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes and peel tube and wax paper off.

5. Make a set of several differnt colors of chalk. Save up enough toilet paper tubes and mix a large batch of plaster. Break the mixture up into different containers and add a different color tempera paint to each one. Fill the tubes and let dry.

Tips & Warnings

• Use small sand molds instead of toilet paper tubes for different shapes.

• These make nice homemade party favors.

• For pastel colors mix powdered white and color tempera paint together.

• Don't use your kitchen sink to clean up. The leftover plaster could plug it up. Use a hose outside for clean up.

• The drying process can take longer depending on the humidity.

Resources

• Homemade Chalk Recipe
• Chalk Made At Home