Several months ago, my mom gave us a box of chalk. On a nice afternoon, we opened it up and let the kids dig in. We luckily have a large yard (actually 600 acres if we want to get technical), and there are lots of
trees/rocks/stumps nearby that they could color on with the chalk. Best part about that was that there was no clean-up involved. The next time it rained,
all the rocks and stumps were cleaned off and ready for more chalking! The kids looooovvveeed the chalk, and spent as long as we would let them coloring with
it....
Unfortunately we recently ran out of chalk, so I decided to get
creative and try the following DIY chalk recipe:
Items Needed:
1 1/2 cups of cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
A few drops
of food coloring
Muffin tin
Directions:
Mix the cornstarch and water. Pour into selected muffin tins, then add whatever
color food coloring you choose to each space. Let it dry, and enjoy!
The littlest kiddos were sooo
excited and were checking to see if it was dry over and over again. They kept
trying to tell me that it was dry, long before it actually
was!
Cons:
-When I decided it was finally dry enough
(which was actually overnight), I took a knife and tried to 'pop' the chalk out
of the muffin tins. Some of the chalk crumbled.
-The mixture actually had
seperated in the muffin tin, and I had to end up pouring off the top colored
water to help it dry thoroughly.
-The chalk broke easily when the kids were
coloring
-Our lovable chocolate lab wanted to eat the chalk, and kept close
by the kids in hopes of a few 'scraps'.
The kids didn't care though,
and I threw all the chalk pieces in a container and let them play! The chalk
was no where near as strong as store bought chalk, but it did work. Maybe next
time I'll be able to find a different recipe that will work better. Either way,
the kids enjoyed it. I love that something so simple can be so much fun for
them!
trees/rocks/stumps nearby that they could color on with the chalk. Best part about that was that there was no clean-up involved. The next time it rained,
all the rocks and stumps were cleaned off and ready for more chalking! The kids looooovvveeed the chalk, and spent as long as we would let them coloring with
it....
Unfortunately we recently ran out of chalk, so I decided to get
creative and try the following DIY chalk recipe:
Items Needed:
1 1/2 cups of cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
A few drops
of food coloring
Muffin tin
Directions:
Mix the cornstarch and water. Pour into selected muffin tins, then add whatever
color food coloring you choose to each space. Let it dry, and enjoy!
The littlest kiddos were sooo
excited and were checking to see if it was dry over and over again. They kept
trying to tell me that it was dry, long before it actually
was!
Cons:
-When I decided it was finally dry enough
(which was actually overnight), I took a knife and tried to 'pop' the chalk out
of the muffin tins. Some of the chalk crumbled.
-The mixture actually had
seperated in the muffin tin, and I had to end up pouring off the top colored
water to help it dry thoroughly.
-The chalk broke easily when the kids were
coloring
-Our lovable chocolate lab wanted to eat the chalk, and kept close
by the kids in hopes of a few 'scraps'.
The kids didn't care though,
and I threw all the chalk pieces in a container and let them play! The chalk
was no where near as strong as store bought chalk, but it did work. Maybe next
time I'll be able to find a different recipe that will work better. Either way,
the kids enjoyed it. I love that something so simple can be so much fun for
them!