Tis the season for CHALK! {Free Printable}

This week marks the 6th week of shelter-in-place in our home, as well as the 6th week of {home}schooling/distance learning with the kiddos.  We are surviving.  We would 100% most definitely rather be using this time to travel, but we can't so we are taking advantage of this slow down to do the things that we don't normally have time to do . . . like chalk. 

I had some chalk laying around from a few years ago, when the boys were not as interested in video games and beyblades and actually wanted to go out and play with chalk and bubbles.  After seeing all the great things people were doing to brighten up people's days (because let's face it. . . we're bored and we're walking more!),    I got the kids outside and we started drawing. . . writing notes, inspirational quotes , and Bible verses along with pretty drawings all over our sidewalks.  We had so much fun!  It was then that I realized that we were going to need more chalk in order to keep this fun activity a regular thing.  Who knew that chalk was the new hoarder item. . . because suddenly it became very hard to find a container of chalk!  I finally found some, but in the meantime, I got creative and found a recipe for DIY chalk.  Believe it or not, I had plaster of paris left over from Weston's Lego Birthday and we had silicon molds from various crayon making adventures.  I will say that it's a pretty inexpensive project. . . probably price-wise a little more than chalk, but it gave us (the kids) something to do by making it and then playing with it.  They also got to be generous and share their creations with our friends. 

Our test batch turned out so well that we decided that we needed to make a bunch of different colors and give them to some of our friends.  We miss our people as I am sure you do too!  But, right now staying apart is the right thing to do and so let's make the best out of it!  I even made a printable tag that you can click at the bottom so you can spread some joy to your neighbors. 

Yesterday, the kids and I were back making chalk on our side walk when a lady walked by and just thanked us for bringing her joy on her daily walk.  She had been waiting for us to re-do it after the recent rain showers washed it away.  It just brought so much joy that by using some of our extra time staying home, we can bless those that walk our sidewalks.

So gather the following materials:

plastic solo cups (that way there's hardly a mess to clean up!)

A box of Plaster of Paris

Tempera paints

water

Silicon mold

plastic spoon or a Popsicle stick

Once you have all of your ingredients, you are going to pour the plaster, water and paint into your cup and stir with a plastic spoon.  The key is equal parts liquid to plaster.  So, we found that 1 cup of plaster + 3/4 cup water + 1/4 cup of paint.  If you are using Crayola paint that is really thick, we found that using a little bit less water is necessary.  Stir until you have a pancake batter-like consistency and pour into your mold.  I like to sit mine on a baking sheet so if I need to move it out of the way, I can.  It usually sets in about an hour, and after about 2 you can pull it out of the mold and set it aside to finish drying. Then start another batch using a different color.  It needs to sit for about 24 hours before you use it. 

We had so much fun making it and then giving it away!  You can click here to get a copy of the printable for yourself.   Let's spread some cheer during a time when there is so much sadness and boredom going on.