We collected up a whole bucketful of large chalk scraps from the garden the other day and rather than throw them away I experimented with turning them into a chalky paint instead.

We grated them into separate glass jam jars and admired how pretty they looked. You could also try crushing them using a pestle and mortar with younger kids.
They looked like lovely, old-fashioned powder paints, the type we used to have at school when I was a little girl.
Then I gave her a jug of water and she loved mixing it in to each one and vigorously stirring it up to make a smooth, runny paste.
And then we set up large white paper table cloths in the garden for her to paint at LARGE over to her heart’s content. Increasing the scale = diversifying and expanding the experiences!
The paint worked fairly well on paper, but MUCH better on the ground and walls. Liquified chalk- perfect!
It washes off easily with water when you’re ready.
This activity is good for:
* teaching about reuse and recycling
* painting and creating using a range of materials and on a different scale
* investigating the change of materials from dry to wet, solid to powder to liquid to dry powder again
Boy do we think alike or what? Check out my post today!!! Great minds think alike!
This is an awesome idea. We painted in our driveway with washable paint a few weeks ago. I kept thinking chalk paint would be better. Never thought to make my own. Thanks for the inspiration!