Easy Homemade Sidewalk Chalk Paint Recipe for Your Kids

Share!

Looking for a super easy way to make homemade chalk paint with younger kids? Here’s our simple recipe to make your own chalk paint. Your kids will love the process of making their own paint almost as much as the painting itself. 

two kids painting with sidewalk chalk paint

When my kids saw their grandpa painting the deck, they immediately wanted to paint outside as well. I didn’t want to make another trip to the craft store for chalk paint or use our washable paint outside. So we decided to make our own sidewalk chalk paint from materials we already had at the house. Not only was it cheap and easy to make, the kids had a lot of fun helping with the whole process. 

Get Ready for Summer Fun 

Summer is in full swing here, and my kids constantly want to be outside. And we’re are always looking for fun new activities for them to try (that also help their fine motor skills!). 

This DIY sidewalk chalk paint is so simple to make and so much fun for your kids! My daughter is only sixteen months old, and she loved it, too. And it’s also easier to clean up than regular paint. 

How to Use Your Old, Broken Pieces of Sidewalk Chalk

Not only is this activity easy to do with kids, its also a great way to use up all those small pieces of leftover chalk that are just sitting around. This easy recipe is our favorite way to use all the chalk without just throwing it away. 

By using the sidewalk chalk you already have, you can cut down on the cost of this activity, too. If you want to make a large batch you can use the whole large stick of chalk, but we didn’t need too much paint for two kids. 

Paint with Less Mess

One of the benefits of chalk paint outside is that it gives your curious toddler or preschooler more room to explore. They can make as much of mess as they want, and messy play like this is awesome for their development.

toddler painting with sidewalk chalk paint

By far the best part of this fun activity for moms is that the clean-up is so much easier! Grab the garden hose to wash off your kids, and, then, let the rain take care of all the paint outside. 

Easy Homemade Sidewalk Chalk Paint Recipe

One of the best parts about this homemade sidewalk paint is that you only need two ingredients that you probably already have at home! Here’s everything we used and step-by-step instructions. 

Sidewalk Paint Recipe: Ingredients and Supplies

  • Sidewalk chalk in different colors
  • Water (we had a cup of water but didn’t even use it all)
  • Muffin tin (or separate bowls for each color)
  • Plastic sandwich bags
  • Rubber mallet or rolling pin 
  • Paintbrushes
chalk, paintbrushes, and muffin tin

For even more fine motor practice and fun, you can get plastic pipettes or squeeze bottles to let your child transfer the water. You can also use any type of paint brushes you have on hand. We happed to have these foam brushes, but bristle brushes or even painting without brushes (try our favorite alternatives here) works great, too! 

Sidewalk Paint Recipe: Step-by-Step Instructions

First, put your first color of chalk into a plastic bag with as little air as possible in the bag. Then, we put that plastic bag into another plastic bag in case one gets a hole in it. 

chalk into ziploc bag

Next, have your child smash the chalk into a fine powder using a rubber mallet, rolling pin, or anything heavy. This was my son’s favorite part, and he could have hours of fun just on this step. You may have to help at the end smash any pieces or tiny bits left over. 

child smashing chalk

Then, pour the powder into one of the wells of the muffin tin. We filled the well about halfway full with powder. 

Lastly, add water to the powder slowly. In order to get the consistency of paint, you’ll only need a little bit of water in the powder, so start small. This is where you can use pipettes, spray bottles, or squirt bottles to not only help with fine motor skills, but also slow them down adding water. 

child pouring water into a muffin tin

Let Your Little Artist Paint

Once they mix their paint, let your child at it! Now, they can paint the sidewalk, driveway, deck, grass or even their bikes because this paint will wash right off. This fun outdoor art activity is great for kids of all ages, but younger kids really love the creativity involved. 

Science and Art Activity for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Not only is this sidewalk chalk recipe a fun art activity, it includes science, too! With all the mixing and colors, this is a fun way to try a science activity with young kids that gets them involved in all the steps. At this age, they love seeing the cause and effect as well as creating something themselves. 

two kids painting with sidewalk chalk paint

​Have Fun Painting!

Like almost all our favorite activities, this is all about having fun with the process. Don’t worry about doing it ‘right’ or actually painting a picture with young kids. They just love exploring and being involved. 

Try Other Fun Ways to Paint

If you want to add in more fun ideas to any type of painting, try our painting with cotton balls activity. My son also loves to paint with everyday food items like apples or celery

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *