3-Ingredient Patriotic Sidewalk Chalk

Have some fun this 4th of July with 3-Ingredient Patriotic Sidewalk Chalk!

I always loved drawing with sidewalk chalk during the summertime, and have been wanting to try and make my own custom chalks for a long time. I decided that this year was going to be the year to finally give it a try! Instead of making a rainbow of colors, I decided to go patriotic and make some chalks in red, white, and blue! This chalk only needs 3 simple ingredients, and the kids are going to have a blast making their own chalk to draw all over the neighborhood with this summer!

To make your own Patriotic Sidewalk Chalk, you will need these supplies:

• Plaster of Paris (1-2 lbs)
• Tempera Paints - red, white, blue
• Star Silicone Mold or Rectangle Silicone Mold
• Plastic Cups
• Jumbo Craft Sticks
• Napkins or Paper Towels

Use a different disposable, plastic cup for each color of chalk you want to make. Since I'm going the patriotic route, I only needed three cups for red, white, and blue. Pour water into each cup, and then add some tempera paint. Use a craft stick to mix the paint completely in the water.

*The more paint you add to the mixture, the more vibrant the chalk will be. However, chalks with more paint may be a little harder to wash away.

Slowly add one cup of Plaster of Paris to the each of the water mixtures and stir to combine. Make sure to scrape the sides and the bottom. The texture should be like wet concrete. 

Because of the dust from the plaster, I recommend working outside or using other precautions so that you don't breathe it in.

Carefully pour the plaster mixture into a silicone mold. To keep with the patriotic theme, I used a star silicone mold! Each of the stars are about 2 1/2 inches wide and 1" or so deep. For a more traditionally shaped chalk, I would recommend using a rectangle silicone mold.

Once the mold cavity is about 1/2 full, put the craft stick into the plaster and gently shake it around. This will level out the plaster and bring the bubbles to the top. Fill the mold the rest of the way up and do it again. I don't recommend "dropping" the mold onto the table (like a cake batter) to bring the bubbles to the top. This just created a huge splattered mess for me!!

As the plaster dries, the water will pool at the top. This isn't usually a problem unless you've over-filled the mold cavities. I was getting a big mess from the water, so I figured out how to fix the problem without making things worse. Grab a paper towel, and gently dip the corner into the pool of water. Leave it in place while it soaks up the excess water. Repeat for any other mold cavities with too much water.

Depending on the humidity, it could take 1-3 days for the chalk to completely dry.

You can remove the chalk from the molds after about 5-12 hours and leave them on some paper towels to continue drying out. However, be careful when you remove them from the molds, because they could still be pretty wet and will crumble in your hands.

Once the chalk has dried out, it's ready to go! Aren't these star-shaped chalks so cute?! I love how vibrant they turned out, and think it would be so fun to package them up to gift to kids who come to celebrate patriotic holidays with you. 

Not only do they look vibrant, but they color beautifully! Look how bright that blue is!

If the chalk is still a little wet in the center, you can still use it. It will just be a little crumbly (as you can see above), but it still works and colors great!

Use the chalk all over your sidewalks to share some patriotic drawings and creations! Since the recipe uses tempera paint, the chalk washes away easily with water and leaves your cement looking good as new.

DIY Sidewalk Chalk (per color)

3/4 cup water

2-3 Tablespoons tempera paint

1 cup Plaster of Paris

1. Mix paint and water together in a disposable cup until completely combined.
2. Stir paint mixture slowly while adding Plaster of Paris to the cup. Stir (especially along sides and bottom) until completely combined.
3. Carefully pour the chalk mixture into a silicone mold. Gently stir in the mold to even it out and bring bubbles to the top.
4. Let the chalk dry for at least 5 hours before removing from the molds. Leave the chalk to continue drying on paper towels for 1-3 days (depending on humidity).
5. Once the chalk is dry, have fun creating art on sidewalks. Remove chalk from sidewalks using water, and wash chalk off of hands using soap and water.

I hope you and your kids have a ton of fun with this chalk! If you make some sidewalk chalk (or any crafts, really), I would love to see your creations! Leave me a comment, or tag a photo on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! #AFMcrafts

Looking for more 4th of July inspiration?

Check out this collection of OVER 100 creative 4th of July crafts and recipes!!

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