Recycled DIY Chalk Paint Recipe

Learn how to make chalk paint out of small, broken, and water-soaked pieces of sidewalk chalk!

Making recycled homemade chalk paint is so easy, you don’t even need a DIY chalk paint recipe! All you need to do is invite your children to collect old pieces of sidewalk chalk and follow these simple step-by-step directions to learn how to make chalk paint. You might also enjoy Shadow Art STEAM for Kids.

This recycled DIY chalk paint recipe is perfect for outdoor art projects. Homemade chalk paint is the perfect medium for messy outdoor process art that can easily be washed away. Make some DIY chalk paint with your children today–do it yourself chalk paint is the perfect medium for outdoor art projects that kids will LOVE!

Related: The Best Rock Painting Ideas for Kids

DIY Chalk Paint for Outdoor Art

Painting with recycled homemade chalk paint is so much fun. And, best of all, DIY chalk paint is the perfect medium for messy outdoor process art, because it can easily be washed away!

We used our homemade chalk paint to create shadow sidewalk chalk art on our driveway. It was like painting with dusty watercolors on a huge canvas. Click on the link to see the sidewalk chalk art paintings that we made with our recycled chalk paint.

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Recycled Chalk Paint Recipe Supplies

• Broken and/or water-soaked pieces of chalk or new sidewalk chalk.
• 1-quart freezer bags – thin, weak bags can get destroyed when making chalk paint.
• Rubber mallet or hammer for smashing sidewalk chalk pieces into chalk powder.
• Metal pitcher or recycled container for water.
• Water.
• Old muffin tin or recycled containers – yogurt, cottage cheese, and sour cream containers work great!
• Paintbrushes that are sturdy enough to paint sidewalks and driveways.
• Chopstick for mixing chalk paint.

Related: Summer Bucket List Seasonal Activity Guide

How to Make Chalk Paint with Recycled Sidewalk Chalk

Learn how to make homemade chalk paint with the easy step-by-step directions below.

Step 1 – Collect sidewalk chalk

• Round up the kids and invite them to collect small broken and water-soaked pieces of chalk to make homemade chalk paint. New sidewalk chalk can also be used if you don’t have enough broken pieces.

Step 2 – Sort sidewalk chalk by color

Get the kids involved in the next step in the recycled chalk making process with this simple color sorting activity:

• Invite your children to sort the chalk by color into a muffin tin or another container that would work to hold the chalk for color sorting!
• Once they are finished, move on to the next step.

Step 3 – Put each color of sidewalk chalk into a separate freezer bag

• Place the chalk into freezer bags.
• Make sure that each color of broken sidewalk chalk is in its own freezer bag.
• Freezer bags are recommended because weak bags can rip and tear in the next step.

Step 4 – Crush sidewalk chalk into a fine powder

• Wrap each bag of sidewalk chalk in a small kitchen towel and use a rubber mallet or a small hammer to gently crush the sidewalk chalk into a fine powder inside of the bag.

Step 5 – Put sidewalk chalk powder in containers

• Add the powdered chalk to an old muffin tin or recycled container.
• Recycled sour cream, cottage cheese, and yogurt containers work great for this purpose.
• Put one color of chalk powder into each muffin compartment or container.

Step 6 – Add water to sidewalk chalk powder and mix.

• Slowly pour water into the chalk powder one color at a time.
• Next, mix the chalk powder with a paintbrush or chopstick while pouring slowly.
• You want your DIY chalk paint to be the consistency of pancake batter.
• Start with less water than you think and add more if needed.
• If your homemade chalk paint is too thin, crush up some more sidewalk chalk and add it to the chalk paint in order to thicken it.

6. Allow recycled DIY chalk paint recipe to sit

• Give your homemade chalk paint about 30-60 minutes to sit and settle.
• After your colored chalk paint has settled for a bit, use a chopstick to stir it up and crush the chalk chunks before painting with it.

Homemade Chalk Paint Tips and Tricks

• When using homemade chalk paint it’s best to have water available to continue to add to the chalk paint as you work. Why? Because recycled chalk paint loses its water content as you work. This makes the paint thicken, so you will more than likely need more water. Just keep pouring water into your recycled chalk paint as needed. We kept a little metal pitcher near where we worked to easily add water whenever our chalk paint started getting a little dry.
• Another interesting thing about painting with chalk is that the colors always look a bit paler when they are wet than when they are dry. No big deal, just let the kids know that their sidewalk chalk paintings may look a bit different when they are dry–and you might prevent a meltdown.
• Recycled chalk paint will often have a few chunks of colored chalk pieces left in it. So, if you find any little chunks in your chalk paintings, use the handle of a paintbrush to crush them. Then use a little water to mix them into the chalk paint as you work.
• I don’t recommend using this chalk paint recipe on a vertical outdoor chalkboard because it can run. This homemade chalk paint recipe is best to use on flat surfaces like driveways, sidewalks, and playgrounds.

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Try Shadow Art STEAM with Homemade Chalk Paint

We used our chalk paint to make shadow art on our driveway–a fun hands-on outdoor STEAM activity for kids. My daughter and I LOVED working with chalk paint. It was like working with dusty watercolors on a giant canvas–so fun in the summer sun! Be sure to put your chemical-free sunscreen on!

Related: The Best Rock Painting Ideas for Kids

Homemade Chalk Paint for Outdoor Art

Making recycled chalk paint is a great way to recycle old broken and water-soaked pieces of sidewalk chalk. Chalk paint is the perfect medium for outdoor process art that can easily be washed away.

The vibrant colors look beautiful painted on sidewalks and driveways. For more summer fun be sure to check out our summer bucket list seasonal activity guide.

You may also like our arts and crafts page for kids with lots of other creative ideas to try.

Learn more about Rhythms of Play HERE!

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