Thursday, April 08, 2010

Quick and Easy- Creative Play and Learning

I just wanted to show you real quick what Cali and I made together today.

I started a little project in the kitchen and as a result of it Cali was searching high and low for something to paint with chalkboard paint. Originally I thought I'd give her a container to paint that she could keep treasures in. But after a little thought I decided to give her a clipboard. She loves to play school with her little friends and even her sisters on the rare occasion she can convince them to do so. I figured this was a great prop for dress up and school play and we can also use it for her to practice some penmanship, story writing and so on. We can even haul it with us when we go out to eat and in the car.

I gave her a sponge brush and let her paint the board. I had her do three coats, alternating the direction of the brush strokes each time. I did the section under the clip. 

After it dried for the third time I had her color the entire board gently.

To tie the chalk on, I actually used a hair tie or pony tail band. I used a thinner one and wrapped my finger three times.  Then I slid a long ribbon through it and tied a knot so the size of the band would remain. I figured this would keep me having to tie a new knot each time we changed the chalk. I also figured it would be a better grip on the chalk and thereby less chance of losing it. We added some cute ribbons with a school theme. (Sort of.)

Soon after we finished it, she brought it back with her first note.

Love that girl!

*I'm linking to We Made It! Friday Showcase. Go see some fun projects there.  ;)

4 comments:

Rana said...

What a great idea. And did you know there are different colors of chalkboard paint now? I stumbled upon them in a Coastal Living magazine http://www.hudsonpaint.com/
They have some great colors.

jennwa said...

So easy but it turns out great. Love it.

Unknown said...

What an easy project! Great idea!

Heather said...

AWESOME!! I could so see my daughter using this in the car or at dinner. Besides this would give her an excuse to use baby wipes to clean something! ;-)