RobyGiup handmade: Let's play... with the blackboard!

mercoledì 27 maggio 2020

Let's play... with the blackboard!

In these sunny days we try to stay outside as much as possible, to enjoy the fresh air before the summer heat.

One of the activities we often do is to draw with color chalks:

Years ago (long before having children) I made a huge movable blackboard to take pictures of my creations for my Etsy shop. I needed something gib but also light to move it in different placesd following the best light for the pictures. Now this blackboard is very useful to make my son play, I can take it outside with just one hand while holding my daughter with the other arm, and he has lot of fun playing with color chalks.

And this blackboard is suitable for another activity... with water! Curious?!

The steps to make this blackboard are very easy, I'm sharing them hoping they can be useful!

Materials:

big plywood panel (mine is 120x90cm)
old newspapers
a can of chalkboard paint
container to pour the paint
small paint roller

Instructions:

cover the floor with old newspapers
pour the paint in a plastic container big enough to hold the paint roller
place the plywood on the newspapers and put a thin layer of chalkboard paint using the roller, let it dry (follow instructions on the paint can) then paint more layers. I suggest no less than three layers for a good covering
let dry and your huge blackboard is ready, very light so you can move it around the house or outside with no effort!

After using it for the first time I noticed I had a problem: how could I clean it? Plywood surface is different from slate so I couldn't use a classic eraser since it didn't glide and left fuzz on the surface.

Then I had the intuition: with water and the paint roller! It glides, doesn't leave fuzz and it's also a fun activity!

My son loves to draw all over the blackboard and then clean it with water! In the last days we tried also another way to clean the blackboard: the water hose! You're sure to have a fun time!