Activity Days Chalkboard Letters

We had a fun Activity Days Mom and Me activity a couple of weeks ago. We had some fun activities, including having the moms and daughters come dressed alike. It was so great to see the lengths they went to to be just alike, including making sure their hair was the same, and they had the same hair clips. It was the best!

We also had the moms and girls work on a super easy craft together. I started out thinking we would have Bob cut out their last name initial in wood, and then the moms and girls would paint their letter in chalkboard paint, let it dry, and then decorate it in chalk.

When we found that Home Depot has wood with the chalkboard paint already painted on, we knew that was a better route. Then we wouldn't have the mess of paint on their cute clothes, and everywhere else within reach.

So, Bob cut out a letter for each of the sets of moms and daughters. If you don't happen to have a magic laser machine, then you could also cut letters out with a scroll saw. I've done many a project on a scroll saw in my time...

They first cleaned off the letter with rubbing alcohol, as the laser machine sometimes can leave a burn mark that easily washes off. Then, they rubbed chalk (using the long side of the piece of chalk) all over their letter, and then erased it, giving it more of a chalkboard look. This also helps so that any chalk writing and drawing can easily be erased instead of leaving a mark. One suggestion is to use a good, high quality chalk. I like this Prang brand. It doesn't scratch the chalkboard surface, like some of the cheaper brands can.

After they "tempered" the chalkboard letters, they went to town decorating them together -- drawing and erasing and drawing and erasing until they had the perfect designs.

They can display them in their home and change the chalk design whenever they want to. It would be cute to draw hearts for Valentines, shamrocks for St. Patrick's, holly for Christmas, etc. They turned out darling, and the girls seemed to be pretty excited about them.

Of course I had to have one for my own house....