Glow-in-the-Dark Chalk

We love to play and explore with sidewalk chalk during the warmer months.
We have shared lots of chalk recipes over the years, but this simple glow-in-the-dark chalk remains a favorite among our readers. Read on for the easy tutorial.

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After a bit of experimenting we were able to come up with a way to make chalk that glows-in-the-dark. You only need three ingredients to make it, too! Are you ready to see how?

How to Make Glow-in-the-Dark Chalk

Materials (per chalk color)

1 cup Plaster of Paris
1 tbsp of glow-in-the-dark or fluorescent paint
3/4 cup of warm water
Ice cube trays / silicone molds

Note: You can use standard ice cube trays, alphabet trays, or any of these other awesome silicone molds to make your chalk.

Method

Begin by mixing the glowing paint and water together in a bowl, using one bowl for each color of chalk that you wish to make.
Continue to mix until the paint colors are dissolved.

Then, add 1 cup of plaster of paris to each bowl and mix until combined.
Once the ingredients are blended transfer the varying mixtures into an ice cube tray, packing each slot tightly.

After several hours your chalk will be set and ready for play!

We left our chalk to dry for roughly 12 hours. We also popped the ice trays in the freezer for ten minutes just before play. This step isn't necessary. It just helps the chalk pop from the ice molds more easily.

Rosie and Jewel couldn't wait to get outside and create glow-in-the-dark art, and the chalk colors turned out so fantastically vibrant! Rosie and Jewel have had a blast with their glowing chalk and have found all sorts of fun ways to use it.

Here are some ideas:

Use your homemade chalk to decorate the trampoline and make it glow!
Make amazing character art on the pavement after the sun goes down.

Build a glow-in-the-dark chalk town and roadway.
Head outside and create art during the day; this chalk works in the daylight!
Make wet chalk art that glows!
Try this wet chalk art idea using glowing chalk.

Tips & Resources:

If you use fluorescent paint to make your chalk you will need a blacklight to get the glowing effect. If you use glow-in-the-dark paint the chalk will glow-in-the-dark and under uv-light. Glow-in-the-dark paint does need to be charged by a light source, so you will want to hold the chalk near light just before play.
If using a blacklight I highly recommend these uv-flashlights! They work great, and they are portable. My girls love using them, and they can be taken outside!
We also have this blacklight fixture that we often use.
The paint that we use in our glowing activities can be purchased on Amazon here.
Plaster of Paris can be purchased online here.