Sparkle Craft: Collaborative Chalk Mural
Martin, Sylvia, Mama, and Daddy seemed to have such a lovely time putting together their mural in this week's Martin & Sylvia: Saturdays! story "Important to Us All", don’t you think? If you’re like us, as you listened to the story unfold, you thought about making your own mural. Well that’s just what we’re going to do today!
Murals can be found in many different places. There are public murals for everyone to enjoy, like the one in Martin and Sylvia’s downtown. Or there are private murals like the one Martin, Sylvia, Mama, and Daddy made for their own backyard.
Today, we’re going to show you how to make a chalk mural of your own – so get ready to let your creativity flow!
You Will Need
Chalk
A spot for your mural
What To Do
The first thing you will need to do is determine where your mural will go. For a chalk mural, you will probably want to find a spot outside. As you look around for a spot outside your home, you might want to ask yourself some questions:
Will I hurt anything by putting a mural here?
Chalk may not hurt you if you get a bit on your hands, but that may not be true for everything. Do you remember what Sylvia thought about their Oak Tree probably not liking a mural on it? Why do you think that is?
Does this space belong to me or my family? Is it a public space?
When looking for a space for a mural, it’s important that you choose a spot that either belongs to you and your family, or if it’s in a public space, you are allowed to draw there. Talk with your grown-ups about why some places are OK for drawing, while others are not. We chose to draw on the side of our brick building.
Once you’ve picked a spot for your mural, it’s time to brainstorm – or come up with a bunch of ideas for your mural. Since this is a collaborative mural, see if you can come up with something that is important to everyone drawing. Think about what Martin and Sylvia’s Daddy asked – What is important to you? It may take you a few minutes to think of something that everyone can agree on – and that’s ok! Once you’ve come up with an idea, it’s time to start drawing!
In our house right now we are all excited about dinosaurs – reading about them, playing with them, drawing them, even pretending to be dinosaurs! So for our mural, we drew a dinosaur scene. The grown-up did the big outlining of the mural and then everyone helped to add the color and special details.
The beauty of chalk murals – just like Martin and Sylvia’s mural – is that you can color or draw over parts. Just be sure to ask before coloring over someone else’s addition – it may be something they are really proud of and want left untouched, or it may be an area they are eager to have you add your creative touch.
When working together to make a collaborative mural, each person’s creativity shines through, but doesn’t it seem that working together makes the whole thing even more beautiful? We think so too!
When you are done with your mural for the day, step back and take a look. How lovely! Over the next couple of hours or days, you may want to return to your mural time and again to color a bit more, to add a few more things, to change the scene a bit.
The beauty of a chalk mural is that you can leave it up as long as you’d like if it’s in an area that doesn’t get wet. For us, since it was on a wall, the spring rains washed our mural away after a few days, but we were happy to have had the chance to enjoy it when we did and are eagerly brainstorming what we will draw next!
Explore More
Perhaps, like Martin and Sylvia, you’d like to paint a mural to hang. Where will you put it? How will you do it? Listen to the story again to remember how Martin and Sylvia made and hung their mural.
Make Connections
Martin, Sylvia, Mama and Daddy all do something unique while painting their mural – how do you like to work on your mural? Are you careful or messy? Do you smile or are you concentrating? Look around at those drawing with you – how do they work?
Do you have any murals in your city, town or neighborhood? Next time you are out and about, be on the lookout for murals. How are they similar to the one you created? How are they different? Do they give you any inspiration – or creative ideas – for your next mural?
About the Authors
Andrea Folsom
Andrea Folsom describes herself as a writer, editor, creative maker, and eternal optimist. She is passionate about learning and sharing new creative techniques, making beautiful spaces, and talking about the social-emotional benefits of creativity and art. She runs Crafting Connections - a website providing inspiration, practical advice, and projects for creative families - with her close friend Danielle Reiner.
Danielle Reiner
Danielle Reiner describes herself as a creative, a maker, and a mama. At the heart of her story is creativity, though that hasn’t always been the case. She rediscovered her deeply hidden creativity early in adulthood – with a ball of yarn and a couple of knitting needles – and hasn't stopped since. Danielle also runs Crafting Connections - a website providing inspiration, practical advice, and projects for creative families - with her close friend Andrea Folsom.
