Outdoor Slate Chalkboard

After seeing some play spaces involving chalkboards I wanted to add one of our own to the backyard.  The chalkboards I had been admiring on Pinterest were mostly DIY and since I'm no good when it comes to creating things involving wood and tools I instantly went to my husband!  We talked about what materials we would need, where it would go and I was getting excited that our chalkboard was becoming more of a reality!  Only a few days later my husband calls me from work and asks me if I remember what one of his companies buildings use to be?  I thought it was a strange question but I answered his question as I recalled that one of his companies buildings use to be a schoolhouse.  My husband remembering our chalkboard discussion took it upon himself to ask the facilities manager if they by chance had any old chalkboards lying around from when it was a school.  Low and behold they did!!  I was super excited that we would be acquiring an authentic old schoolhouse slate chalkboard!

Once my husband and a co-worker transported this massive chalkboard to our home my husband quickly got to work.  He cut some wood pieces for the frame, nailed everything in place and voila, our chalkboard had found its new home!

We hung a small bucket (yard sale find!) threw in some chalk and the kids were ready to go!

My daughter is learning to write her name so we have been practicing that alot on our chalkboard.  

The kids enjoyed a few rounds of Pictionary too! 

We have an easel in our basement that has a chalkboard on one side and we have used water to 'paint' the board.  Since it's in our basement I've always had to be extra careful with the water.  Now that we have a huge chalkboard and it's outside my kids can use as much water as they want!  I grabbed a bowl, a paintbrush and some rags and I let the kids go wild!  My daughter said she was making a maze and my son was having fun simply 'washing' the board!

So far I have been really pleased with how well the chalkboard is working out!  It's one of the first things my kids go to now!  I especially love that the chalkboard easily allows the children to express their creative and artistic sides!