our girl scout group has decided to do this on our school playground aspalt. does anyone have any tips for doing this? one mom wants to use stencils to add other shapes too, not just hopscotch and four square. any idea how much paint we would need for hopscotch? I guess the can holds 80 linear feet, or 800? cant remember but I don't know how much that is like 80 feet of a 3 inch wide strip?? how do we prep it just sweep it? I will probably google but you guys are usually better.
any advice would be great.
You can go to a good, professional, paint store such as Sherwin Williams. They will have all the materials for prep and painting and the knowhow. You will need a linestriper and traffic paint and possibly stencils for the numbers, etc.
Make sure whatever you do is approved by the school and/or district first. Once you have an approved plan in place you can check with the maintenance or facilities department regarding what kind of paint they use. They may even have supplies you can borrow to make the job easier and more professional looking.
How old are your girls? Unless they are at least 11 or 12 or older I don't know how well they'll be able to do this. I'm afraid the parents will end up doing the bulk of the work (calling, planning, laying down straight lines) which kind of defeats the purpose of the GIRLS doing the project.
I have no idea, but thought this was so awesome that I had to tell you thanks! Anything that helps kids keep moving is helping to keep them healthy and live long lives.
That is a great idea for your girl scout troop. I would ask the people at a paint store. I wouldn't assume someone at Home Depot or Lowes knows what they are talking about. I have been given great advice and not so helpful advice at those stores.
We just did this for a service day that I did at a school where we re-painted the basketball courts. I wasn't on that project so I don't have a ton of details but I can tell you that they had a chalk line that they were able to snap to give them a guide line and then they rented a machine that holds the spray can in the right position so that you line up an arrow with you chalk line, pull on a trigger handle and then walk slowly to get a perfect line. There is a specific paint for painting lines. The paint team also painted the school's letters in the center of the court and IMHO, that wasn't as successful. They cut stencils out of poster board and spray painted those. The lines weren't very sharp and there was quite a bit of over spray on the edges. So in my experience, the stencils didn't execute as well as simply painting lines did but professional stencils on a different kind of material may have yielded better results.
For the best prep, you'd probably want to blow it with a leaf blower and maybe even power wash but if that's too much work, at the very least a leaf blower and a broom, then hose down the surface.
Talk to the school's maintenance or athletic department. They have a line painter that you attach a spray can to and walk behind. They can also tell you what kind of paint.
Once you get the paint information, you might be able to get it donated by a local paint store or supplier. Free works, right?
I assume you got permission from the school/district, right?
As a long time GS volunteer I got to know our school custodians pretty well, especially the head custodian, because we hired him for many of our events on school property (for security and clean up.)
So if it was me, that's who I'd talk to. After of course clearing the painting project and exact placement areas on the pavement with the principal.
You need to make sure you choose the right paint - not just asphalt paint but playground asphalt paint...there is a difference....while they are latex-based, they handle the elements differently.
It is recommended that you sweep and wash - yes - wash the asphalt before painting it.
You can buy asphalt stripers or stencils where you purchase the asphalt paint.
Have fun!!
Before you start, I assume you got permission from the school.
