Chalkboard Clipart

Chalkboards are smooth, thin boards that can be written on with sticks of calcium sulfate or calcium carbonate, known as chalk. The chalk leaves behind a residue that can easily be wiped off with a duster or cloth, allowing the surface to be reused over and over.

Chalkboards are commonly associated with education and teaching, as generations of students have learned their math, science, literature and more in front of these iconic green or black boards. However, chalkboards have many uses beyond school classrooms, from office planning and presentations to home organization and decorative art.

History of Chalkboards

The earliest chalkboards date back to the 12th century in India, where smoothed out stone surfaces were written on with chalk-like materials. In Western education, blackboards first appeared in the early 1800s using large boards painted with black paint. These evolved into factory-produced slate boards in the mid-1800s.

In the early 20th century, green chalkboards were introduced using softer mineral boarding that created less dust compared to slate. By the 1950s chalkboards were a classroom essential from primary schools to universities. Overhead projectors and then whiteboards emerged in the 1980s and 90s, but chalkboards remained a classroom staple.

Types of Chalkboards

There are three main types of modern chalkboard:

Green Chalkboards – The traditional green chalkboard surface, pale green in color. Made from lightweight materials like vinyl or coated resin. Used with white traditional chalk, as well as colored chalk.

Whiteboards – Glossy white surface that markers can be used on instead of chalk. Can also be used with magnets. Allow use of digital visual aids when combined with projectors. More expensive than regular chalkboards.

Blackboards – The original type of chalkboard with inky black slate surface, heavier than green boards. Some historians believe they are called blackboards to distinguish them from black painted boards. Require traditional white chalk.

Uses of Chalkboards

Beyond school classrooms and hallways, chalkboards today have many uses including:

Education – Still essential in most classrooms from primary schools to universities for math, writing, diagrams, music notation, language learning, and more academic subjects. Useful for spontaneous lectures without prep.

Business – Used in meetings and conferences for collaborative planning sessions, brainstorming new ideas with teams, tracking sales goals and data, scheduling, and task management.

Home Use – Handy for informal messages among family members, listing chores, meal plans, calendars, cheap DIY art surface for kids, and leaving phone messages.

Chalkboard Accessories

Specialized accessories have evolved to help optimize chalkboard use:

Chalk – From traditional white sticks for dark boards to colorful chalk for creative expression. Dustless chalk options help minimize mess. Liquid chalk marker pens also available.

Erasers – Felt erasers wipe off chalk dust. Brush erasers with bristles work for more thorough cleaning. Some contain liquid chalkboard conditioner.

Chalkboard Pointers – Handheld pointers with felt tips or lasers allow teachers to highlight parts of a chalkboard without interfering with the writing itself. Useful for directing student attention.

Maintaining Chalkboards

With regular care, chalkboards can serve their purpose for decades:

Cleaning – Gentle wiping with a soft cloth minimizes dust between full cleanings. Periodic washing with warm water chalkboard cleaner solution removes ghosting, stains and restores dark surface.

Refinishing – Over many years of use with acidic chalk, chalkboard surfaces can become etched and hard to erase cleanly. Light sanding followed by re-lacquering restores the original smoothness.

Chalkboard Art

Beyond functional writing, chalkboards also provide a creative surface for all kinds of art, either freehand or with templates:

Hand-drawn Art – Chalk lends itself wonderfully to hand-drawn murals, custom lettering quotes, and sketching out ideas. Colored chalk expands the artistic possibilities.

Templates and Stencils – Reusable plastic templates allow anyone to create sophisticated border designs, geometric patterns, cursive lettering, and illustrations by tracing. Fun hobby or decorative touches around the home.

Chalkboard Lettering Styles

When writing informational text on a chalkboard, proper lettering improves clarity and legibility:

Print Lettering – Standard upright printed characters, all separated. Easy to write neatly even without practice. The usual style for casual everyday writing.

Cursive – Beautiful flowing font with joined up letters, takes practice to perfect. Time consuming so best for decorative fonts rather than dense text.

Block Lettering – Bold display-type font with chunky block characters. Very legible from a distance like for room signs or banners. Creates strong visual impact.

Chalkboard Clipart

Digitized chalkboard art, borders, illustrations and textures enliven documents and projects with a back-to-school motif:

Education Themed Clipart – Vintage images of school kids, books, desks, apples, stationery, etc instantly set a classroom mood. Useful for teachers assembling study materials.

Decorative Borders – Vector borders with chalky textures, chalk scribbles, chalkboard shapes or back-to-school motifs incorporate a fun kids zone aesthetic into documents.

Chalkboard Textures – High-resolution scans of actual chalk dust, chalky smears, eraser marks and worn edges enable overlaying authentic chalkboard grain onto any digital design.

Impact of Technology

While chalkboards endure as a versatile graphic interface, technology continues to expand options for interactive displays in smarter classrooms and workspaces: networked smart boards, document cameras, tablets with styluses, and more specialized education tools offer ever more features to enhance understanding and productivity.

Yet traditional chalkboards have enduring appeal due to their simplicity, tactile nature, resistance to breakdowns, and lack of distractions. For quick expressive writing and diagramming, and accessible public discussion spaces, plain chalkboards continue to prove themselves a dependable technology.

In this page clipartix present 54 chalkboard clipart images free for designing activities. Lets download Chalkboard Clipart that you want to use for works or personal uses.